Ralph
Ralph was born in Sandpoint, Idaho, sometime
in 1969. He lived at the same house for his entire life and was adopted by
his second and final family in 1970 when they moved into his house from
across town.
He was initially very shy and only allowed Momcat to come near him. New to
the business of having a cat, there was no cat food in the house the day his
new family moved in but Momcat fed him some bread soaked in milk as his
first meal and he was never short of crunchies afterwards. He quickly
warmed to the children in the house but it took him a long time to get used
to his Dadcat, probably because his previous Dadcat didn't really care for
cats all that much. And although he never overcame his early fear of brooms,
he thoroughly enjoyed being vacuumed with the upholstery brush!
Perhaps it was his first meal with his new family that ignited a love of bread and pastry. Although normally a very well-behaved cat, he stopped at nothing to get at any doughnut in his vicinity. Once, when Momcat was experimenting with bread baking, he dragged the burnt tops of the fresh loaves out of the rubbish and ate the delicious interiors. He also liked cheese and popcorn. He would get his own little paper cup with popcorn and he would delicately spear the pieces with his claws, eating them one by one.
He grew into a large, handsome fellow, with a black 'mask' and a black 'cape'
on his back, plus small black spots on the back of three of his legs. His
left ear lopped over to the side, the result of a cat fight injury early in
his life. He was part Manx (on his mother's side of the family) and
inherited his mother's short crooked tail. (It was only a few inches long
and had a natural right angle bend in it.) His long hind legs gave him a
hoppy gate and he could run like the wind. He could also jump very high
indeed. This came in handy when he was hunting. His mother, Princess,
taught him to be an excellent mouser and he could catch any small critter on
four legs. Or on two wings. One of his favourite tricks was to climb into
the low hanging branches of the neighbour's cedar tree at dusk and then
launch himself into the air to catch bats on the wing! He probably made a
bit of dent in the local bird population although he wisely steered clear of
the gulls and crows that infested the neighbourhood. He once came home with a
grouse; pretty impressive for a cat living in town! After one memorable
episode when he brought in a live mouse as a gift to his Momcat, he always
underwent a 'snout check' before he was allowed in during evening hours.
Ralph was an 'outside cat' for most of his life, coming in for meals and
when the weather was cold or nasty. During the summer, he would summon the
'doorman' to the back door by jumping up on the screen door and hanging on
until someone saw him peering in through the window. In winter he was
allowed to sleep in the basement; he had a special bed on top of the furnace
which was toasty warm. The house had a hot air central heating system and
Ralph loved to sleep on the top of the floor grates. His favourite one
was directly over the furnace and thus, the warmest. Unfortunately, it was
also in the dining room and the constant rising warm air would cause his
cat hair to drift all over the kitchen. Thus, he was usually shooed away
from that outlet. However, the grate in the 'music room' (later the
home office) was set in the wall rather than in the floor so he had a
special piece of carpet in front of it and he often slept there with the
warm air blowing over him, at least, when no one was practicing the piano!
He also had a special affinity for the fireplace during the long cold north
Idaho winters, often sleeping so close that embers would jump out on him.
Even a smoking ear one time wouldn't get him to shift away from his
favoured spot.
He was a pretty easy-going cat and normally didn't bother other cats and dogs. However, when cornered he knew how to defend himself. On one summer's day, the neighbour's Husky pup chased Ralph into the garage. Ralph turned around and took a swipe at the pup. There was a yelp, the pup turned tail and Ralph chased her back home.
Ralph passed away in his sleep in 1985, following a long illness which might have been feline leukemia. (Ironically, the vaccine against this disease was developed that very same year.) He is buried at his lifelong home and is remembered with great fondness. Rest in peace, Ralph. We love you.
