But today I want to share what my cat Beryl was like. Beryl was 16 years old when he died. He had become a diabetic in the last year of his life. Beryl had become fat from the steroids used to keep in check the chlamydia that is a dental disease in cats- and different from the chlamydia bacterium that affects humans- which he caught from our older cat Topaz; who groomed him regularly and who we had put to sleep months earlier. Topaz got it the one time he got out and disappeared for hours. Unfortunately he was misdiagnosed from a local vet practice who refused to listen to what we had observed and believed was the problem- a dental disease. (Later on we found out that other vet practice disliked cats and had done the same thing to several other folks- not liking cats they refused to keep up on the most recent medicine affecting them.) Its been a year since our vet met us at 2am to put him to sleep (thank you Dr Wilmeth for being so caring). He was panting and in pain. Beryl's kidneys had shut down, but we didn't figure that out until days later.
In a lifetime of pets, Beryl was the first who I had from being a kitten (or puppy) for his whole life. He slept with me- tucked under my arm- every night of his life. This alone would have been enough to endear him, but there was so much more to this BIG personality that made him lovable and a grade A pain at times.
It was coming up on Amberwind's birthday. We were working more and more and had Topaz for a little over a year; which was Topaz' age. Two cats usually do better than one if they're going to be alone a lot throughout the day. I went into the cat room at the Albuquerque Human Society building and all the cats were quiet, except this one 6 week old kitten. I've had Maine Coon mixes before and loved them and though I was hoping to find one I wasn't hopeful I'd actually see one. One look and it was obvious he was a mix- which was confirmed by the AHS workers. (They knew who his mother was and her owners- a show cat who had gotten out and 'caught' by a street cat- and "Berlioz" as the AHS called him had escaped the yard of his mama's home. It turned out his mama's family didn't want him back, but I had to wait 10 days for them to not come for him before the AHS would let me take him home.) When I saw the future "Beryl" was half Maine Coon I asked if I could hold this howling ball of fluff. He had the ringed tail, ear-tufts and neck ruff typical of his breed.Beryl jumped into my hand, jumped from there to my shoulder and then stuck his nose in my ear and began purring and licking my ear. I was in love.
When I got him home Topaz was terrified of this bouncing ball of energy and ran away from him for about 2 weeks. That changed over the years and besides grooming Beryl Topaz and he often slept in a pile. The first thing that was obviously different about Beryl was how, after a couple of days Beryl realized that the cat in the mirror we had sitting on the floor was him. After that the thing that set him apart was his dog like behavior of greeting anyone who entered our apartment. Well not actually everyone. The half dozen or so folks he hid from all proved to be people that tried to screw us over in some way. He was less than a year old the first time this happened. Unlike most cats, Maine Coons will get affection from every member of the family, but except for that handful of people he ran from, everyone who walked through our door was instantly expected to admire, pet and croon over him.
Amberwind and Beryl asleep on the couch together- a favorite position for both. This is my computer's wallpaper.
His intelligence became even more obvious as he taught- through example- Topaz how to open and enter kitchen and bathroom cabinets. Beryl hated closed doors and quickly figured out how to slide open sliding closet doors and accordion doors. He later mastered jumping up and twisting a door knob with his front paws while kicking a closed door with his hind feet. It would take about seven tries, but as long as the door opened in the direction he wanted to go he would eventually get a closed door opened. Funny, but I just realized that I never saw him try to use a doorknob on a door that opened against the direction he was trying to go in.
Beryl loved rubber bands. We had them in a junk-drawer in the kitchen until it became obvious that he would wait until Amberwind and I were not home to pull them out of said drawer. It took us awhile to figure out that Beryl had jumped on the kitchen counter to get them out since he would ALWAYS re-shut the drawer after snagging the rubber bands out. Smart and sneaky!
When we bought our house we experienced a new level of intelligence as we saw how he had mastered the concept of mirrors. Our master bedroom suite has a bathroom with a large vanity that has a huge mirror as long as the vanity and 4 feet high. When one entered our bedroom, if Beryl was upon the vanity- which he was, often grooming himself looking in the mirror- he would stop grooming as you entered, look you in the eyes via the reflection in the mirror and chatter at you. He would never turn to look at you, but as you approached and moved your hand to pet the top of his head, Beryl would stretch his head and meet your hand for the stroke. Beryl would also sit there and watch our other two cats- after we took in Sapphire- in the mirror, and without missing a beat he would simultaneously spin, leap and jump on them having figured out exactly where the other two were behind him using the reflection. Watching him do this feat was just mind-blowing. Most dogs and cats NEVER understand how a mirror works and try to attack or at least get to the animal they see in the mirror without realizing it's them. Beryl KNEW it was him!
Beryl also loved being in boxes and paper bags, especially the large ones from Trader Joe's. But where most cats would run into a bag when you scratched the back of it, trying to find the thing making the noise, Beryl would run around the bag and jump on your hand. Same for scratching other things to get him to play- he would go for the movement if your hand was, say, under a blanket and making it jiggle, but if he saw no movement he'd go under or around whatever piece of material that was blocking his way to seek out the noise. But then he was a fabric kitty and loved crawling under and nesting in any fabric he could find. (Beryl wasn't allowed in our closets for that reason and when we bought our home one of the reasons we liked it was because the closet doors were ones he couldn't open because they opened out, not in.)
He entertained all of our guests with his warmth and antics. He was there when either Amberwind or I were sick with purring comfort. He played bed warmer in winter and alarm clock every work morning, seeming to understand our schedules, including our regular days off. Beryl knew the sounds of each of our vehicles and would set up a racket whenever one of us returned home. He knew when I said, "Goodnight Beryl" and would often beat me to the bedroom from wherever in the house we were, though he almost always arrived as I was getting into the bed- except when Amberwind was going to stay up and was doing something interesting. Beryl insisted on being the center of attention and always, well mostly, made it worth your while. Beryl was.... Beryl and I still miss him terribly.
A fifteen year old, Beryl losing his belly hair from the steroids that he needed. this is my cell phone's wallpapaer.
Someday we'll add another cat to our family, until then Sapphire is getting necessary attention, his being a skittish but affection needy guy. I already know where the Tucson Maine Coon rescue folks are at. There will never be another Beryl, but each Maine Coon I've had was a loving and affectionate fellow. I've been lucky to have many a loving pet in my life, but Life wouldn't have been as good as it has been without the sixteen years Beryl was part of my life.
PS: I forgot some of the stranger abilities of Beryl. For one, he KNEW his name- something dogs usually do, but not true for most cats. He understood the word "Goodnight" as meaning bedtime, whether I called his name with it or not. If he was playing rough and biting, the word, "Gentle" stopped him. And finally, he always knew, no matter the time of day, if I called out, "Breakfast" that he was going to get fed. Most cats don't learn individual words, but he did.
PS: I forgot some of the stranger abilities of Beryl. For one, he KNEW his name- something dogs usually do, but not true for most cats. He understood the word "Goodnight" as meaning bedtime, whether I called his name with it or not. If he was playing rough and biting, the word, "Gentle" stopped him. And finally, he always knew, no matter the time of day, if I called out, "Breakfast" that he was going to get fed. Most cats don't learn individual words, but he did.
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