Rescue Stories - Linus & Tubby: They Changed Their Human's Life Forever

Hello, and Happy Caturday! What better way to celebrate Caturday than with a fantastic rescue story? Today we present the tale of Linus, brought to us by fellow blogger B.J. Bangs at Paws for Reflection. Read on to see the beautiful impact they had on her life. 

Lola

How could I find the most handsome, Siamese Cats at a shelter, and two that would change my life forever? 

I had no intention of adopting a cat that day. My neighbor had left behind a black cat when he moved, and I was thinking of taking him in. As I had 3 other cats, 2 of mine and one of Mom’s, it seemed to be a stretch. The black cat had spent a lot of time outside so I wanted to make sure it would be safe to adopt him. At that time, if he had leukemia, it would not be wise to co-mingle with my cats.

This was in 2006. I loved cats, but I really didn’t know much about them. A blog was something I’d never heard of, and while I had an interest in writing about cats it was like a pipe dream in never never land.

With little cat knowledge, I didn’t realize this cat might be feral or semi-feral, so my Mom and I ( my Mom had early onset of Alzheimer’s Disease and I was living with her) set out to get him into a carrier to take the local shelter to be tested, adopted, or…..something else. It was quite a struggle. He was fighting all the way, but we got him into the carrier and took him to the shelter. Sad to say, this pretty black kitty tested positive for leukemia. I had so wanted to help him. 

As I was waiting, I went through the cat area and stopped in my tracks when I saw a handsome Siamese kitty. He had the most gorgeous steel blue eyes, chocolate points, and a tan body. It was love and first sight, and he seemed to be pretty fond of me. I had planned to adopt the neighbor’s cat, so, this was kind of a no brainer… I had always wanted a Siamese Cat. There was just something about them. They were fascinating.

When I expressed my interest in adopting him, the shelter manager, asked, ‘Would you mind taking two, for the same adoption fee?" I met his brother, a totally sleek black boy with a star on his chest.  He was a sweet cat, but he didn’t look Siamese. I was told the shelter wanted to keep them together because they had never been apart.  

Yikes, five cats is a bit of a stretch! My Mom was with me, and she didn’t have any objections to two, rather than one. So I began my life with Linus, my Applehead, and Tubby, my little black panther.

A college student had moved out of her apartment and left the 2 cats behind with a bag of cat food and the toilet seat up. After a couple of weeks, the apartment owner found them and took them to the shelter. They had contacted the owner and she said she was going to come back and get them (and pay for the spay/neuter, but she hadn’t shown up). In hindsight, it was a blessing.

These cats were the absolute best. Tubby was a real lap cat, and Linus would sit by his side and defer to whatever room was left in my lap. They would run through the house, wrestle with one another, and just loved jumping into an empty file cabinet box in the living room. They were rambunctious. One day, I found them in the washer. They’d jump into the dryer to try to snuggle with the warm clothes, and I’d carefully extricate them and let them know that wasn’t a safe place to be. 

While all the cats were special, there was just something about these two – maybe it was because they were Siamese – that opened my heart up to true love. One night when I was watching Jeopardy on TV, I was struck by one of the contestants talking about the dating game. He usually ended up dating gals with cats of which he was allergic to. It made me think about the connection between dating and cats. I came up with the kernel for a book idea, one of which is coming to fruition now that Linus has passed over the bridge, ‘Who Needs Men, I’ve Got Cats’. 

Tubby would go upstairs and sleep on the foot of my bed every single night. In deference, Linus would spend many nights downstairs. But when in my bedroom, he would curl around my head, and try to sleep in my arms.

All I could think of was true love. They loved to cuddle and snuggle and were just so funny! Mom loved watching them too, as they could leap from one end of the room to the other.

As we lived out in the country, I did let them go out for supervised outdoor activity, but only when one of us was outside with them. 

A year and a half later, Tubby disappeared one day. This is a long story, and one that I will not spend too much time on here, but I found him hiding inside in my bedroom 3 days later. He was so weak he could hardly walk. Perhaps he had gotten a bad mouse, I thought. It was the end of the Martin Luther King weekend, and if he did not improve, I would call the vet the next day.

I took him to the vet, and an older guy was filling in. I didn’t like what I heard and neither did the Vet Techs. They suggested I take him to a specialist. They called, and it turned out there was an appointment available that afternoon. I rushed down to the office 100 miles away, only to find he had what they called FIP. Equipped with a very sick cat, some steroids, and a heavy heart, I drove home in a blizzard. My poor baby. It was a month later, maybe less, when there was no choice but to euthanize him. I was feeding him with a syringe and carrying him in a cat bed up and down the stairs. He could not even jump onto the couch. He was suffering and not going to get better.

Linus was perplexed that his litter-mate had disappeared, and he kept looking for him. He had an empty space in his heart. A year and a half later, I adopted a long-haired ginger kitten who my boss’s daughter had thrown out to the barn. Linus adopted him, and Little Yellow would be on the tail end chasing the other cats as they went from room to room in this big old farmhouse.

Many years went by, and Linus remained the love of my life. He would stretch out on my chest and put one paw on each side of my neck as if giving me a hug. He would snuggle in my arms as we went to sleep together. As he got older, he developed a heart murmur, but had very few health issues. I was so happy for that.

Last summer, I noticed him slowing down a bit, but that happens as all of us age; cats and humans alike. In November, he was diagnosed with diabetes. Once the insulin started (he didn’t object), it was like a light went out. He stopped meowing and lost a lot of weight. His eyes lost their steel blue hue and became dull. It was a heart wrenching four and a half months, as he became weak and was in pain. In the end, he could not even walk up and down the stairs. On Good Friday, April 10, 2020, I lost the love of my life, and with only two cats left, I feel a huge empty space in my house and my heart.

Within a day, it was if his spirit came back to be with me. Within one week after his passing, I was talking with an illustrator about the book, ‘Who Needs Men, I’ve Got Cats’. We’ve signed the contract with hopes of it being published this fall. It seems a fitting tribute to Linus.

The writer’s block that I’ve been dealing with for the past year since I entered semi-retirement seems to be gone and it's easier to focus. Again, it seems like Linus is telling me to move on. It seems apropos that I’m writing this rescue story on the day when his ashes were returned to me. He came home today. 

Most likely, I will adopt a couple of kittens (hopefully Siamese) in the future, but they will have their own habits, traits and personalities. I’ve learned, no two cats are the same, and while I love all my cats to death, none will be as special as Tubby and Linus.

By B.J. Bangs

Paws for Reflection

If you have a rescue story you'd like to share, email us at LolaTheRescuedCat@gmail.com.