Spanky was one-of-a kind. He was one of the largest cats I have ever had the pleasure of meeting - 18 pounds of solid, muscular cat. He was extremely athletic, and would jump up onto my shoulder from the floor without even thinking about it. Diane picked him out of a litter of kittens about a week after he was born. She was an Assistant Manager at the Penn Hills Eat'n'Park restaurant. The mother belonged to one of the waitresses that worked for her. He was a Red Mackerel Tabby with White, American Shorthair (no papers). His mom was a Calico and his father was just passing through - a true rolling stone! He was born in Penn Hills, PA.
Spanky was the most social cat I have ever known. Whenever anyone came to the house, he was the first one to greet them. If he was not greeted and petted immediately, the visitor's ankles were fair game. He loved to bite - he had a very strong jaw and fortunately, big, strong and rather dull (as far as cats go) teeth. He was all male - he loved to rough-house with everyone and anyone. He loved to play with toys as well. His favorites included crumpled-up cigarette packs, Cat Dancers and the cat socks that were popular in the 80's and 90's. (We can't seem to find them anymore.) Cat fishing poles were also popular with Spanky. But his most favorite were the cigarette packs. He had to rely on Joan & Dave (Diane's folks) for his supply - neither of us have ever smoked. When they finally quit, we stocked up on as many empty packs as we could get our hands on! He also was, as you would expect, the Alpha male and overall TopCat in our pride. He would break up any other cats who were fighting - he was the peacekeeper. Only he was allowed to pick an argument with another cat.
While he was a rough-and-tumble boy, he was secretly Mommy's Boy. He would curl up on Diane's lap or snuggle up against her legs while we watched football games. He was usually tender, but he was also known for his Lick-Lick-Bite sequence when kissing your nose! And when his teeth hooked into your nostril, tears of pain were a given. He would get mad at Diane if she was gone for more than two days. When we went on vacation or if she had to go out of town, her ankles and wrists were sure to get blood-drawing bites while either getting ready for bed or getting dressed the following morning. He would get locked in the bathroom after his first bite until she would finish getting ready! (Spanky time-out!) He would get so upset when we went on vacation or go away that we had to get him a companion. That was Princess. Those two got along so well that they set the stage for the rest... They were the only two "planned children." She is still wandering around the house looking for him.
He was extremely healthy for most of his life. We had a scare with him in early 1993, when he got under my feet while I was cooking. I stepped on the base of his tail with my sneakers as I took a backwards step towards the refrigerator. (It was a galley-style kitchen.) His ever-twitching tail stopped for the first and only time in his life. The vet told us that it would probably take between six and eight weeks to regenerate the damaged nerves. If we did not see improvement we would need to take him to Columbus, Ohio for treatment. At six weeks (on the nose!) the tip of his tail started twitching again! However, he never regained 100% strength in his back legs. He was still strong (probably 90%), but we feel that this contributed to his arthritis later in life.
He was diagnosed with a hyperactive thyroid in 1999, which required a daily Tapezole pill. Tapezole has a nasty side effect of attacking the kidney, but he would not have lasted very long with the thyroid not being treated. In March of 2002, he was diagnosed with renal (kidney) failure. The signs of renal failure do not manifest themselves until a cat is down to 25% function. We treated him by administering subcutaneous (SubQ) fluids (200 mL of electrolytic fluids under the skin, twice a week at first). This flushes the toxins out of the kidneys. While he never loved these treatments, after the first couple of weeks it became routine. After his arthritis flared up in September, we had to give him daily doses of prednisone (which also harms the kidney) and an occasional 1/2 baby aspirin for pain. Towards the end the SubQ were required to be administered every other day to counteract the prednisone's damage to the kidneys.
By the middle of the week of October 7, he developed serious diarrhea and could no longer walk or clean himself. The time had come - there was no quality of life. We had to take a few days to accept this. He had started fighting us about a week before when it was pill time - twice-a-day sessions of about four or five partial pills. He joined Pumpkin on Sunday, October 13, 2002. He was buried in Rosedale Pet Cemetery on Friday, October 18, 2002 in the plot next to her. Hopefully she is teaching him how to hunt and he is teaching her how to play with toys! Her favorite toys were her own tail and any cardboard box... She never learned how to play with cat toys. They both are with Joan as well. She loved them both dearly.
Spanky was one special guy. He is sorely missed! He was totally, single-pawedly responsible for both of our love of cats. There are seven other cats who had or are having a great life because of the love and joy he brought into our lives. Rest in peace, my big boy! No more pain or pills for you, my buddy.
His nicknames were many, and included: Pumpkin (before she came into our lives), P, Spankster, Spankenstein, Landshark, BOW (Big Orange & White), Spaz, Woundy-boy, Spanky-Doodle, Houdini (a great escape artist!), and many, many more!
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