From 1994 to 2000, we were owned by a beautiful big tabby cat named Gabriel. He was my buddy. Gabe was a loving boy, loved to snuggle, loved to be petted, loved to be scritched. He was always my companion at the computer, often sitting on top of the big monitor on winter evenings. He was also the "guardian of the garden".
He was also the "guardian of the garden". Over half of our front yard is a flower garden - a combination of my husband's prized irises and my perennials and annuals. Gabriel loved to sit in the garden on hot days to stay cool.
He'd also hang out there when I was weeding or dead-heading the flowers. The other thing he loved to do was lie in wait for the little mutt down the street to come by on his daily walk with his master, Ron. Barkley would come walking by and out came Gabriel charging at him! Poor Barkley. He never knew what hit him! And Gabriel never touched him - just wanted to remind Barkley whose turf it was.
Gabe was an indoor/outdoor cat, weighing about 13 pounds and none of it was fat. He was big. He also was territorial. We could never be sure whose cat he'd be fighting about territory. There was a cat on the street behind us that he fought with several times the fall of 2000, once coming home with a tooth in his neck! Had to have it removed by the vet. We tried to keep him inside but he was so used to being outside. He was so unhappy being cooped up. Finally, one night, he didn't come home. I was devastated. We searched. We took out ads in the paper. We checked the animal shelter for months. He never came home. I told my husband that I was never getting another cat. Gabe had been the 6th cat we had owned and my "baby" and losing him broke my heart.
Meanwhile, ol' Barkley avoided our sidewalk in front of our gardens for another year and a half before he finally realized that Gabriel was never going to jump out on him again...
Rest in peace in pootie heaven, Gabe. We still miss you.