A Mammal Named Jack (Mamsy)

Kris and I have a house-cat named Jack. I’m pretty sure we adopted him sometime in 2013 from a crazy cat lady named Brenda. When I say “crazy cat lady,” I say that with a twinge of humor as she isn’t really crazy at all, just unique. This tale isn’t about “Brenda – The Crazy Cat Lady,” this post is about our adopted mammal Jack, or as I like to call him “Mamsy.”.

Jack is an orange tabby. If you are familiar with the disposition of an orange tabby, then you know they are insanely affectionate and constantly on the prowl for food. Our mammal especially likes to go “crumbing” in the kitchen and holler if he sees one headed in that direction. To the untrained eye you would think he is starving as he will sit or pace in front of the pantry door where his food is kept. Don’t let him fool you, he eats way more than he probably should.

With that said, like many other cats, he has a penchant for getting into things. His level of curiosity is unparalleled. He lives to get into trouble. So much so that in the beginning we used to call him “Jailbreak Jack.” If we would even crack a door to go outside he would be trying to get through and make a run for it. Sometimes he would manage to get passed us, but he would then cower in a nearby shrub or get all low in the grass and whimper… pathetic.

Anyway, Jack is about 15 or 16 years old now (we adopted him at 7 or 8). In fact, we aren’t really sure of his age as his chip had some incorrect information on it when we brought him to the vet. The common idea is that he is at an advanced age based on his “sagginess,” loss of fur and temperament… he is kind of a dick.

Physically, you can tell prior to his adoption he was in a bad way. When we got him, we arranged a veterinary visit at which time the vet discovered he had terrible periodontal disease and an abscess or two in his mouth. In the end he lost a couple teeth (one canine) which causes him to look like he has had a stroke. The missing teeth also cause him to haphazardly toss food in every direction while eating… he is a very messy eater.

He is also missing about half of an ear. We assume that could have been from one of his misadventures where he escaped a house and was tagged by animal control. Apparently when they catch strays they clip their ears (the strays not the animal control people are clipped)… Additionally we learned that he has a large scar on his tongue from some other misadventure and also has a lot of scars below his ears due to a mite infestation years before. Honestly, he is a wreck.

Then there is the list of things he is terrified of…