Dogs of the North The Pack Luther

In Memoriam

Luther's start in life was a rough one. He was either born or abandoned on the streets of North Minneapolis and spent his first winter as a scavenger in the dumpsters behind the local fast food restaurants. This likely explains the fact that his favorite toys have always been plastic spoons from take out orders. He would often find one in the garbage can, carry it into the living room, and play with it for hours. I suspect that his first meals came from licking throw away containers.

When I found him, his head was covered in motor oil, his pads were frost bitten, and his ear was bleeding from an encounter with a pit bull. With the help of a kindly neighbor, I managed to rescue him from that situation with the intention of taking him to the humane society where he would be patched up and re-homed. When I stopped at the intersection where I would turn right to take him there, he lifted a paw and touched my cheek. I looked down into the most chillingly beautiful blue eyes I've ever seen, turned left, and have never regretted it for a second.

Luther was running a high fever when I found him, and required a hospital stay and a neuter before he could come home for good. He spent his first days in my study, which doubled as a second bedroom in my house in Minneapolis. I would go in to be with him while he recovered and he'd climb all over me purring his head off and pushing his head into my shoulder to be cuddled. It was so clear that all he wanted in life was a place to call home and someone to love him. I have been so fortunate to have been the one to give him that and to receive his return of that love as he shared my daily life.

There was absolutely nothing Luther liked more than being picked up and held, or snuggling up next to me in bed, or curling up to sleep on someone's lap. He had the loudest purr I've ever heard and he purred often. For the past eleven years I've fallen asleep to the sound of his motor running like a diesel engine in my ear where he was curled up by my pillow to sleep.

The move to Canada was a rough one for Luther. He was easily threatened by changes in his environment, and the process of relocation was far from easy for him. Even so, he quickly came to love Adrian and led a happy life here in Ontario in spite of being a cat who is more prone to anxiety than most. One thing always made him happy and relaxed, and that was to be in my arms or pressed up close beside me.

In these last months of his life, Luther found a lot of joy in playing with a little red mouse that our friend, Kathy Miller, sent back for the cats when I visited her in Phoenix in early November. For some reason, he fell head over heals for this particular toy and would carry it from room to room and play with it in the sweetest way. As his health deteriorated this past month, and he had to be confined away from the other animals, he would hobble across the room and get his little mouse and carry it into his bed to sleep.

We are not certain exactly what took Luther from us. The gradual deterioration in his ability to use his front leg and to maintain basic bodily functions leads us to conclude, in consultation with our vet, that he suffered from either a brain tumor or something affecting his spinal column. When we realized that our efforts to prolong his life would only result in extended suffering, we made the very painful and difficult decision to give thanks for the gift he has been to us, and to let him go.

He died in his favorite place - in my lap, with my arms holding him and Adrian stroking his head.

We've lost three pets now in just a little over three months. As horrible as it is without them, we know that our lives would be so much poorer had they never been given to us at all. We only wish that every companion animal could be treated with the love and kindness they deserve, and for which God created them.

Be at peace in your Creator's care, my sweet, beautiful, blue-eyed kitty. We love you.

Read about Kira.