tribute to ray

we went over to ray's people's house to give them flowers and a card for their loss. both me and zac are feeling much better now. we had a good chat with his people about ray and how he (turns out he actually is a boy- he just has visable nipples and squats to pee) ruled the neighbourhood and thought he was invincible. we talked about his attitude (the way he'd suddenly turn on you while you were patting him and then bite or scratch you) and the way he bossed around their other previous cat and the new current cat that they've had for about a year. we actually had no idea they had another cat-- i said to zac this morning that we've never seen other cats in this block although they're all down the side streets off of ours. ray ruled the block. he became very anti-social when they first got a second cat. when that cat was hit by a car about a 18 months ago ray became very affectionate and friendly. not long after, they got a kitten which ray decided he hated right away and became even more anti-social than when the first cat was around and he wouldn't be around the house at all (when i think about it-- that would be about the time he started becoming more than just the elusive black cat that appeared in our yard randomly but wouldn't let us near it. that's about the time he started letting us pet him and he walked into our house for the first time). his people were very glad to know that ray was staying with us on cold nights when they couldn't find him (we always thought they put him out at nite becuase when he first started sleeping over we'd find him outside when we came home late at nite).
poor ray thought he was invincible and he had a bad habit of picking fights when he shouldn't. and that's what happened last nite. ray attacked wombat whose defence was biting the cat on her face. she got ray really good on the face a couple times and his people decided it would be the right thing to put him down.
he was a tough cat though. a great little buddy, a good cuddler (when he wanted), and very strong willed. i know that we will miss ray's midnite cries at the door and purrs on our bed. we'll probably even miss his stubborn attitude.
no other cat will ever rule the neighbourhood like ray.