I can always tell how Chester is feeling by two things. The first being the amount he cuddles; if all he wants to do is cuddle, I know he's uncomfortable, scared, or something in general is wrong. The second indicator is the whining. The more he whines, the more pleased and self-assured he is. He is silent around new people or new situations. He screams if he knows food is on the way.
Why am I telling you this? Well, lately, I can barely get Chester to sit still and let me pet him. And the whining...oh the whining. This is one cat that could hardly be happier about life. His biggest problem is that we don't take him outside into the hall enough to explore new things. Doors should NEVER ever be closed to him. He owns the world, after all.
He never licks us, except for my eyelids occasionally (no clue at all) and sometimes my eyebrow ring. Sometimes he tries to eat it. Which is somewhat of the worst thing ever. But anyway, when I eat spicy food, he always tries to lick my lips afterwards. Big. Weirdo.
One day we came home to find that Chester had ripped into our pita bags and eaten half a pita. Meanwhile, we're struggling to get him to eat high quality raw beef. Oh, and he loves squash. We gave him some to help his indigestion, and I swear that was the only reason he ate his beef that day. So. We have a vegetarian cat. That's cool, I guess.
He also desperately wants to take a bath. He doesn't want to get wet, but if a bath has been drawn, he will sit on the edge of the tub the entire time and try to figure out a way to get in without getting his paws wet. Sometimes he tries, then realizes it was a terrible idea, then tries again. He's got to be one of the most entertaining pets around. His personality is huge...and weird.
Anyway, he'd been living in his happy home for years, but was starting to deteriorate because of his complications. Well, because of Chester's massive success, his mamma decided to go back to Canada West and try one more time. The surgery went off successfully, and Alfie is now recovering with minor complications. He's doing great and he now has many more years of health and comfort to look forward to. We were so, so excited to hear about his happy story, so glad the success of all these stray cats keep coming.
This was one of the hardest decisions Gyan and I ever made, and I'm convinced there was no right answer. This story could have been very different. Had the surgery not worked out for Chester, I never would have forgiven myself for prematurely ending his life. If it weren't for Chester's strength and the tenacity of him and all his feline (and canine...and human..and...) friends, our happy endings could easily have been further struggles. But because of all of the amazing, wonderful things, people, and circumstances, so many more wonderful things are happening. And really, that's all I could ask for for any life, and I'm so proud of what he's been able to inadvertently do. We started this website to keep Chester alive, but it's stories like these that are the real reason for this existing.