Mister

by Toni Bondy
(Mountain Home, Idaho)

Mister was a rescued kitty. I found him hiding under my car one morning back in 1992.

Once I coaxed him into the house (took a full day), he promptly settled on the sofa and refused to budge...period.

Mister with his best friend

Posing for the camera!

I took time to make sure that he wasn't just a lost cat, because he seemed so pretty, and so friendly, that I just couldn't imagine that he'd ever be thrown away or abandoned.

Favorite Activity!

Still lounging!

Turns out that I was wrong on all counts. I took him to my vet and discovered that he had broken ribs, a fractured jaw, teeth that had been broken off and many other bruises and healed broken bones.

The vet was fairly sure that he'd been beaten and abused!

Mister was a fairly average sized cat on the day he came into my life, and my vet assured me that he was probably about 3-5 years old, so I never figured he'd keep growing. But did he ever grow!

At the end of his first year with me, he weighed in at 17 pounds of gorgeous long haired kitty.

At the end of his second year he was 21 pounds of magnificent cat.

And I still didn't realize what breed he was.

It wasn't until I had moved to a new state and took him to a new vet that someone recognized his distinct features, size and many many toes. At that point I found out that I had a Maine Coon cat and vowed to never own any other breed again!

He was a wonderful part of my life for 17 years, having died just last fall.

I don't have any fabulous photos of him to submit, because he never seemed to want to hold still for the camera. But here are a couple blurry, off center ones anyways.

Comments:
Tribute To Mister
by: Maine Coon Cat Nation

Hi Toni,

What a wonderful rescue story, and tribute to Mister. I'm so sorry to hear about your loss. It's still recent, and you must miss him every day. A Maine Coon like Mister is a friend and family member, full of personality.

He sounds like an awesome cat. He certainly was handsome! He must have still been a kitten when you brought him to the vet.

Poor boy. I am still stunned every time I hear something like that. He's so lucky that it was your car he chose to hide under!

These pictures are very nice, I think! Especially the one with the Lab. So sweet.

Thanks for sharing Mister with us all. He's a perfect example of this perfect breed. I'll add his picture to our photo gallery, and also to our Rainbow Bridge page.

~Carrie

Thanks Carrie!
by: Toni

It felt so good to find a "home" on the web where Mister will never be forgotten!

I've been hunting for better photo's of him from when he was younger and living in Massachusetts, with his much longer, much thicker winter fur.

Seems like the only ones I can find are summer in South Carolina pics. LOL

I didn't mention his personality in my first post. Can't believe I forgot that part!

He had the tiniest little meow. Till he was 10 or so he didn't ever HAVE a meow. He'd just open his mouth and no sound would come out. He did have a chirp and a hilarious little trill though. Those he used whenever he wanted to speak to me and tell me about his day.

He greeted me at the door every time I came home, insisted on playing "football" with me with a folded paper football, and loved a good game of fetch or hoops (a laundry basket) with a ball of crumpled foil.

At night he'd hop on my bed and curl up next to me with his head on my pillow. He'd put one paw on my neck and purr himself to sleep. When I turned over, he turned over. I swear he thought he was human.

You're right Carrie, I do still miss him terribly. I finally decided it was time to get a new kitten though, so this past April my husband and I headed to the shelter.

We ended up coming home with a Maine Coon mix. She's a year old now and though she has a LOT of trust issues and aggression problems, she's learning to settle in more each day.

Her name is Tilly and I'll be sure to create a post for her soon.

Thanks again for posting my story of Mister. =)