Ponce de Gibson

Any of you that have ever met our cat Ponce know that he is our little handicapped kitty. He was sick when we got him as a kitten, and he just never got well - for 4 years. He has always had what I call "kitty asthma" and has a neurological issue as well. He has trouble balancing, and when he runs and then stops, his front end stops but his back end does not. It just keeps on coming around until his butt bumps into something and he falls down. It's actually pretty funny. For the first year or so that we had him we took him to the vet, and took him to the vet, and took him to the vet. They gave him all kinds of medicine, ran all kinds of tests, and nothing worked. Ever. So, we just decided to stop taking him and spending unnecessary money. He was the happiest kitty you've ever seen, so we just decided to let him be. So for the past 3 years we have just let him be and his status has not changed one bit. Still sick, but still happy.

He used to curl up with me no matter where I was - in the bed, on the couch, on the floor, wherever. He would get as close to me as he could and plop himself down. Since Bennett has been in the picture, he pretty much only tries to lie next to me in the bed. But he doesn't just jump up on the bed and lie down. First of all, I can always hear him coming. I can hear him coming up the steps (remember, kitty asthma - he constantly wheezes - he couldn't sneak up on you if he tried), then I hear him come into the bedroom, then around to my side of the bed, and then he jumps up onto the bed next to my head. He then bumps and rubs his wet nose against my face. Eww. And not just eww because it's wet. All kitties' noses are wet if they're well, and that's not gross. Ponce is not well. His nose is wet because he is constantly sick and snotty. Eww. But he is my handicapped kitty and I love him and I wash my face first thing every morning anyway and wash my pillow case often (I have a thing with pillow cases - they must stay clean). Anyway, then he plops down (another thing with his balance issue - he can't just lie down easily like any other cat - he leans as far as he can and then plops). Well, he'll lie like that for, oh, about 10 seconds and then he decides that he's not comfortable. He gets up, noses me again, turns around, noses me, turns around, plops down. 10 seconds later, repeat. This will happen at least 4 times before he finally decides he's comfortable. And then if I make the slightest move or noise, he's outta there. He bolts off that bed and out of the room and down the stairs so fast you'd think he was being chased by something. Maybe he thinks he is. Strange little cat.

Ponce is the blonde one, Stewie is the orange one.

Once Bennett came along I got a little annoyed with Ponce. Yes, my sweet, sweet Ponce. I just couldn't take his snottiness. He was getting it everywhere. That's the other thing he does - and this is gross, but I'll tell it anyway. He sneezes all the time... and slings snot. Most of the time he finds it and licks it up himself (what a sweet cat), but a lot of the time I have to go find it and wipe it up myself. Gross, I know. Do you see why I got annoyed? I didn't want Bennett to be crawling across a floor that had Ponce snot on it. And it has seemed to get worse in the last couple months or so. I kept telling Josh and Mama - once these cats are gone, I may not want anymore. I'm tired of snot and kitty litter and kitty puke. I mean, I'm glad they enjoy eating the occasional bug that they find in the floor, but their stomachs don't like 'em. I'd rather kill and clean up the bug than the bug covered in the cats' supper. So, I told them I was done with kitties. And the comment was especially geared towards Ponce. He is just so much messier than any other kitty.


Well, how horrible do I feel now that I have not seen Ponce in 4 days? He stays inside most of the time, but when he does go out it's usually not for long. He'll be back at the door scratching on it or meowing wanting back in. He'll stay outside overnight every once in a while, but he is always sitting at the door in the morning waiting for someone to let him back inside. He loves to sit on the wall in front of our house. I love to look out one of the front windows and see him out there, just lounging, checking out what's going on on our street. As soon as I open the front door to say something to him, he whips his head around and jumps off the wall and runs to the door.


Every morning when I go downstairs I hope I'll see him sitting at the back door wanting in. Throughout the day I'll walk to the front of the house and look outside to see if he's sitting on the wall. At night I hope to hear him coming up the stairs to come get in bed with me. No such luck. I think Mr. Ponce is gone. I told Stewie to find him, but he hasn't been able to yet. He has been very affectionate lately. Cats know when their brother is missing. They're sad. He hasn't started going around the house meowing yet, but I bet you he will if Ponce isn't back in a week or so. I grew up with cats - I know the process.


So, this is an ode to Ponce. The sweetest little handicapped kitty ever.