Scout and Templeton in 2007

Templeton hung out in my office all summer, sleeping in my chair at night and often cuddling up with me in the evenings. Then he started curling up with me in the mornings during breakfast, often circling my chair and murmuring to himself while he waited impatiently for me to get settled.

After I finally sat down, he'd hop up into my lap and softly purr for the next half hour, one of those beautiful little slices of nirvana that you hope will never end.

It was a sunny afternoon, and Templeton and Scout and I were all playing in the backyard, just like we did every summer afternoon. It was one of those dreams that just goes on and on, nothing but the three of us playing.

When it was time to go in, I went to the door and called the cats. They came running to me, and as Templeton ran up to me he vanished before my eyes.

Gone but not forgotten.

This picture of Scout was taken during the summer, I had taken the cats outside after work like always. It was getting late in the evening but still plenty of light so not time to go inside. Scout was sitting in front of one of the rose bushes when a scrub jay landed on the roof, causing her to look up.

Now his problem wasn't getting loaded up on hooch while scatting about town, but more that he didn't drink as much water as he should. He didn't like wet food, so encouraging him to drink more water was the only way to keep him properly hydrated. We tried several approaches, starting with a drinking fountain that kept the water circulated and aerated, but he wasn't too impressed. When we moved to Portland we started keeping a water bowl on each floor, and that certainly helped.

There were two approaches that worked really well, once I realized that Templeton liked to drink water from just about anywhere but where he thought he was supposed to. One was to fill his water bowl and hold it out for him near the sink, he'd hop up away from Scout's affections and drink heartily. Sometimes instead of a bowl, I'd cup my hands in the sink and he'd drink quickly before the water seeped through my fingers.

My master stroke, however, was getting him to drink during his supervised outdoor visits. I always brought out a bowl of water with me, but Templeton always went to drink out of the nasty old water that I left out for the birds in an old flower pot base.

After fruitless efforts to try and get him to drink the fresh water in the water bowl, I started cleaning out the bird bowl first and filling it with fresh water, then putting it back for Templeton. He was aware of the ruse but willing to live with it, and always drank from it as shown here.

My wife reported that she was even snuggling up to the staff and giving them her little headbutts — probably trying to make up for the last time when I took her, she jumped up to the little gap above the cabinets and settled in for a nap, forcing them to get a stepstool to get her down.

Only problem was, Templeton wouldn't go in it. Scout seems to think it of the devil and won't have anything to do with it, whereas Templeton just didn't seem that interested. I promised my wife that I could get him to use it in a few weeks. She washed the cover just in case it had a smell they didn't like.

Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I present you with exhibit A: Templeton zonked out in his new bed.

Templeton has been sleeping quite a bit in the warm bed he finally discovered yesterday. He was sleeping in it earlier today when Scout came up and discovered him sleeping in the bed she has avoided like the plague. Curious as to what he was doing, she jumped up beside him and he made a run for it. She decided to mimic her hero and curled up in the bed for a bit.

She didn't stay long, but long enough for a few pictures.

After Templeton died, she kept pretty close to us the first few days. She slowly returned to her old haunts, including the warm bed, which sits beside my desk. The bed provided both a comfortable place to sleep and comfort in being close to me in the evenings.

She got a flea treatment and a steroid injection (and can now lift a car over her head), it took about a week but she did return to normal. The hair has started to grow back on her belly and tail, but it will be a little thin for a while yet.

We needn't have worried. Scout soon warmed up to the little ones and they to her.