"Ringo".....

On January 27, 1998 a litter of kittens were brought to us by one of our clients.  Somehow this one  cute, fun, energetic & smart kitten was the LAST of the litter to be adopted.  We Eastside girls begged Dr Johnson to let us keep him and thankfully Dr Johnson wanted to keep him...forever too.

We named him "Ringo"  (after Ringo Starr & also for the ring of color (or target) on his side.  He was right at home, hanging on the door handles to see the lizards & birds in the shrubs out the front door.  Although he was an avid wildlife "watcher" , he did not like to go outside at all.  Once we had a client pick him up & try to take him out the front door to show his wife our cat.  "Ringo" clawed & climbed over the man's shoulder & got back inside.  He knew he had it made inside those glass doors.

"Ringo" always found the warm spots, wherever the sun came in...the doors, the window sills, or the stairway.  If it was cloudy, he found the tops of the computer monitors.  Dr Johnson did not like that...bad for the computers, but we all thought he was cute all curled up top there.

"Ringo's" JOB was supposed to be as a blood donor as well as a "greeter", but that didn't happen until he was MUCH older.  Lucky for him, he was only needed 3 times in his life.

Some of the special memories of "Ringo"  & all he did...

Social Greeter - he greeted all our clients (really looking for personal attention) and was especially social with the stressed cats in their cariers coming in to see the Doctors.  "Ringo" would come up to the cat carriers while the one inside usually hissed & growled.  "Ringo" would then just jump up on top of the carrier & lay down as if blanketing them with comfort & understanding care.He even went into the rooms with some of those "special needs" pets if necessary.

TroubleMaker - As a kitten, "Ringo" had an eating disorder...he liked to eat through the most expensive bag of "prescription diet" DOG food, at night when no one was watching.  We EAC girls would try to clean up before "dad" Dr J would come in & find the huge mess all over the waiting area.  What a funny time...we had to laugh.

PlayTime - One story that made us all laugh in amazement at how smart "Ringo" was...We always kept a cheese wedge display filled with catnip filled mice on the receptionist counter.  When "Ringo" was feeling frisky, he would sit next to the cheese wedge & "claw" pick one mouse at a time & toss it onto the floor.  He then would wait for some helpful..."sucker" to pick them all up & put back into the cheese wedge display...Just to start all over again.  If we would have video taped those events, we would have won $10,000.00!

Mentor - Having started life as one of our adoption kitties, "Ringo" was always a very good mentor to the new scared ones that arrived at EAC.  He was vbery calming to them.  He also put some in their place when needed - almost like an uncle...hence "Uncle Ringo".  He would spend time with them playing , teaching, & entertaining.  We think he did it so he could steal their food (payback)...

Thief in the Night - "Ringo" was a vert sweet cat, but very sneaky also.  As we always have a cat, or two or three, in hospital or adoption kittens with yummy kitten food, "Ringo's" favorite stunt was to slither through our swining doors & climb up the bank of cages.  He would then hang on the doors while stealing kibbles of food by scooping it out  for a midnight snack.

With all of his wonderful attributes, troublemaking ways, mischievous events & special qualities, he is very deeply missed by all he touched. 

Ringo, we will always think of you & smile.

September 14,1997 - September 16, 2011