Murphy has been with me from the beginning. He was there for my first apartment. My first dates with my now husband. My wedding. My babies.

He has been my companion in life even if he gave the world an attitude and struck fear into the hearts of vet techs from coast to coast.

Yes, Murph was an asshole cat…but in a way only MY asshole cat could be. He was so jealous of Aaron for the first several years of our relationship I slept on the COUCH if Aaron stayed the night because Murphy would make so much noise in a jealous fit no one would get any sleep otherwise.

He also would wake you up with meows if he was hungry and swipe at your ankles if he didn’t like you. But he always cuddled my toes at bedtime and never once opened his claws to the kids.

In his last days he endured a new dog in the house and his kitty body’s ongoing thyroid and kidney problems.

For those shaking their heads wondering why all the fuss over a cat…well, to you I can never explain. Because in our home the pets are family, they are woven into our daily lives from the time we bring them in as babies to when they finally leave us in their old age.

He wasn’t just a cat, he was the old, cranky man in our house whom we all loved… and will sorely miss.