To all who have made considerate and intelligent replies to this thread:
Thank you for your kind words and stories, it is always great sharing stories with fellow pet owners. What I failed to mention in my post is that Thor died on the same day I received my GP32 BLU. I was in the process of transferring some data to the SMC when my wife hollered something about Thor making noise. I initially figured our youngest cat Frost was bothering him, but Frost was right under my feet.
As he never became irate with Scootie, I felt it prudent to investigate (they grew up together - Scootie is our black cat who is also age seven. Frost is our Lynx point Siamese I adopted a year ago that looks exactly like Gig's cat with shorter hair). When I saw Thor, he appeared to be twitching and having a seizure (though at first glance I just thought he was spazzing out like cats tend to do sometimes). He was growling slightly in confusion and couldn't seem to focus with his eyes. I called my wife over and within five minutes he was gone.
As the event was associated with my GP32's arrival, and I was on the forums at the time, I opted to go ahead and post, unknowing how it would be received. I deeply appreciate the positive responses that have been posted here, and have enjoyed the stories regarding your own pets that in many ways mimic my own.
Thor is dearly missed, and not a day has gone by that we do not think of him in one way or another. Despite being a skittish cat at first, he eventually became our most loving cat and would demand attention from just about anyone he considered decent company. In his latter years, he'd walk up to just about anyone he had seen more than once and meow for them to pet him, or sometimes even sit on their lap if he felt that they were trustworthy. It was almost as if to say "Hi, I am Thor, will you love me, I want to be your friend!"
Of course, some people have a closer bond with their pets than others. My wife and I have always been partial to pets,and have always maintained a deep friendship/understanding with them as much as possible. I have no qualms stating I have shed many a tear for Thor, as he had/has a very special place in my heart. He was both a child and friend to me, and I acknowledge his individuality and uniqueness. I love with a whole heart, and I hate with a whole heart, never attempting to delude myself otherwise.
Personally, I have found that the sincere nature of pets can teach us much. Being a prior ferret owner of over six years I can honestly say that my ferrets taught me "Kampfgeist" and "Krieglust" (for those of you who know German...no words in my understanding better express such ideas - I have always found German to be most effective in regards to ideas being expressed as words). In the time I knew them, I was never bitten other than the most playful bite, even when I "tortured" them by cleaning their ears (and they really hated that). I will not deny I received a few warning hisses, but no additional aggression was incurred other than their clear displeasure by fervently squirming.
Odin (oldest ferret) died of cancer after enduring adrenal surgery. Though he died a unfortunately slow and painful death, he fought to survive to the very end, attempting to eat when he could not. Azazel (youngest and most dominant ferret) had to be put down after he developed back problems resulting in partial paralysis. He not only attempted to drag himself around to keep himself going, but he even attempted to attack the vet when was pinched to test for sense of feeling. Never did either of them give up, but instead fought an often unseen enemy to the end. Though perhaps simple and primal in nature, their actions earned my deepest respect, just as Thor's.
It is in this vein that I remember Thor. Though it is in our nature to humanize our pets, it is often done so out of love and the need to understand them. Indeed, I think that they understand us better than we understand them, as they are not bogged down by the manufactured complexity of our conceptualized world. Perhaps, in the end, they have taught us nothing more than common sense from a perspective untainted by so-called "sociological evolution."
