Sarris

1994 - May 5, 2015

Sarris was the second cat we ever adopted.  We had put our first cat, Rajah, down less than a month before and we had just moved into our newly rented duplex.  As soon as the movers left, we sat down and felt how empty the house was without any pets.  My mother had given me a coupon for money off a pet adoption at one of the Pittsburgh animal shelters, so we hopped up off the couch and went looking.  Our first two stops yielded nothing exciting.  The cats were all sleeping and didn't seem very promising.  At our third stop, we saw a kitty named Peaches.  He was awake and seemed interested in us.  Eric went off to get a shelter worker.  I leaned in and started talking to the kitty.  He stretched his paw through the cage and patted me on the nose.  I was SOLD!

Peaches was not a suitable name for this kitty.  He needed a name that was more befitting his personality.  Sarris is named after a local chocolate candy company.  We were struggling, as we always do, to pick a name for this sweet kitty.  Standing in front of the candy counter at Kaufmann's one of us suggested Godiva as a joke.  That name was just too grand for this timid little guy.  The logical next step was a less grand, but equally sweet chocolate name, Sarris.  

Shy, sweet, devoted, timid, athletic and affectionate.  Sarris was MY cat when Eric was travelling, but he quickly attached himself to Eric when Eric came off the road.  For over 20 years, we have slept with Sarris between us.

For the last several years, Sarris has been very slowly declining.  He was nothing more than skin and bones, but he still seemed to enjoy life and he continued to eat well.  He required fluids every night to help out his ailing kidneys and we offered him food every chance we got.  He slept a lot!  But he kept on going.

The night before we had him put down, he was very weak and didn't seem to have his normal interest in life.  I always thought that it would be crystal clear when it was his time, but the signs were subtle.  However, you can't spend so many years with a pet and not see the signs.

Despite the fact that Baxter and Sarris were the quietest, least active members of our household, our house feels so much quieter without them.