Is there anything more sophisticated than a tuxedo cat? Send us your pet stories

AVON, Ohio — When we first “inherited” Rupert from our daughter when he was 2 years old, a friend of ours asked what he looked like. I told them that he looked like an upside-down skunk.

That friend said, “Oh, that’s a tuxedo cat, and I have one too.”

I had never heard that name before. We soon learned that tuxedo cats truly do have a unique and fun personality.

Rupert was a big cat — but trim, not fat.

We always said he was neurotic. But wouldn’t you be, too, if you were castrated, totally dependent upon others for food and drink, “stuck” indoors and had no other animal friends or even a friend of your own kind?

But he was such a crazy and entertaining cat. We totally LOVED him. His nightly antics would actually make us laugh out loud.

If you scrunched up a piece of paper into a ball and threw it at him, he would “play catch” — and sometimes even hit it back to you.

He loved playing with and chewing on ribbons, bows and sparkly things. We had to keep wrapped presents upside down; otherwise, we’d find teeth marks in the bows and ribbons.

He tragically passed 14 years ago at the age of 9. He heroically tried to survive a herniated diaphragm, with resulting surgery to move the abdominal organs back to the abdomen where they belonged, instead of being in the thorax (chest) because of the herniated diaphragm.

The extent of his illness was just too severe to overcome, even with all of the expert care and abundance of love.

We still miss him and think about him. He was a great cat!

Linda Heiden,

Avon

Do you share your life with an animal that is near and dear to you? Tell us something about your pet – all species are welcome – and send along a photo of the two of you. Be sure to tell us which Greater Cleveland community you live in. Send everything to Ann Norman at anorman@cleveland.com.