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Name: Spike
Nicknames: Spikearoni, Spikey, SpikeyBean, Spikearoo, Spikeawoo, Grump, Boo
Sex: Male
Died: September 19, 2008 at age 9 (est. birth, winter 1999)
Eye Color: orangish
Fur color / Markings: black and white spots;
white spike on his head, black spike on his chest, Hitler mustache

About
During the summer of 2000, Spike started hanging around our house. He was very friendly and very much starving. Finally my mom decided that if he was still around in October, we would adopt him in November. Needless to say, he was still around and we adopted him ( or did he adopt us?). Now Spike is very much not starving, having gotten up to weighing 15 pounds. He's a big cat in general, but now he's fat, too. He's funny because he always lets my dad pick him up and starts purring immediately; occasionally I can pick him up and he'll be happy about it but he never wants my mom to pick him up. He has a tendency to follow me around everywhere and act like my little puppy dog. He likes laying on my stuff, or near me but usually not on me. Occasionally he wakes me up at 7 in the morning because he wants fed. He is extremely playful; he likes chasing the other cats around and sounds like a bear when he's running all over the house. He's afraid of catnip bubbles. He's afraid of storms; whenever it starts raining, he lays flat to the ground and sometimes hides, so I usually pick him up and hold him to try to comfort him. He always seems to know when I'm about to get out the camera, because as soon as I get my camera to take a picture, he moves. One of his new favorite places to sleep is our closed off fireplace. To put it short, Spike is like an oversized teddy bear, a big scaredy cat, very playful, strange, and very lovable.
Of the many different things which make him Spike, one characteristic which has developed since I first wrote this page is his tendency to lay near you, just out of reach and immediately begin to purr. Its quite annoying and I have a feeling he knows it.

*Updated October 12, 2008*
Spike died September 19, 2008 due to kidney failure. He died around 8PM on a Friday evening. He got very sick, very quickly. It was literally only a few days between when he seemed to be doing fine and we didn't know anything at all was wrong with him, and when he was gone.

He was my best friend to the end, and even at the end he showed me love, gentleness and intelligence. At the end he could barely move, and the last time he was really able to move he did so to rub his face against my hand. I have no doubt at all where he is now: ask me and I will tell you with no hesitation: yes, cats do go to heaven. That last week is all the evidence I need. Spike was more than a cat, he was my best friend, and this hole in my heart will not easily be repaired nor will he ever be replaced nor forgotten.

A few things I guess I forgot when I originally wrote this page: Spike was my puppy dog. If I was on the computer, he was right there beside me. If I was in bed, he was right there next to me. If I was taking a bath, he had to check in on me. In short, he was routinely by my side which makes this all the more difficult because I can't face anything in my life without thinking of him because where once he was, now he's gone.