In Memory of Toonces aka Evan, Evie Cat, Toonce

I helped Toonces cross over to kitty heaven today. He was around 17 or 18 years old so he really had a good long life but his body and I think even his spirit could no longer continue. I am tired of crying and being sad about it so I decided a little memorial for Toonce might help me remember the happier times that he had. So I have spent hours going through old pictures (Man I really need to do something about all the boxes of pictures that I have back before the day of digital cameras..maybe some day) Toonce came to me about a 11 years ago while I was in college and my sister could no longer take care of him. Before she had him a friend of hers had him so I guess he lived the majority of his life with me. He was actually called Evan back then and I refered to him as Evie or Evie Cat. He was the first cat that I have ever had. I have always been more of a dog lover but he seemed to be unique and immediately settled into my heart. I remeber the first night that I him he kept me awake all night! :)

Here are some pictures of Evie back when he lived with me in college with my roomates. This first picture is him cuddling up with me on my shoulder. I used to carry him around like this. Man I am getting old!

Here is Toonce on the my roomate, Julie's bed, helping her study. If he wasn't sleeping with me he could be found sleeping with Julie.

Toonce even played board games with us. Here is is rolling the dice.

After college I lived mostly by myself and moved MANY times. Toonce always just went right along with me. So, I guess you have been wondering...What is this cat's name? Well after college I had a rather neurotic roomate named Ashley and she said that his eyes were so big that he reminded her of Toonces the driving cat from Saturday night live. She started calling him that and soon Toonce seemed to fit him rather than Evie. Strange I know to chane a 12 year old cats name but as the years went on I called him Evie less and less and Toonce more and more. Here is a picture of "Toonces the driving cat" for who he was named after. Do you see any resemblence?

Here is a picture of Toonce right after I moved. He liked to hide in boxes back in his young years.After Trev and I got married Toonces came right along. Trever isn't much of a cat lover but he tolerated him. In his older years he slept more but several things were always a constant. He slept with me every night. Trever loved Toonce in his own little way but Toonce knew the place to sleep was with me. Often he would wait until Trever was snoring and then hop into bed with me. In the winter you couldnt keep him from laying on your legs. Another constant was he kept Duke, the 125 pound great dane, in line. It was always quite a sight to see Toonce lay in the middle of the hallway and the dogs to scared to go by him. If they did dare to go by he would claw and bite there legs. Everyone would often say, "you have a cat with those big old dogs." I would always laugh and say don't feel sorry for the cat you should feel sorry for the dogs. :) The dogs and the cat did have a love hate relatinship becuase you would often find the kitty curled up next to the dogs while they slept. I swear I have a picture of this somewhere but can't seem to find it. Guess my non digital and digital pictures are both a mess. We did have many foster danes in and out of her house. One time we had a dane named Posey who had a messed up tail that was nasty and bloody. I took this pic of him watching over her as if to say if you mess with that tail I will get you! :)Toonce also shared many things with the dogs. Here in this picture he is sneaking a drink out of one of their bowls.

A friend of mine, Peyton, who is always was sad when she would recieve pictures or a christmas card and Toonces wouldn't be on them. It is because Toonce did not take pictures on demand. YOu had to get lucky and have a camera near by and get lucky and get his picture. A good example is I tried to get his picture for the christmas card this year and you can see that he is less than thrilled. In fact I think PISSED OFF is a better phrase.

Every now and again I could actually snap a photo of him. Here he is a few months ago snuggled up on the couch. I am sure to make sure one of the dogs couldn't have it.

As you can see toonce live a good 18 years of life. I did not know him when he was a kitten but I hope that he is now running in kitty heaven like he did when he was a kitten with no pain or cares in the world. We will miss you my evie tooncey cat! Much love! :)