Over 10 years ago, my cat Wolfgang died and left behind a broken hearted Mom, two dogs who were his sisters and three younger cats- the kittens we called them then and still call them now.

Without Wolfgang his little pack sort of got lost- the Kittens refused to go into the front yard and my dogs- or The Girls as I called them lost the bounce in their step and spent a lot of time in the backyard sleeping.

I figured I’d let them sort it out and a new pack leader would emerge, you’d think that was me but let’s face it. I belonged to Wolfie the same way they did so that didn’t happen.

We were in trouble, when you think about it.

One day a friend of mine brought a stray cat into work- the cat was headed for the humane society and I could tell my friend was not happy about that decision but apparently Kolchak ( as I would name him ) was digging up a flower bed and had made the homeowner mad so Kolchak was caught in a trap.

When I met Kolchak he was in the trap, on his back playing with the handled which he had somehow worked into the cage. He was on his back when he looked up at me with the most devastatingly beautiful yellow eyes and he meowed as if he was saying, ‘ well there you are.’

I named him Carl Kolchak because my warehouse is part of the Seattle Underground system and my favorite TV hero- Carl Kolchak had the first of his adventures in Seattle’s Underground.

Kolchak was calm, cool and quite the gentleman cat. He never jumped on anyone looking for attention and he always seemed to know when to be there and when to give you your space.

When I took him to the vets for his checkup he walked around the office and on the counter with confidence- nothing rattled Kolchak.

When I took him home, it was like he had always lived there.

The Girls watched him walk around the house and then they followed him- like they used to do with Wolfie.

The holdout was Domino, she didn’t want Kolchak around her. But he persisted in his quiet way and after that he was always at her side- even when she started to suffer from heart failure.

He was there with her the night she died, by her side.

Of course.

The Kittens- who were actually about 5 years old at the time took to Kolchak right away- he tried to get them to go into the front yard with him and they would if me and Domino went too, but their confidence in that area never came back.

Almost 3 years ago I brought home a little puppy I named Hamish Macbeth and Kolchak did what he did for Domino- when Hamish was little and I was only walking him around the yard and in front of the house Kolchak followed us the entire time.

Sometimes he was more insistent then others that we head back to the house and I always followed his lead- I figured he was picking up on something that wasn’t  ” Hamish Friendly”.

That was Kolchak, the big brother, the confident cat that came into a broken little family and put it back together again.

As I said about Carl with love and admiration when I would see him sunning himself, or grooming Hamish or one of his brothers, when he stayed by Domino’s side as her health failed and when  he would sit in the back yard wither Cerbie and go after planes and birds-

He was suave and so debonair.

Goodnight Carl Kolchak, we love you so much.

 

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