Elio

2016-2026

When Shmudla passed away in 2016, followed by Caliche in 2017, we decided we were too old to have any more cats. That lasted about two months, until the day I called Dennis to tell him I'd just met an adorable long-haired ginger girl. Madeleine came home with us that day. But we were both working, and we felt bad about leaving her home alone all day. So we started shopping for a friend for her, preferably another small female, since Madeleine is hypervigilant by nature."

At the Animal League of Green Valley, there were lots of great cats. But there was only one, a small tabby named "Eleora", who fixed me with her deep golden eyes and latched onto my purse. While we were filling out the adoption papers, we learned that Miss Eleora had recently undergone an operation for an undescended testicle!

Now that we knew he self-identified as male, we changed his name to "Elio". In two months, he doubled in size. He was a big, bumbling dufus who played too rough, and Madeleine loathed him.

In retrospect, we made two mistakes with Elio. One was separating him from the sister, since they were a bonded pair. The other was not asking more questions about his first year of life. He was described as an "indoor/outdoor" cat, but he would spend the next nine years asking to go outside.

Elio was a rambunctious boy who need constant stimulation. If he couldn't find any trouble to get into, he'd create some. He loved to sharpen his claws on a fresh roll of toilet paper. Or take a flying leap and land in the middle of a dress I was trying to cut out.

Wherever we went, he went. Whatever we did, he had to be right in the middle of it.

In the summer, a nice cool bathroom sink was the perfect place for a nap.

We bought him his own tent, so he could practice camping.

While Madeleine and Elio never became friends, they did learn to coexist. Real fights were rare, and when we'd go away for a few days, the catcam revealed them cuddled up together in our bed.

But his true love was Dennis. He followed him everywhere, and slept in the crook of his arm at night.

By 2019, we were both at least partly retired and free to travel, but we always felt guilty about leaving the cats alone, even with a pet sitter. So we bought them an RV.

There was some screaming and yelling at first, but eventually Madeleine and Elio became great travelers, and appreciated the extra attention they received when it was just the four of us with no distractions.

Best of all, Elio learned to tolerate a leash, so he could explore outdoors wherever we camped. He loved it!

We spent the summer of 2020 camping all over northern New Mexico and northern Arizona, and discovering that I could work remotely, so we were no longer tethered to Tucson.

In late 2020, we moved to Silver City, New Mexico, and spent most of the next year renovating a classic Silver City miner's cabin. Elio supervised every stage of construction.

We rewarded him with the best possible gift — a catio where he could come and go as he pleased.

Silver City Kitty.

Whenever Dennis was in the ham shack, Elio was right there with him.

Camping at Big Lake in Arizona.

Going for a walk on a very warm night at Datil Wells Campground.

A cicada in the house provided hours of entertainment.

Of course Elio slowed down a bit with age. The naps were longer, and the zoomies fewer and farther between.

Mocked by a squirrel in the Santa Fe National Forest. He was too fat and out-of-shape to climb the tree!

Oh well, it was more fun to steal my camping chair.

In the last year of his life, we broke down and let him come and go outside, as much as he wanted. He finally got to be a real cat! But he also got in fights that resulted in numerous trips to the vet. After a series of infections, he declined rather abruptly, becoming less and less active, hiding, and eventually refusing to eat or drink. He passed away in Dennis' arms early on the morning of July 27, 2026. He leaves a big hole in our hearts.