after 10 years of good service and devoted friendship,
fur covered aliens lay motionless.

rest in peace dobie.
9/90 - 3/9/01

the gray mouser, aka dobie, shared his living space with amy and alex. dobie was an in-door alien of the feline variety who died at 10 years of age due to natural causes. he was born in milford, nj back in september of 1990. for the first three months of his life he lived with his brothers and sisters in an old, musty barn with dirt covered windows in the woods. the first time he saw light was in december 1990, when amy went to meet him for the first time. when that toothless junk-yard owner brought him out, he could barely see, and he always had bad eyesight. this can make for some very embarassing moments if one is a cat. his brothers and sisters had long hair, and were terrified of the light. at the time dobie and amy met they were scrambling to get back inside of the barn. dobie just let amy hold him, and squinted his eyes and pressed close to her. she took him home.

he had a life full of adventure, even though he was mostly an indoor cat. or maybe because he was an indoor cat, a huge imagination made those infrequent trips outdoors all the more adventurous. it is widely believed that dobie thought he was a much larger cat, or perhaps even a different variety or species, as evidenced by such feats as him attempting to attack a dog about 15 times his size, or on occassion, humans. had there not been compassionate human intervention on many occasions, dobie would have passed over much, much earlier in his life. there is one account that he also managed to corner a grown woman who was so terrified she had to be escorted from the house by amy. this was was dobie's idea of "play."

as one might imagine, dobie did not like other animals very much, except the human kind. he did love people--especially the various other humans he also lived with over his life time. these people included gus (who took the picture above and many other awesome photos of dobie--thanks gus!), dan, rob, liz, kim, and nancy (aside from amy and alex). he also loved mike and dave, who he knew from prosolar mechanics. dobie loved music equipment--especially guitar cabinets with nice, shreddable fabric covers and guitar cases with velvet linings. his favorite toys were crumpled up pieces of paper (known as "mousies," which amy will probably be finding all over the house for the next ten years) and macaroni tied to thread, to be dangeld from doorways or dragged across the floor. he also enjoyed chewing up plants and vomitting in secret places

he lived in massachusetts for a while as a kitten, and lived in at least seven different houses during his lifetime. dobie loved car rides, but hated the cat carrier. he could ride in a car for hours without complaining if he was free to hang out. if you put him in a carrier, he would scream until you let him out. truth be known, he rarely left the house anyway. but he was a true mechanic's cat. he was well, well loved and is deeply missed. he will never be forgotten.

"an object is an object is an object..."

fur covered aliens lay motionless in places low to the ground.

thanks to all of our family and friends for their well wishes and condolences when dobie died. also, the folks at garden state veterinary services in little falls, nj (drs. paul, pollen, marcos and livitzke) and dr. effinger at raritan animal hospital were all very wonderful and helpful at the end. thanks very much. asj