A Life Well Lived

Jonathan Dangerous, author of this blog, was laid to rest on Wednesday, June 30, 2010. Born on December 14, 1997, he was eleven-and-a-half years young. Extremely rare in cats, he had advanced cutaneous hemangiosarcoma, cancer of the lining of the blood vessels.

Depending on the company he kept or the severity of the act he had done, he was known as JD, John, JohnJohn, Jonathan, JDamn, and JDarn.

Jonathan Dangerous was born in New York City into a large litter of kittens, who found home in the Union Square Petco’s no-kill shelter. At eight weeks old, he and his brother, Archibald, were adopted by their mother, Ann, who was required to adopt two kittens.

She had no problem selecting these two kittens: all of the cats were asleep in their crate and John and Archy were in the litter box, fiercely duking it out. The kitten was named Jonathan Dangerous as he fancied himself a superhero who could fly, especially after climbing atop something high, but who was actually more dangerous to himself than any criminal.

The boys moved to a 1^st story, railroad apartment in Washington Heights, where they enjoyed chasing ballpoint pens up and down the hallway. Most notably, Jonathan and his brother were responsible for scaring away a home intruder while their mother slept. As the burglar came in the hall window, the boys ran into their Moms’ bed and woke her up. Annoyed, she loudly began to sing, “I’m looking over my dead dog Rover!” and the noise startled the intruder.

During his lifetime,Jonathan was a New England cat and lived in Washington Heights, Hell’s Kitchen, and Queens, New York; Boston and Norwood, Massachusetts; New Haven and Milford, Connecticut. He despised traveling but loved containers of all kind, especially the boxes that accompanied each move.

A portly cat, Jonathan’s highest weight was 21 pounds. Though he suffered from asthma and bad paw-eye coordination, John was always willing to give it a good college try when a mouse or other critter appeared. Working in concert with his brother, who would usually bop the critter over the head, John would proudly trot to his Moms to provide the bounty to the family.

Jonathan welcomed his Dads, Chad, into the family. As the child of a single mom, he and Archy were thrilled to have a male influence in their lives. The boys were the first to inspect and approve the engagement ring before Dads proposed to Moms.

An indoor cat, John was an avid fan of wildlife, and enjoyed watching squirrels, birds, chipmunks outside his picture window. In Norwood, he was known neighborhood wide for a two-hour stare down with a chubby pigeon during the height of a snowstorm.

Inspired by his brother’s work, John was also an entrepreneur. He was the proprietor of JDamn’s Juice Bar, a healthy beverage stand in WOB (Work Out Basement, founded by Archibald). Though the Bar mostly served whatever beverages were being stored in the basement, he was a keen marketer of the stock on hand and kept his client, Dads, very happy. John was also one of the first known cats to blog, sharing his adventures here from the perspective of a chubby cat.

An extremely handsome cat, Jonathan won two photo contests during his short life. He was the Cutest Pet at Stamford Hospital and the February 2010 Pet of the Month at Milford Animal Hospital, where he received his end-of-life care.

During the last year of his life, John welcomed his new brother, Nate, into his life. They became fast friends and he happily took Nate’s grabs, tugs, and yanks to be signs of affection.

His favorite toys included the blue sparkle ball; Smacky, a catnip filled squirrel; and his brother’s tail. He also enjoyed scratching his cheeks on sharp corners of books, tables, and furniture. His favorite foods included treats, potato chips, Fancy

Feast Elegant Medleys, and treats. In the litterbox, he was a super scooper, known to cover things for his brother and often got so into the zen of scooping that he would empty half the box on the floor.

This obituary serves as the final entry to a wonderful blog. Jonathan is survived by his Moms, Ann; his Dads, Chad; and his brothers, Archibald J. Cat, Esq. and Nate. He was one of the greatest cats to bless this Earth, and he will be sorely missed.