“Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give it to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket, safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. To love is to be vulnerable.”
-C.S. Lewis
C.M. “Tad Smith” Coliseum, Best Cat in the World, died Tuesday, December 3, 2013. He was 15 years old.
He was born in August of 1998 in Oxford, Miss., to a no-account street cat and a deadbeat tomcat. Tad Smith spent his kitten days living at the Oxford Animal Shelter, and gained local fame when his photo was published in “The Daily Mississippian” as a Pet of the Week. Just days away from extermination, he was adopted by 21-year-old Ole Miss senior Betsy Veach and her three roommates, Carey, Angie and Leigh, despite the fact that their apartment did not allow pets. He lived happily with them at the University Commons, where he enjoyed drinking leftover cereal milk and meowing from the living room window at maintenance personnel. This led to an evening raid by management, during which he was discovered and ultimately evicted.
He was named for the basketball coliseum on the university’s campus, but he cared nothing for the Ole Miss Rebels or any other team, for that matter.
Following Betsy’s college graduation in 2000, he moved to Slidell, La., where he lived with Betsy and her parents, Don and Amy Veach. While residing with the Veaches, he reigned terror upon the late Puppy, the Veaches’ large, black labrador retriever mix, whom he often chased away from her food bowl, just for sport.
Prior to Betsy’s 2002 wedding to Travis Swenson of Jackson, Miss., he discovered among Betsy’s wedding day accessories a starched tulle petticoat and shredded several holes into the top layer. She wore the petticoat underneath her wedding gown in spite of this violation.
Following the nuptials, Tad Smith moved with the Swensons to their home in Mandeville, La., where he was constantly planning his escape. On the occasion he made his way out of doors, he talked smack to neighborhood cats and dared them to step foot on his property. Travis once attempted to break up a disagreement between Tad and another feline, a move which landed him in the emergency room with multiple cat bites to both hands. Tad was not blamed for the incident (very much) because it was mostly Travis’s fault.
Tad Smith is survived by four small children, Scott, 8; Juliet, 6; Mark, 3; and Baby Luke, 9 months; whom he mostly tolerated during the second half of his life. He maintained a good nature despite being constantly picked up by Juliet and moved from one room to another. While spending time with the children, he was known to wear hats and the occasional tutu. He would begrudgingly participate in the game “Cat Trap,” in which he sat quietly underneath a laundry basket. One time, he was spotted being pushed in the baby swing in the Swensons’ back yard. This led to an important discussion with the children regarding cats and their preference to not swing. The children learned many other life lessons from Tad, including: Cats Don’t Like Jumping On the Trampoline.
Tad Smith is also survived by Macey the grey cat, who has a not-very-good personality and is kind of weird. He was never very nice to her and would often hide outside her litter box and smack her in the face after she emerged from completing her business. This could possibly account for her personality quirks. He would sometimes lick her head if feeling generous, but mostly he chased her.
Tad enjoyed sleeping on top of the refrigerator and the kitchen cabinets, until old age prevented him from getting up there any longer. He loved deli meat and lettuce, and was forever eating grass in the back yard and throwing it up on the carpet. His favorite activity was drinking water from the tap, and he loved to sleep in the bathtub. Tad enjoyed playing with the random piece of ice that fell out of the refrigerator dispenser and dropping the cube into the shoes of those he loved most (Betsy). He often dipped his front paw into unattended beverages and would drink uninvited from most any water glass.
He enjoyed luggage and never knew a suitcase that wasn’t good for a nap. An avid hunter of toothbrushes, ink pens and chopsticks, Tad would deposit his “prey” onto the living room rug after carrying it in his mouth and yowling loudly. This activity was enjoyed by Tad in the middle of the night, but not enjoyed by anyone else.
Tad Smith was a handsome cat, solid white with an impressive skin/fat flap that hung down from his stomach and swung back and forth when he ran. He was mostly a fastidious cat, but he did like a good dirt bath in the yard, followed by a nap on freshly-washed bed linens.
Private services are currently being planned by the Swenson children and will be held at a later date. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to any animal shelter or organization. Or maybe just take a moment to appreciate Tad’s life, and the fact that he was one bad mammerjammer.
He was the best cat that ever was, and he leaves behind a very sad family and a whole lot of fur. He is deeply missed, every day.
(Betsy Swenson can be reached at sliindelife@gmail.com.)