Pinstripe Anderson-Truett

Pinstripe

Spring, 2008 - October 19, 2023

The residents of Rainbow Bridge were alerted that a very special newcomer would soon be coming their way. They made certain the Bridge was all decked out with flowers, ribbons, balloons, and cans of salmon to welcome Pinstripe - an elder of the City of Cayce House of Cats (CHOC).

Pinstripe passed away on October 19, 2023, from complications of an abdominal mass. He was preceded in death by his mother, Flower (adopted by an employee of the Department of Revenue), a brother (of the State Museum feral colony), and a second brother, Boots, of the home. He leaves behind the many residents of CHOC as well as his heartbroken caretakers, Stoney Truett and Valerie Anderson.

In 2008, we found Pinstripe, along with his mother and two siblings, living in a parking garage at the State Museum/Department of Revenue. This was the first of several kitty families who would find their way there. It was comforting to have a mother cat and her family to take care of as Valerie came and left work each day.

As time passed, one of the kittens disappeared. At that point, we realized these cats needed the protection of a permanent home. A co-worker adopted the mother and named her “Flower” – after a meerkat in the British television program “MeerKat Manor”. Stoney and Valerie took Boots and his brother, PinStripe. And, while his “official” name was Pinstripe, we never called him that. It was always Stripe or Striper.

Stripe was as laid-back a cat as he could possibly be. He had a wonderful demeanor and was always curious about goings-on - but from a discreet distance. He would always be in the vicinity but kept himself separated from the turbulence that can be life at CHOC.

Some months ago, we noticed that Stripe was losing a bit of weight. Given that this was the middle of Spring (and temperatures were going up), we decided to take note – but keep an eye on him. In September, he looked a bit worse – so we had him examined. An x-ray revealed a large abdominal mass that was slowly displacing his internal organs. There was nothing we could do but keep him as loved and comfortable as possible.

Despite his illness, Stripe was a trooper. He learned he couldn’t successfully eat large chunks of food, but he devoured pate, especially salmon. Stoney always had a bowl of food prepared just for him – and he would eat every bite. In the past week, however, he was able to eat less and less. He told us it was time for him to go…

Striper, we, and all the other members of CHOC, miss you. We miss that little cock of the head when you were curious about something. We miss those loud meows when we were preparing your special salmon. We miss you hanging out about the place – just living life as only you could do.

Mr. Stripe, we miss you and we love you. The world was a better place for having you in it.

See you later, sweetie…