The Googie Song

When I first brought Googie home I had a roommate who later became more. He loved Googie; in fact he named him. His originally name was Apollyon, named for a demon from one of the Left Behind books. Apollyon stung people and caused them to suffer pain that couldn't be escaped. I shortened it to Poli. He had this horrific name because he bit your toes hard when he wanted breakfast and would climb your leg like a tree, digging his claws in. Jonny called him Googie as an affectionate nickname and it stuck. My ex is a lot of things, but he loved that cat. And Googie totally manipulated him. He could not stand to have Googie cry and Googie did manage to sound pretty distressed. He gave in every time, contributing to Googie's weight issues.

We even had a song: Mr. Googs, Mr. Googs, he's the one and only Mr. Googs. He's your friend to the end, he's the one and only Mr. Googs. Silly, I know.

Googie and Toys

Googie loved to play. He loved the laser toy, the kitty fishing pole and the crinkle tunnel. It was fun to watch him pounce all over his toys and play with the other cats. Oliver in particular liked to play with him. Here he is in his tunnel.

Baby Googie

This is one of the few pictures i have of Googie as a kitten. He was so tiny! When I first got him he couldn't even get out of the cardboard box I brought him home in. I wanted a kitten as a friend for Chuckles, who was sad because after years of me being around all the time, was now left alone a good part of the day. I was heading to my day program and took a detour past Union square Petco. Sitting in front was a girl with a box.I'm not sure how, but I knew that box had a kitten in it. So I went over to talk to her. Sure enough, it was a tiny kitten. She had found him in a dumpster in Brooklyn. She heard him crying. He was too little to have gotten in himself so he must have been thrown out. He looked like a mini Chuckles. I told her I'd been looking for a kitten and called my vet to make an appointment to have him tested and vaccinated. She had been planning on giving him to Kitty Kind, but petco wasn't even open yet and she had just started a new job and couldn't be late. So she gave him over to my care. At the time I was spending the weekends up in Larchmont with my ex-husband. I had been bringing Chuckles with me so I brought Googie too. He had two kittens, Strummer and Jones. They were about eight months old-already way bigger than Googie. That is Strummer in the picture.

Hey, You, Wake Up

This morning I woke up surrounded by cats and it made me really miss Googie. He was very vocal and active in the morning. He would tap me on the face and when I opened my eyes he'd meow at me in a plaintive voice that made me think he was saying "Hungry, soooo hungry." Other mornings he would sit on top of the fridge and knock off the magnets to wake me up. And then there were the mornings that I would wake up to him stepping on me on his way to watch the birds outside on the fire escape. He would make that funny trilling sound cats make and I would say "Get em birdies Googie" which never got me more than a scornful look.

Googie the intellectual

Googie often showed interest in the computer. Here he is on my laptop.

Really, he liked to come and stand on my computer while I was using it so I would pay attention to him. He was so full of personality-he is really missed. We put up a picture of him on top of the refrigerator on the front of the microwave (which itself is on top of the refrigerator) so Googie can in some way still be on his favorite perch watching us. 

Message to Googie

There have been a few new visitors and status updates since you left us Googie, I thought you would like to know ! 1st of all we have 3 kitty friends as temporary fosters.There's Fling and her kitten buddy Sherri . We're hoping they get adopted together as they've bonded so strongly. You would have tried taunting Fling into playing but she's more of a snuggly/sleepy girl,very affectionate ! Her buddy would have kept you amused I'm sure. There's also Wednesday, a beautiful small pure black longhair ! I can see you picking on her and stealing her food,she's pretty tough though. They're just visiting and not your replacement. No one could replace you my friend. The other big news is that your mommy and I are now engaged,I somehow think you would have approved. You welcomed me into the family almost 4 years ago with open paws,thank you. How funny it now seems that I had trouble back then telling you and Chuckles apart ! Mom and I are not the only ones who miss you,Bonnie and the other kitties seem to be a little off since you've gone. We all really miss you, keep in touch and we'll do the same ! Love Dad

Maneki Googie

I wanted to get a maneki neko cat tattoo for a long time. I had planned to use Googie as the model because he looked right for the part. So when I read about a tattoo artist who was trying to raise money to pay for life saving surgery for his pit bull, I decided the time was right. The traditional maneki neko cat has a medallion on his collar that says happiness. The coin he holds usually refers to lots of money. I had already decided I wanted to change what was on the coin and then when Googie died I decided that I wanted to have it say in memory.

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