Nomar the Cat Passed Away 2014

Nomar might have been the "Most Interesting Cat." Kevin rescued Nomar as a kitten in 2002 in Iowa City, the literary capital of America. Kevin speculated that Nomar's birthday was close to St. Patrick's Day, so that's the day we celebrated it. As an "Irish" cat he had appropriately-colored red hair and green eyes.

Nomar was from Iowa and enjoyed the "High Life" 2002

Kevin intended for him to be an indoor cat, but those of you who know Nomar know that he had an indomitable will. Pretty soon he was outside, doing what he loved best, killing things. He moved where Kevin moved, living in Ann Arbor, Michigan, then Charlottesville, Virginia, where he had the opportunity to kill a range of species. I met Kevin and Nomar in Charlottesville. When I first met them, Nomar regularly followed Kevin and Brady on walks to the Downtown Mall. One time when I cat-sat Nomar, I found a talon stuck in his fur. I wondered if Nomar or the hawk/eagle/beaver had won the fight. Probably Nomar.

When I summered in New York, Nomar came too and stayed for awhile in Jon's Brooklyn back yard. There he grew pretentious. Eventually I moved in with Kevin and Nomar in Charlottesville, and Nomar, possibly resentful about me inadvertently pushing Brady out, tried to eat my eye one day. A picture I snapped of Nomar eating my Lean Cuisine earned him internet fame on The Consumerist website.

Kevin and Nomar in Cville 2007

Nomar was the ultimate nap accessory, 2008

We moved back to Brooklyn, and Nomar let us know that he didn't like it. He had to get out via a fire escape and we had no grass to speak of, so he acted out to let us now he wanted to go back to the great outdoors. Grandma Kathy welcomed him with open arms and extra servings of dinner. This arrangement also allowed us to spend vacations and holidays with him.

 

Nomar, on the prowl for all living things on Cape Cod. (With Grandma Kathy)

Best friends, 2011

It was only a short time before neighbors declared that Nomar had rid the region of coyotes. Bunnies and puppies now only had Nomar to fear. One neighbor was a weather man for Boston news, and featured Nomar in a Christmas special. Nomar was a local Massachusetts celebrity, and well on his way to acquiring Masshole status.

He watched the children on the Cape grow up. When he first moved there Ellen was a baby, and James wasn't born yet. But he was soon a favorite pet with all them, and only occasionally scratched them to teach them resilience.

James starting to notice Nomar, 2011

James kissing Nomar through the screen, 2012

Family picture with Nomar 2013

Going for a walk with James and Grandma Kathy, 2013

Nomar beat the odds. Indoor cats typically live 12-20 years, but outdoor cats average 1-5 years. Nomar lived a very full 12 years, half with Kevin in Iowa, Michigan, Virginia, and New York, and half with Kathy, on the Cape. He was feisty until the day before he was gone. The official cause was lung cancer, and I like to imagine it was because he secretly smoked a cigarette after all his kills.

Nomar's last picture, enjoying a sunning and an ear scratch from Beatrice, May 2014