Arlo



	March 27, 2000 - June 24, 2010
	NAME ORIGIN
	He was named after Arlo Guthrie. The name just seemed to fit him somehow.
	Other names considered: Ichabod, Woody.
	NICKNAME(S)
	Goo. When we first got him, Arlo was so excited about having food on a regular basis that he ate non-stop. As a result, he got a bit pudgy and "gooey" and the nickname stuck even after he grew out of the baby fat stage.
	DATE OF BIRTH
	March 27 (?), 2000
	PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION
	For most of his life, Arlo weighed right around 10 pounds (4.5 kg). When he was a kitten, we were sure he'd turn out to be a large, stocky cat and prepared ourselves to deal with weight problems. As it turned out, he had a fat little face but the rest of him was quite slender, and overall, he was on the small side. He was outweighed by most of our female cats and the next-lightest male cat outweighed him by five pounds. With the onset of health problems, he dropped to just under 9 pounds.
	He had the pinkest nose I've ever seen - a perfect bubblegum pink.
	MEOW
	He had a rather unremarkable, run-of-the-mill meow, but he didn't make full meows very often. When in a playful mood, he often said "Mmmm? Mmmm?" repeatedly to no one in particular. When he really wanted something or objected to something, he added an odd gargling effect to his meow, which sounded very plaintive.
	PURR / BISCUITS
	Purr: Very quiet, but frequent when around people. To hear it, we usually had to put our ears against his side.
	Biscuits: He made very vigorous biscuits on occasion and when he was little, he was especially fond of lying on my chest and trying to make biscuits on my face. Naturally this hurt, but in addition to the pain factor he also tended to drool, so I ended up covered in cat saliva. He grew out of the face-biscuits and drooling, luckily.
	HISTORY
	On May 27, 2000, I took Irene to the vet first thing in the morning to have some bloodwork done. When I arrived at the vet's office, the receptionist told me my husband had left a message for me to call home. Figuring something drastic had happened, I called Chris. Here is what had happened:
	A friend of mine had gone to visit some acquaintances and had noticed a very thin, malnourished, ratty-looking kitten hanging around outside their place. When she asked them about it, they said they should "probably" find him a home, since he wasn't working out there. Alarmed by the kitten's poor condition, she took him when she left and called my place to see if we could take him and, since I'd already left, she talked to Chris. Chris tends not to think straight when he hears the word "kitten," so he told her to bring him on over. He called to warn me that there would be another cat in our house when Irene and I got home. It was love at first sight, of course.
	PERSONALITY
	For most of his life, he was usually easy-going, happy-go-lucky, calm, tolerant, and affectionate. Until Penelope's death, nothing fazed Goo and he was always in a good mood. He didn't mind meeting new people and even allowed my friend's small child to carry him around like a sack of potatoes without making any protest. He was just an all-around Good Guy.
	Unfortunately, Goo took Penelope's death very hard and became somewhat withdrawn and nervous, which led Tamerlane, Orion, and Andromeda to pick on him, which made him more withdrawn and nervous. It took him some time to get over this and return to normal, but eventually he became more relaxed overall and quite playful once again. He mostly resolved his differences with Tamerlane, but never got along with Orion or Andromeda.
	The health problems he encountered late in his life apparently made him feel more vulnerable and thus he started to avoid the other cats.
	MEDICAL CONDITIONS
	Urinary blockage; "skin cancer" that wasn't really skin cancer (the story of an embarrassing trip to the vet); renal insufficiency/hypertension/possible pancreatitis; multiple myeloma. See details.
	HOBBIES / INTERESTS
	Hanging out with the dogs (he loved dogs), watching the wild birds outside, and sitting/lying in odd positions. Of all our cats, he was the single biggest fan of Supervised Outdoor Playtime.
	FRIENDS
	Arlo was closest to Penelope. Prior to his illness, he sometimes played with Calypso and had a soft spot for Molly Maguire, who looks the most like Penelope. When we acquired little Flynn and Mosaic, he startled us by not only accepting them, but genuinely liking them and seeking them out for play sessions. Perhaps he just liked blue cats.
	SCARED OF THE VACUUM CLEANER?
	No. I vacuumed him every so often.