| Animals come into your life for a reason. Schnickers came into our lives because Nic almost killed Katy's cat, Momma Kitty. Katy and her cat had an incredible bond and Nic wanted that same bond. One day before Kindergarten, he put Momma Kitty in a nylon gym bag and zipped her up. His plan was to have her waiting for him in his room when he got home from school and she would love him just as much as she loved Katy. It was a wake-up call that Nic needed his very own cat - and we got Schnickers. He was a little ball of white and grey fur and Nic picked him out right away. We never understood the name, Schnickers, because he didn't look like a candy bar. And, it was NOT "Snickers" it was SCHNICKERS with an "h". |
| Schnickers came from a litter of barn cats from Sue Hosner's farm. All of his litter were killing machines, including a sister that went to Kalamazoo, was declawed, and still hunted. He caught mice, rabbits, birds, and squirrels. One time, Nic decided to get Deugas (rat like things) and kept them in his room. Schnicks was never so mad. He stopped bringing dead critters to the front door for us humans; he started to pee in the house. When we finally got rid of the ratties, he brought a huge rabbit to the front door the very next morning - his way of ending the feud. I suppose he just never understood if his job was to kill to rodents, why we would want them in the house protected. |
| Schnicks fast became the dominant male in the Massey cat family. He did the most hunting and taught all newcomers the rules of the game. He taught them to hunt and stay out of traffic. He had an uncanny way of sensing danger. We adopted a kitten, Crackers, from the pound and he hated her. He attacked her and attacked us if we were holding her. He scratched Katy up really bad one day - we thought he might be sick. Turns out that Crackers was sick; feline HIV and she was put down at the vet. Schnicks knew. |
| Nic and Schnickers bonded the way he had hoped. They played for hours with Nic watching Schnicks chase the sledders under the Christmas tree. Schnicks had a strange fascination with Nic's head when he had a buzz cut - must have been the salt. He would lick Nic's head for a long time; if Nic moved, he would stick a claw in Nic's skull and hold his head there. It was so funny, we videotaped it and sent it to Animal Planet's Funniest Pet Videos - they won, were on television, and won $100 and a t-shirt. |
| We lost Schnicks in 2009 when the dogs had a stupid attack. He died the day before Nic left for Air Force basic training. It was almost as if Schnicks had done his job and was ready to move on now that his boy was grown. We will miss him greatly - an honor to know and love. |
