all his 9 lives

one of my best buddies of 9 years passed away today - my cat Goku (aka Capt. Whiney, the Thousand Dollar Cat, Puddin Butt, etc.). he will be severely missed by everyone who knew him. he went peacefully in his sleep of natural causes. technically, he should have been dead 8 years ago after being hit by a car which broke his front left leg and severed his soft palette on the inside of his mouth. i found him at 3am in the morning underneath my rent house on the third day after he went missing and i had to fight him and drag him out from under there and get him to a vet with the assistance of my ex gf and now best friend, samantha (colourlover: fizzgig). the vet was able to sew up his mouth and they installed a metal rod in his arm. hence the nickname thousand dollar cat. he is survived by his mother cricket, age 11, who is sitting in my lap chirping like her namesake.