He was supposed to have left this world 14 years ago. He was the runt, born missing a leg. His owner took him to the vet and left him to be euthanized. Instead, our niece rescued him, and he came to live with us. His name was Scooter.

In many ways he was a mess. It's hard for a 3-legged cat to groom himself. He needed help. He played rough, although he mellowed in his old age. He watched as our dog grew old. We had to ask the vet to put Callie to sleep at age 17. That left two cats. Scooter was young by comparison as our old cat, Toby, wore out at 19, and Scooter became our only pet, our last pet.

He was a member of the family, a completely indoor cat. The outdoors fascinated and terrified him. One day he ran right through the front door screen. He hid under a car across the street and cried until someone came to rescue him.

A cat who is missing his right rear leg not only cannot groom himself properly, he can't scratch behind his ear. You know how a dog or cat cocks his head to one side and scratches behind his ear with his rear leg. Well, Scooter cocked his head the same way, but his little stub of a rear leg just waved around in a circle uselessly, and the ear remained itchy. It was the most pathetic sight a person could ever see. You just had to scratch behind his ear for him, and he was always undyingly grateful for the relief.

But age caught up to Scooter sooner than our other pets. Perhaps it was genetics. Maybe it was the years with the awkward gait. Never a chubby cat, Scooter got thinner and thinner. His diet habits changed. He went from dry food to canned, and he still did not put on weight. His toilet habits became atrocious. He would make messes for no reason at all. He had to be put up in a room at night where he couldn't make such a mess.

And then something happened. He whined for food all the time, but he started actually eating less. Then he stopped eating completely. He got weaker and weaker. His spark began to fade. After a week it became apparent that he was not pulling out of it. He never seemed to be in pain or even very uncomfortable. He mostly slept. But his already frail body began to deteriorate rapidly. We made an appointment with the same vet who had released Callie and Toby from their last struggles.

But Scooter had other plans. Once again the vet was to be denied. Scooter slipped away in the night, passing away at home on his own. We laid him to rest beside Callie and Toby. The house will be emptier without him, but he will live on in our memories. None of us can ask for a better end, cat or human, than to be surrounded by those you love and remembered fondly by all who knew you, despite your flaws.