Our Cats

3/8/03 

Among RVers, there are definitely “the cat people” and “the dog people”. We’ve never RVed without cats along for the ride and they’ve given us much joy and entertainment.  

We started out with our longest lived cat, Skitter, in our camper days. She was joined by Sunny a few years later. We sadly lost Sunny after ten years to kidney disease in 2000. Sunny was best known for sleeping in odd positions in any location but was especially fond of this spot right in front of the small electric heater.  

Sunny enjoys the heat

Shortly after Sunny died, we adopted a shelter cat known by the workers as the “big eyed kitty”. Boots must have been a deprived child, as she really doesn’t show much interest in anything beyond eating and sleeping. She’s easy to care for and even easier to find—just check her sleeping spot. She is very photogenic however and occasionally we manage to shoot some great pictures of her. She seems to have a penchant for hanging out in the washer or the shower. Alas, we do figure Boots has lost a couple of her lives since she barely made it through being bitten on the nose by a baby rattlesnake in Jackson, CA. 

                     Time for a shower?                                                           After the snake bite

Tragically, just this year, we lost Skitter to age old and failing health (see her eulogy below). We had determined we really didn’t want to replace her—she was totally irreplaceable. However, it’s funny the way things work out sometimes. A strange, stray orange male cat determined that living with the Duskes was certainly more fun than living in the wilds by himself and decided to adopt us. Given half a chance, he moved right in and has now become the newest member of our cat family. We’ve named him Tucker and while very loving, he also packs a lot of attitude! We’re back to having two cats; two cats totally different from the ones we started with.  What’s that saying: the more things change, the more they stay the same?

New addition, Tucker

Here is a great picture of Tucker after a hard day running from Neil's dogs all day.

The passing of a friend

January 28, 2003 

We lost our beloved companion today; our calico cat Skitter. She had been ailing for quite some time; she was old; she was fading away to nothing but still thought enough of us to hold on for as long as she could. She fought the good fight and her loyalty will never leave our hearts.

She was as much a part of our RV life as the rest of our family is to each other. There’s never been one of our RVs or any of our trips and travels in which she hasn’t gone along. Thinking ahead to the next time these wheels will turn without her aboard just brings pain and a sense of disbelief. 

She was a rodent killer extraordinaire. Her favorites were chipmunks and small cottontail bunnies. Every time we turned her loose outside the RV walls, some critter would meet its own end. A cottontail rabbit in a gravel pit outside of Tok, Alaska. A whole litter of mice at a back road boondock spot near the Grand Tetons. A large, hairy tarantula in the endless cow pastures of west Texas. And way too many chipmunks to count.  

She was fond of walking with us, but no leash for her! She’d just follow on long hikes through the pine woods and green meadows of the Black Hills or across campgrounds like Crater Lake. She made an escape from our camper while we were touring Elvis’ pad Graceland, but was there waiting in the wheel well of our truck for our return, amidst thousands of cars where she could have gotten lost, but didn’t. 

She’d always know the last stop of the day from any previous stops—I don’t know how. But for the last stop, she’d be right at the door as we opened it to set up, knowing she’d get the ok to jump out and look around at her new digs. People always wondered “Doesn’t that cat ever run off?” or “Aren’t you afraid you’re gonna lose her?” Well, she never would. And we never did. Until today.  

She’ll always be traveling our roads with us. 

by Claudia

             Skitter's favorite dinner--chipmunk                                    On the hunt