My younger brother’s cat Walter had to be put to sleep today.
Brian was the first Hines brother to adopt a cat (I was the last) and he got a pretty amazing guy. Walter (named after UCONN’s Ray Allen) was friendly, relaxed, and ridiculous.
I believe Brian was told about Walter by a friend of his. He was a neighborhood stray that people wanted to find a good home for. Brian decided to adopt him.

Walter purred louder then ANY cat I have ever met. You could hear him across the room letting everyone know how happy he was. He also didn’t meow. He would try once in a while, but it came out more like a quiet click.
When Walter was particularly happy his fur would puff way out. Most cat’s do this when they are scared, or trying to convince a threat they are too big to mess with. Not Walter, if he puffed up he was happy. Every hair from the top of his head to the end of his tail would stand on end.

The few times I stayed over at Brian’s place, Walter would sleep on top of me, and drool all over me, another sign he was happy. He was happy a lot.
Brian took incredibly good care of his cat. After noticing that Walter enjoyed drinking water coming out of his sink’s tap he bought Walter a water bowl that constantly poured water down in a stream into his bowl.

Walter didn’t wake Brian up in the morning. He was not a morning cat. When Brian got up to go to work, Walter stayed in bed choosing to sleep in.
As Brian recently said, 7 years ago he was eating garbage… and now he drinks out of a fountain.
I’ll miss Walter. He was a pretty special cat.