Java the Mutt, THDA, CGC, TKN

M.C. Onion was first adopted from the Midcoast Humane Society (formerly Coastal Humane Society) under the name Huggie. In a roomful of kittens, Onion was the first one who came up to say hi and then tried to escape out the door. Named M.C. Onion as a play on rap-scallion (rap = emcee = M.C. + scallion = Onion), he never failed to live up to his name.

Starting as a young kitten, he would escape through closed and locked windows and doors. Once outside, he was regularly picked up by caring neighbors and others. We learned to knock on neighbors' doors and posted missing posters. One time, he spent the night at a stranger's house across town only to have them drive by the following day and see our posters and return him. Later, when we were traveling for an extended period, we bought him to his grandmom's house for a visit. He had no problems with her cats but managed to escape out the door between her legs. A day later, there was a massive storm with extensive flooding. She lived in a more rural area. We tried everything to find him. We posted fliers, went door-to-door, and called every animal shelter and vet clinic. No one had seen a cat remotely matching his description. We feared that he had like been eaten by a wild animal or drowned in the flooding. Heartbroken, we went about our lives. Then, 6 weeks later, late at night, a strange number called my phone. I assumed it was spam and did not answer. Then, the same number called John's phone. Confused, he answered. A woman said, "I think I have your cat." At first, it did not make sense. How could she? Our cat Wee Leigh was right there with us. She said that she called the phone numbers on his tag and the description matched Onion exactly!! Driving to meet her, we were in a state of shock. It had been 6 weeks. Where had he been? How did he survive? When we arrived, he immediately began meowing to see us. He was so relieved to be home!!

Many cats struggle with change, but to Onion, home is where his humans were. He transitioned through several apartments and never once seemed to mind. He would walk into his new abode, size it up, and make himself right at home. It was his world and he just allowed you to live in it.

Despite his curmudgeonly uncle demeanor, he never failed to accept any cat we brought in the door. This included but was not limited to, Lily, Belinda, Ghost Pepper, Luci-Fur, Tiff, Dennis, and more. Perhaps given his adventurous beginnings, nothing phased him. You could pick him up and drop him in any place (such as taking a 12-hour road trip across the county and dropping him in a random house full of cats and dogs who he never met before) and he was completely chill.

Not a fan of gross dogs, he accepted that they were an unfortunate part of living with humans. He treated them with disdain and tolerated their presence.

He never lost his sense of adventure. Even after moving to the big city, he would get antsy wanting to go outside or at least explore the building hallway. Not a fan of the leash, he tolerated it as a means of getting out of the house.

Affectionately named "Chompy" for his enjoyment of chewing on charging cables, he found satisfaction in silvervine sticks.

He was also a skilled hairdresser and was always happy to assist Mom with new and creative hairstyles.

While he would never admit being social, by complete coincidence, he would regularly be found in the same room as other cats and would become depressed if he was an only cat.

One of his favorite ways to be held was perched atop his humans' shoulders. Given his large stature, this frequently necessitated the humans to be bend over which seemed quite fair to him that they should suffer on his behalf.

Survived by his animal family, Java The Mitt, Luci-Fur, and Ghost Pepper, he was pre-deceased by his doting caretaker Wee Leigh.

Luci and I being weird while napping together. 😝