Kramer was adopted from the Lachine Animal Hospital as a 2-month-old kitten in May 1993 by Sandra O'Reilly and her son, Michael. He was a typical domestic short-haired tabby with black and grey stripes. The pads of his paws, as well as the fur on the bottom of his paws, was jet-black, and he had some white fur under his chin.
Named after the character on the long-running sitcom, "Seinfeld", Kramer soon lived up to the reputation of his namesake by getting into all kinds of trouble.
One of his most annoying habits grew out of his discovery that he could get a lot of attention from his owners by playing with the handle of the toilet. He
learned to flush it and amuse himself endlessly, watching the water swirl around the bowl. When staff at the veterinary clinic were asked about this behaviour
and what could be done about it, they merely exclaimed, "You have a very intelligent cat!" Exasperated by the situation (and the sky-rocketing water bill),
Sandra replied, "Then I think I would rather have a stupid one!"
In addition to being quite intelligent, Kramer appeared to be a fairly high-strung cat. The slightest noise would cause him to jump. Although he was very affectionate around Sandra or Michael, whenever anyone else came to the house, he would become very stressed and would look for a hiding place (usually under the bed) where he could feel more safe.
Kramer had a number of other idiosyncrasies. He enjoyed chasing little toys (especially plastic windows from utility bill envelopes) around the house, like most cats do, but he would often pick up the toy in his mouth and bring it back to Michael, much like a dog would. He also didn't purr very much; when pleased, he would make more of a low, snorting noise.
At around 9 months of age, Kramer was neutered, and since he was strictly an indoor cat, had his front claws removed. He gradually became less exuberant as he reached adulthood, but he remained somewhat nervous. When awake, he never seemed able to sit still. During one of his favourite activities, being brushed, he would constantly wander away and then stroll back once the brush was waved at him.
Michael became Kramer's sole guardian when Sandra passed away in July 1996. Kramer seemed very distraught and reacted to this turn of events by hiding under the bed for what seemed like several days, but he eventually returned to his routine and became accustomed to not having someone around the house all day.
Shortly thereafter, Kramer had a new reason to be cautious. He was introduced to Beverley Benderoff, Michael's girlfriend, and Kramer reacted in his usual fashion by taking refuge under the bed. It took about a month's worth of visits before he mustered the courage to come out from hiding, but after that he pretty well "adopted" her as family.
Kramer's universe was thrown into disarray once again when Beverley and Michael married in 1999. Not only did he have to get used to living in a different house, but he also had to learn to live with a new "step-sister", Beverley's cat Tabitha. At first, he didn't seem to know how to react to this other small creature that he was now sharing his living space with as he had never seen another cat before. His first few attempts to get to know her were greeted by a lot of hissing from Tabitha, and Kramer cautiously backed off. Not that he had any reason to feel threatened as he was about 7 pounds heavier than she was (17 lb vs. 10 lb for her). Kramer never hissed back, but he had never been observed to do this prior to meeting Tabitha anyway.
One day though, Kramer seemingly decided he had put up with enough bitchiness and was ready to "play". He approached carefully and started swatting her and she replied with more of the same. Beverley and Michael broke up the fight, but from that point forward, there was a thaw in the cats' relationship. She would still hiss at him when he got too nosy and/or playful, but they seemed more tolerant of each other in general and they would often be seen curled up together on the couch.
Sadly, Kramer had to be euthanized on February 25, 2003 following a brief illness which was diagnosed as kidney failure. The diagnosis came as a total shock, because up to that point in his life, Kramer hadn't had any health conditions that were any worse than the occasional hairball. Beverley and Michael miss him very much, but are comforted by their many fond memories of him.
Back to the top 
|