Mango
A donation was made in memory of Mango by Drs. Burhenn and King at Feline Medical Clinic on Sep 01, 2021.
Mango McClary
July 7, 2007 - August 31, 2021
We needed an orange cat. Our beloved orange cat Zachary passed away from liver cancer after a very short illness in September 2007, and our new baby, Maia Su, aged four months, was longing for a playmate. Ting, our sweet 18-year-old, struggling with IBD or cancer, was none too pleased with the addition of the lively (and lovely) Maia Su to the family. The need was apparent. After visiting the shelters, we went to Petco for some supplies, and there in the middle of the “up for adoption” cages were three adorable tabbies. Two were brown tabbies, like Frances, who would join us later, and one was orange and very sweet. “He’s the one,” we said! Mango came from West Columbia Gorge Humane Society and was fostered before going to Petco to seek a forever home. He was abandoned by his mother under a trailer in Washougal, along with Maya and Molly, his two brown tabby sisters, who also found forever homes.
We filled out the paperwork, made our deposit, and on October 24, 2007, Mango came to his new home, kicking and screaming. It was absolutely pouring rain that day when Jack brought him in the door in late afternoon. Like Maia Su before him, he went first to the bonus room, where he made himself at home. We played with him and cared for him there, but he stayed there alone until the HPM (hisses per minute) from Maia Su under the door had reached a manageable level.
The door opened, and the two met through playtime with Mom and soon became inseparable friends. You could see Ting’s sigh of relief when Maia Su became completely occupied with her new friend and gave her some peace at last.
Such began our life with our precious Mango Man. Besides being Maia Su’s BFF, Mango was a kind companion to Ting, and a sweet baby to us. He particularly adored Jack, and often would climb up on his lap and “adore” him, gazing at him sweetly. Sugar, our lab, who was 13 ½ when Mango joined us, accepted him warmly, too. We lost Ting at age 18 in 2008. Then only “The Children,” Maia Su and Mango ruled the house. They loved play sessions in the bonus room with me, daily, and often with grandson Doug. They slept together, nurtured each other, and then would break into a “fight” and establish their separate spaces.
In August 2009, we adopted Frances, Pete’s sweet brown tabby when Pete went to assisted living. Frances was marginally accepted by Mango. They coexisted until one night in late January when they broke out into a truly nasty fight upstairs that resulted in them running across us in bed, yowling, snarling, growling, and hissing. The cause of the outburst seemed to be whether Frances could be allowed upstairs in what Mango considered his private domain. We attributed this sudden change in relationships to the loss of Sugar Dog, who passed January 15, 2010. For some reason, the hierarchy had shifted. This tension persisted and would erupt now and then so that when we were away from home, we would either take Frances with us or keep them in separate rooms. Maia Su and Mango became even closer and remained that way the rest of their lives. Even as adults, they were known as “The Children.”
Mango also took control of the training of Bailey, our yellow lab puppy we adopted in March 2010. When Bailey ventured into Mango’s bonus room, he was cornered by Mango! It’s documented in photos. Bailey never again went upstairs, even to this day! Except for fleeing from strangers who came to the house and hiding deep into Jack’s closet, he was a brave protector of all.
Except for a brief episode of FLUTD at age two, Mango had a happy and healthy life until 2020 when he developed IBD which ultimately became cancer. He was lively and fun-loving. He chased Maia Su up and down the stairs, and he was always up for a game of bird. One of his favorite toys was his worm. I had purchased a double package of yellow toys shaped like a worm with red and blue trim. Mango had lots of toys, but the worm remained his favorite. He wore the first one out after about ten years, and then I opened the second one. One day we heard him upstairs talking. Maia Su and Frances were downstairs, so we wondered who he was talking to. It happened several times, and then one day he brought the worm down the stairs, talking to it all the way. He parked the worm at the base of the stairs and continued to talk to it and tell the world about it. The worm was special to Mango all his life.
He loved to sleep by his orange tabby pillow, a gift from Gayle’s mom, shown in the picture above. We have a treasure trove of over 200 pictures of Mango, but these are among our favorites. Our family pet photographer, Kathi Lamm, took pictures in her studio of Maia Su and Mango as kittens, when both were about eight months of age. On August 14, 2021, Kathi came to our house to photograph the whole family. We got a great picture of Mango who pulled himself together for the photo shoot.
Mango fought the good fight through about a year and a half battle with inflammatory bowel disease. We became aware that something was wrong in fall 2019 when his litter box habits changed. In May 2020, his checkup revealed some signs inflammatory bowel disease or cancer was likely present. Our conscientious veterinarians at Feline Clinic were quick to discover it and work with us to bring about relief, since there is no permanent cure. In June 2020, they sent Mango to mee the wonderful Dr. Brown at NWVS who has cared for almost every pet we’ve had here. By August 2021, Mango’s blood tests were revealing some scary numbers that coincided with his decline. By August 29, 2021, Mango had made it clear that he was suffering. On August 31, 2021, with Dr. Novak’s help, he crossed the Rainbow Bridge. It was excruciating for us, and over one year later, we still miss Mango. We were treated so beautifully by Sam (a bouquet and card upon our return without Mango, Chewy (a bouquet), Brian and Leanne (a plant), our veterinarians (a donation to WSU where we will submit this), Kathi Lamm (a donation to SW Humane), Gayle and Lee (a framed Rainbow Bridge graphic), and numerous cards from friends.
A little orange tabby abandoned under a trailer made a deep impact on our lives. We are thankful to God that we got to share fourteen years with Mango, and we will always cherish him as God’s gift to us. We hope we made his life happy, too.
We needed an orange cat. Our beloved orange cat Zachary passed away from liver cancer after a very short illness in September 2007, and our new baby, Maia Su, aged four months, was longing for a playmate. Ting, our sweet 18-year-old, struggling with IBD or cancer, was none too pleased with the addition of the lively (and lovely) Maia Su to the family. The need was apparent. After visiting the shelters, we went to Petco for some supplies, and there in the middle of the “up for adoption” cages were three adorable tabbies. Two were brown tabbies, like Frances, who would join us later, and one was orange and very sweet. “He’s the one,” we said! Mango came from West Columbia Gorge Humane Society and was fostered before going to Petco to seek a forever home. He was abandoned by his mother under a trailer in Washougal, along with Maya and Molly, his two brown tabby sisters, who also found forever homes.
We filled out the paperwork, made our deposit, and on October 24, 2007, Mango came to his new home, kicking and screaming. It was absolutely pouring rain that day when Jack brought him in the door in late afternoon. Like Maia Su before him, he went first to the bonus room, where he made himself at home. We played with him and cared for him there, but he stayed there alone until the HPM (hisses per minute) from Maia Su under the door had reached a manageable level.
The door opened, and the two met through playtime with Mom and soon became inseparable friends. You could see Ting’s sigh of relief when Maia Su became completely occupied with her new friend and gave her some peace at last.
Such began our life with our precious Mango Man. Besides being Maia Su’s BFF, Mango was a kind companion to Ting, and a sweet baby to us. He particularly adored Jack, and often would climb up on his lap and “adore” him, gazing at him sweetly. Sugar, our lab, who was 13 ½ when Mango joined us, accepted him warmly, too. We lost Ting at age 18 in 2008. Then only “The Children,” Maia Su and Mango ruled the house. They loved play sessions in the bonus room with me, daily, and often with grandson Doug. They slept together, nurtured each other, and then would break into a “fight” and establish their separate spaces.
In August 2009, we adopted Frances, Pete’s sweet brown tabby when Pete went to assisted living. Frances was marginally accepted by Mango. They coexisted until one night in late January when they broke out into a truly nasty fight upstairs that resulted in them running across us in bed, yowling, snarling, growling, and hissing. The cause of the outburst seemed to be whether Frances could be allowed upstairs in what Mango considered his private domain. We attributed this sudden change in relationships to the loss of Sugar Dog, who passed January 15, 2010. For some reason, the hierarchy had shifted. This tension persisted and would erupt now and then so that when we were away from home, we would either take Frances with us or keep them in separate rooms. Maia Su and Mango became even closer and remained that way the rest of their lives. Even as adults, they were known as “The Children.”
Mango also took control of the training of Bailey, our yellow lab puppy we adopted in March 2010. When Bailey ventured into Mango’s bonus room, he was cornered by Mango! It’s documented in photos. Bailey never again went upstairs, even to this day! Except for fleeing from strangers who came to the house and hiding deep into Jack’s closet, he was a brave protector of all.
Except for a brief episode of FLUTD at age two, Mango had a happy and healthy life until 2020 when he developed IBD which ultimately became cancer. He was lively and fun-loving. He chased Maia Su up and down the stairs, and he was always up for a game of bird. One of his favorite toys was his worm. I had purchased a double package of yellow toys shaped like a worm with red and blue trim. Mango had lots of toys, but the worm remained his favorite. He wore the first one out after about ten years, and then I opened the second one. One day we heard him upstairs talking. Maia Su and Frances were downstairs, so we wondered who he was talking to. It happened several times, and then one day he brought the worm down the stairs, talking to it all the way. He parked the worm at the base of the stairs and continued to talk to it and tell the world about it. The worm was special to Mango all his life.
He loved to sleep by his orange tabby pillow, a gift from Gayle’s mom, shown in the picture above. We have a treasure trove of over 200 pictures of Mango, but these are among our favorites. Our family pet photographer, Kathi Lamm, took pictures in her studio of Maia Su and Mango as kittens, when both were about eight months of age. On August 14, 2021, Kathi came to our house to photograph the whole family. We got a great picture of Mango who pulled himself together for the photo shoot.
Mango fought the good fight through about a year and a half battle with inflammatory bowel disease. We became aware that something was wrong in fall 2019 when his litter box habits changed. In May 2020, his checkup revealed some signs inflammatory bowel disease or cancer was likely present. Our conscientious veterinarians at Feline Clinic were quick to discover it and work with us to bring about relief, since there is no permanent cure. In June 2020, they sent Mango to mee the wonderful Dr. Brown at NWVS who has cared for almost every pet we’ve had here. By August 2021, Mango’s blood tests were revealing some scary numbers that coincided with his decline. By August 29, 2021, Mango had made it clear that he was suffering. On August 31, 2021, with Dr. Novak’s help, he crossed the Rainbow Bridge. It was excruciating for us, and over one year later, we still miss Mango. We were treated so beautifully by Sam (a bouquet and card upon our return without Mango, Chewy (a bouquet), Brian and Leanne (a plant), our veterinarians (a donation to WSU where we will submit this), Kathi Lamm (a donation to SW Humane), Gayle and Lee (a framed Rainbow Bridge graphic), and numerous cards from friends.
A little orange tabby abandoned under a trailer made a deep impact on our lives. We are thankful to God that we got to share fourteen years with Mango, and we will always cherish him as God’s gift to us. We hope we made his life happy, too.
