Nelson John LaPurr

This is Nelson enjoying his very favorite catnip. This little bag is his and nokitty else's.

Nitro and Edmund sometimes get ideas about "sharing" Nelson's catnip. Just after this picture was taken, Nelson whapped the living daylights out of Nitro. He might have been the geezer kitty, but he still had a lot of spunk in him. A long, long time ago, Nelson and his sibling used to hunt mice in the warehouse of the plumbing outlet where the Dad worked. One day Nelson showed up alone and was lured into a big cage. Then he became the office cat. The Dad named him Nelson after the warehouse, which was called WinnNelson. The Dad figured that the sibling must have been Winn. The sibling was never seen again and we can only hope that something good happened to him/her, like getting caught by someone who took him/her home with them. The John LaPurr part came from the Dad's boss' name, which was John LaPour. Nelson would spend his days in his Dad's office and the nights chasing mice in the warehouse. Every weekend, the Dad would take him home, then back to the office. One Friday night, when the cold weather was setting in, Nelson didn't come when he was called. The Dad figured Nelson was in the warehouse and went home without him, figuring that Nelson could live on mice for a couple of days. The Mom was very upset by this and the two of them drove back to the warehouse. Nelson came immediately the Dad opened the big warehouse door. Nelson went home with them and stayed there for the rest of his life, which was a long and happy one. By the time the Meowers from Missouri started blogging, Nelson was pretty old and spent most of his time eating, sleeping and watching the birds out the window. He did have two favorite things that he would really guard from the other cats and dogs in the house, though. He claimed one of the two cat cubes as his own and nobody better disturb him when he was in it. Even Xena, the elderly white Labrador, of whom Nelson was very fond, got a noseful of claws once when she stuck her head in. His other favorite item was his little bag of nip. He wasn't so particular about his food and Nitro and Edmund would sometimes try to steal his dinner. The Mom was very strict about this, though, and the two culprits would get spritzed with water and herded away from Nelson's food until he was finished and the Mom could put any leftovers away. Besides making sure that Nelson got enough to eat, she was keeping the other cats away from Nelson's food because he was on a special diet and his food wouldn't be good for the healthy cats. When the Meowers from Missouri decided to start Meow like a Pirate Day, Nelson became Captain Nels the Cranky, captain of the Cat o' Nine Tails, and loads of fun were had by all. Nelson went to the Rainbow Bridge just after this year's Meow like a Pirate Day. He was much loved and is much missed.

                                     Nelson zealously guarded his nip.
                                     Oh, woe to the kitties who thought to slip
                                             It from under his nose.
                                             He dealt with those
                                      With a mighty paw and claws ready to rip.