Ten things about Louie:
1) He was a small black cat with big green eyes and a white Nike "swoosh" above his left eye.
2) When our vet's husband found him in the woods outside Atlanta, he was a tiny kitten and he looked like he had been in a bad fight. Most of his tail had to be removed. Consequently, he made sure to de-tail all the lizards and chipmunks that he, an indoor cat, magically managed to lure into our house.
3) He was predeceased by two "brothers," a sweet and adorably goofy Maine Coon-type stray named Django and a large, aggressively affectionate ginger tom named Oliver. Louie and Django met as kittens and formed an alliance but Oliver arrived as an adult cat and constantly challenged Louie's attempt to be the alpha male in the house.
4) He was a dapper little dude, somewhat neurotic and often argumentative, and he always kept himself well groomed.
5) He was a gourmet and a sous chef. He loved to sit on a stool in the kitchen and oversee the cooking. He strongly believed that he deserved a place at the table. His favorite foods were hummus, olives, yogurt, peanut butter, tilapia (but not any other kind of fish) and, above all, cheese.
6) He was a sociable guy and felt that he needed to talk to and entertain guests, but he didn't like everybody. He was known to hiss and growl ferociously at some people, particularly our son-in-law.
7) He didn't have great balance (probably due to the missing tail) but as a young cat he loved to stand on the table on our screened porch and launch himself into the screen. He appeared to be flying. One morning we found the screen in shreds and Louie nonchalantly standing outside conversing with his "squirrel friend."
8) After seven years in Atlanta, he and his brothers moved to urban Portland and for eight years he greatly enjoyed his new job of supervising traffic, pedestrians, dogs and the occasional seagull from his perch by the window.
9) He was proud to be a team leader and fundraiser for DoveLewis Emergency Animal Hospital.
10) Dr. Meghan Hook, Louie's vet in Portland, called him "the emperor of a very small kingdom." His kingdom will always miss him.