A famous Williams Lake cat has died after being a mainstay at a local pet store for almost two decades.
Stanley lived to about 21 years of age.
On Wednesday, Nov. 29, Stanley left this world peacefully.
He was surrounded by his human companions from Total Pet and veterinarian Dr. Doug Magnowski at the Animal Care Hospital.
“He will be missed,” said Shay Peppin at the store on Broadway Avenue North where she has worked for two years. “He was a great old soul.”
She said it was the original owners of the pet store that decided they wanted a cat that would hang out with them at work.
“They went to the local BCSPCA and selected an orange and white cat and gave him the name Stanley,” she added.
Stanley slept at the store in a cat bed near the front door and at night he slept in a back room in the store with all the other animals.
“If he caught an escaped mouse, he would bring it back unharmed and give it to us,” Peppin said. “He wouldn’t even break the mouse’s skin. You just had to wipe off Stanley’s slobber.”
Store employee Sarah McKenzie described him as social.
Stanley would go visiting next door to Burgess Plumbing and Heating for treats and to the antique store when it was located directly next door.
“He loved Chicken Temptations for a treat,” McKenzie said.
Stanley is probably munching on them now across the rainbow bridge, Peppin said, adding what a love hound, the 21-year-old cat was.
“He loved to give attention and get attention. He was very curious and friendly and was not afraid of anything.”
During the summer’s wildfires, Peppin took Stanley with her to Horsefly when Williams Lake was evacuated.
“I brought him a big chain link cage with grass in it and he really loved it,” Peppin said.
Once he started to get older, the staff didn’t let him out on his own, worried that he might not return.
Then about six months ago, he started having some health issues with his kidneys.
Store manager Kelly Casselton said Stanley was on medication and was often very bloated.
Within the last month he went downhill quickly and on Wednesday the staff decided to close the store for a few hours and take him to the vet hospital to be put down.
Casselton said the store won’t replace Stanley with a new store cat because the store is owned by a corporation and the rules don’t allow for a resident cat.
He will be cremated and his ashes will be housed at the store, so in a way, he will still be around, she added.
A celebration of life for Stanley is taking place on Saturday, Dec. 9 at the store from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
“We will be serving coffee and snacks and would love people to come,” Casselton said.
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