28-year-old cat leaves lessons, memories behind

Vaughn Whited shows off the cat-shaped urn that holds his beloved feline?s ashes. His yellow-and-white tabby Sweetpea died shortly before her 29th birthday.f. andrew taylor/view special to viewVaughn Whited holds his cat Sweetpea, who Whited says adopted him 28 years ago.

"You never think a pet can mean that much to you," said Vaughn Whited. "And I never thought she'd live that long."

This summer, Whited wrote to tell the View about his beloved cat Sweetpea, who turned 28 in January 2008.

"She does not look or act old," he wrote in his letter,. "She does what she wants to do, and if you're involved she lets you know."

So, when I called to check on Sweetpea for her birthday, Whitehead took a moment to share the news.

"Sweetpea, in my mind, is still alive, but she died a few months ago," he said. "The vet said that if she was a human, she'd be 130 years old,"

Sweetpea was Whited's constant companion for almost all of her life.

"She actually adopted me," Whited said. "I lived in a solar house that I had planned in Michigan. I built it with all glass on the south side with trees that would shade it in the summer and the leaves would fall off so the sun would heat the room in the winter."

Whited holds a doctorate in communication, but dabbled in energy-efficient home design.

"I had a hot tub in the solarium, and Sweatpea came up to the window as a kitten. I let her in and made some hot milk for her and a bed, but she wasn't mine so I let her out," Whited said. "But she came back the next night and from that point on she was mine, and I was hers."

Sweetpea quickly proved to be an irreplaceable part of Whited's life, as well as a particulary clever one. Whited had touch lamps, and when he would get back after dark, Sweetpea would turn them on.

Through the years, Whited said he learned many lessons from his furry friend, such as patience, friendship consistency and loyalty.

"Every morning I'd go out and get the paper and sit in the recliner reading it, and every morning Sweetpea would come and sit in my lap."

That relationship lasted through three homes and states, and a retirement. Whited had been the president of a large community college in Michigan before retiring to Oregon and then moving full time to Las Vegas 10 years ago,

It was here that he met his wife, Faye. They've been married for four years. Some people might be concerned about having to compete with such a long-term relationship with another female, but Whited set the record straight early on.

"Do I spoil Sweetpea?" he told Faye. "You're going to get the same treatment Sweetpea gets."

Apparently, that's plenty. They seem an incredibly happy couple even with the loss of their longtime companion.

"I was out of town when Vaughn called me to tell me she'd passed," Faye said. "I was taking care of my grandchildren in Missouri for a couple of weeks and Vaughn stayed here because Sweetpea couldn't travel."

Today, Sweetpea's ashes reside in a cat-shaped urn on a low shelf in the living room.

"He still walks by and pets her," Faye said.

Contact Sunrise and Whitney View reporter F. Andrew Taylor at ataylor@viewnews.com or 380-4532.