Mr. Jingle, the name sounds so unassuming. Who knew that this soft- worm-shaped cat toy harbored a secret death wish… I pause to offer my respects to this battered victim-

Know that he had a great life. He learned early how to fly through the air courtesy of sharpened claws that lobbed him into flight, and he would land with nary a bruise.

He never gave in to the sneezes when he met the dustbunnies under the bed.

He was a great scuba diver, diving to great depths, first in the water bowl and then later, he enjoyed the water slide when the cats would put him in the water fountain and he got to slide down the chute into the pool of water below.

This morning, he decided that the water bowl just wasn�t big enough and he had bigger fish to fry. He took a walk with Mercedes and encouraged her to drop him in the dishwater when I wasn’t looking. Because he was so out of shape, he took on water early and dropped like a stone to the bottom. I let the plug out of the drain, turned on the disposal, and as slippery of a cat toy that he was, he managed to elude the choppers and slide down the drain. In a few minutes, the sink was plugged up. Thirty-five minutes later, he was pulled out of the pipes, and is now fodder for the landfill-

But, I guess it was inevitable that he would die an early death, for he was such a daredevil. He used to make Mateuse take him into the tunnels and throw him all the way through the tunnel so he could slide down the ramp into the cat enclosure. And he was a master of disguise, being found under the hay, on top of the cat condo or inside the cat bed.

Next time I get a Mr. Jingle Worm, I hope he comes with life insurance.