“To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die.” Thomas Campbell
Last week at this time I was processing the imminent death of my beloved, 100 degree, almost as soft as a chinchilla, 14 ½ year old bundle of fur.
Yes, I am a cat person. Yes, she was named after the orange tabby in Alien.
Even though she was acting normally during the weekend—jumping up into the cabinet above the refrigerator, heading for the kitchen as she smelled left-over chicken warming in the microwave, and hopping into my lap to help me with my latest jigsaw puzzle—she had stopped eating.
She had done this before about six months ago, shortly after a visit to the vet. I opened up a can of tuna that she devoured in minutes. She hadn’t liked the new bag of the same food she’d been eating for years, so we got her a different kind of food. She started eating again and gained back weight. All good. Or so we thought.
But her kidneys had completely shut down. A common affliction for cats. But we thought we had more time.
She chose my daughter by reaching out of her cage at the SPCA and snagging her jeans as she walked by. The same way my first cat chose me more than 50 years ago. She was about 3 months old.
She had been returned by a family because she was too energetic. Not sure what they were expecting. But we were the lucky recipients.
She spent the first night curled around the top of my husband’s head. And bedtime became her favorite time of day. Running up the stairs behind me, jumping on the bed and settling down with whichever one of us wasn’t moving. But the best part was that her peeps were in the same place at the same time and that made it easy for her to keep an eye on us.
She was my sixth cat and maybe the last because she broke the mold.
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She had some annoying habits, like announcing herself in the middle of the night after her snack. She couldn’t just get up on the bed and settle down. She needed to wake us up first. Then there was the cat barf. She also liked to walk across my computer when I was working.
But mostly she offered unconditional love. And purring. Lots of purring. What she gave always outweighed what she took.
She was protective of those in her family. She guarded me whenever I was in the bathroom. She would welcome you as long as you were with her people. But she was not a fan of the doorbell. All of the necessary people were already here.
She made me question some of my rules. I wasn’t a fan when my son “taught” her how to jump into the cupboards. But it made her happy and she wasn’t hurting anything. So I began putting the chair in place for her on weekend mornings. Because she taught me it was okay to have quirks and be accepting of them.
Jonesie also reminded me about the importance of rituals. Bedtime, weekend puzzles, Monday night salmon, greeting me when I came home, curling up on my lap in the evening, even the cupboard hopping. All were moments of connection. And love.
It’s been a hard week. And it’s going to hurt for some time. But the pain is a consequence of the love. And I wouldn’t trade it, or my time with her, for anything.
If you’ve loved a pet, share their story. I would love to hear about what you learned from them.
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