Losing pets is hard, even when they are in debilitating pain and euthanizing them is in their best interests.
15 years ago my uncle and aunt had stray kittens. For some reason three of the four cats came to our house, and someone from church adopted the one we never gave a more affectionate name than "Little Guy." The other two received proper names, Cali the calico cat, and Yoda the freaky-eared runt. They took to mom and I, respectively, like cats to catnip ... well, as much as the worlds two scarediest cats can.
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| Cali, Yoda and Little Guy |
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| Cali vs her arch nemesis the dish scrubber. |
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| Cali and Yoda (under the covers) |
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| South-facing window, with a bonus heat lamp, just in case. |
After mom died, Cali moved in with grandma and Yoda moved with the two older cats to my sister's until I had a place of my own. Cali's nicknames while living with grandma were plentiful: Marigold, Sweetheart, etc. It was the time of her life. An entire house to herself and a doting old lady. I ruined that by moving in with Yoda. After grandma moved to a nursing home, Cali went through her normal routines for a couple of weeks until she finally acknowledged that her person wasn't coming back.
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| Frizzy cat, must be winter. |
The three of us packed up for Toronto and all of our lives improved immeasurably. Cali was particularly impressed when my wife moved in. Finally a new person she could adopt. The number of photographs of her also increased drastically, right up to the last five minutes of her life.
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| Lap cat |
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| With a ball |
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| Supervising Yoda |
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| Typing |
I'll never forget when I first moved in with you three. I slept in Cali's previously empty 'spot' on the bed. For weeks she jumped unknowingly into her spot and both of us would get completely spooked. She was reflexively kicked out of bed a few times then finally learned to cuddle by my pillow instead of my feet.
ReplyDeleteApologies for sounding trite, but loss always makes words cheap. Nobody but another cat lover can understand the idiosyncrasies of their personalities, nor their calming presence. Love the last photo. It looks like she had a long, good life. So sorry for your loss, you two.
ReplyDeleteKate, she was a bit of a slow learner, wasn't she?
ReplyDeleteLannis, that's pretty damn eloquent of you. It's like you bought 46 words from the dollar store discount bin, rearranged them perfectly, and turned them into a million bucks.
Thanks, Old Man--you have a way with words, yourself. ;)
ReplyDeleteTake care of the wifey. And remember to let yourselves grieve. ♥