Angel Kitty
Our Pets Teach Us How To Live
It seems as though sometimes we sustain losses in chains. Spot died in May, then Snowball got sick and just as he got better, Kitty got sick.
I’ve never seen my feisty little cat so weak. She would stand over the water bowl, staring at the water and muster all her strength to make a soft, desperate sound. It was the same sound she made when I greeted her on Sunday. I had been out of town for a few days and was shocked at how quickly she had gotten so sick.
Last week she was stealing Snowball’s food and insistently displacing my computer in my lap. We had an “argument” last Thursday about who was going to sleep in the middle of the bed (an argument she won). Kitty had stopped eating on Thursday, but on Saturday, my housemate told me she was doing well enough that she questioned whether the trip to the vet was necessary and then, somehow, today her earthly body rests in my little cat graveyard.
I can’t get it through my head.
I understand intellectually, at least. I suspect Kitty’s kidneys shut down because of all the junk food she stole from Snowball. I don’t regret that junk food. She enjoyed it. Stealing it gave her a purpose beyond waking me up in the morning.
It’s as if at the advanced feline age of 18, she decided she would really live whatever time she had left. She convinced me to stop giving her the subcutaneous fluids she hated. She started going outside again to yell at the chickens, even if they made her nervous. She redoubled her campaign to wake me up in the middle of the night to watch her eat and she yowled with all the energy of her tiny lungs over her favorite toy.
She lived that way until her body gave out and frankly, I think she was pleased with the result. She fully lived her feline nature and died quickly. Who could ask for more?
For years, I’ve been convinced that cat was really an angel who hung around to keep me out of trouble. She came to live with me in my lonely 20s and became a kind of best friend. She gently nudged my life into its best path. She made me pay attention to Dave because she liked him so much. I like to say she picked him out for me. She taught me to overlook petty differences when she spent a week in the hospital for an infection some years ago. More recently, she encouraged me to quit my corporate job by being healthier when I was home more, in turn making me healthier.
And now, finally, Dave’s favorite cat has reinforced Dave’s lessons about how to live and die. Be grateful for the blessings of what you are, let your unique nature shine through and don’t let the shadow of death make you afraid to live.
Thank you, Angel Kitty. I will miss you terribly, but you’ve trained me well. I think I can take it from here.
About the Author
Bonnie Simon Has Written 35 Articles For Us!
I am an urban homesteader in Colorado Springs, CO where I raise chickens, make my own yogurt and am learning to grow some food, all within sight of downtown in a 1950s era neighborhood. I am starting a small business designed to fill the gap between local farms and local dinner tables.
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Bonnie, I agree that our pets teach us about living and letting go. I know she will be in your heart and thoughts for the rest of your life. Thanks for sharing the lessons you keep getting about living and letting go. Rebecca
RIP Miss Kitty! So sad for your loss. Our pets enhance our lives so much and become family it’s hard to see them go. I’m sure you gave her a wonderful life. *hugs*