Cats We Miss

I love my cats, but I also miss the cats from my past.  It wasn't too long ago that I lost three wonderful cats that I'd had for more than 10 years, beginning in their kittenhood.  It was a very unfortunate course of events that caused me to lose Sage to anemia in December 2007, then Thor to cancer in February 2009, and just three weeks later Maggie to cancer in March 2009.  Curry and Zorro lived through these losses.  If anyone wonders if cats grieve, I'm here to tell you that they do.  Curry, especially, had a hard time adjusting to these losses.  As the "baby" of the family, she was used to being spoiled not only by me, but by her older siblings.  Here, Curry shares some memories of her siblings.

"I'm the only girl in my feline family now, but it wasn't always that way.  This is a picture of me with my sisters Sage and Maggie.  They were littermates, and pretty close, even though they weren't a thing alike in personality.  I think they loved me, but sometimes I think they just put up with me.  Sage was the smart one.  She was an intellectual cat like me.  She was also really, really special, according to my mom.  Sage didn't let people pick her up, but she was a lap cat when she wanted to be.  She purred loudly and gave lots of love.  She consistently begged to eat mom's leftovers as soon as she heard a spoon or fork clinking on a nearly empty plate.  Mom thought this habit was annoying, but then she missed it when Sage died.  Poor Sage, we didn't know she was sick until mom had to make an emergency trip to the vet and Sage did not come home.  It was so sudden and it occurred on Pearl Harbor Day.  I hadn't studied up on American History, but mom said this was a significant day.  Sage was the first sibling I had to learn to live without.

Then there was Maggie. She's the extra fluffy one in the picture.  Maggie was one big furry ball of sweetness.  She always wanted to be held and doted upon.  I found it rather tiresome, but I can't blame Mags for it; it was just her way.  She won the hearts of every guest mom brought home.  Maggie wasn't without her goofy quirks though.  When she was a kitten, mom thought it was cute when Maggie suckled on her shirt, so she encouraged the habit.  Maggie never gave up the enjoyment of sucking and licking fabric.  Maggie also had some particular tastes in food.  Even though mom didn't typically feed us people food, she found out that Maggie liked cheese.  This started off with Kraft Singles, but eventually Maggie developed a taste for more sophisticated cheeses like gorgonzola and sharp white cheddar.  She would beg for cheese whenever she heard mom open a plastic package that sounded like it contained cheese.  The other thing Maggie liked was ice cream.  Not just any ice cream, but only Haagen Dazs coffee.  Once the store was out of Haagen Dazs so mom bought store brand coffee ice cream and Maggie turned her nose up at it and looked at mom as if to say 'what do you think you are feeding me!'  Hey, at least she liked the good stuff!

Now, this picture is one of Zorro with Thor.  Thor is the brother we lost last year.  He was 14 pounds of solid cat; not a fat cat, he was tall and big-boned.  He was also long-haired, so he always looked large and intimidating, but he was a good guy.  Thor was solid black with an endearing white spot on his neck and mom always joked that he dressed as a priest each Halloween!  I loved Thor very much because he was so good to me.  He always let me drink out of the faucet before him, and he let me 'get away with' stuff that he would never allow the other girls to do.  Thor was mostly a dignified cat, but he had his share of silly habits like kneading my mom's head in her sleep.  I miss both Maggie and Thor the most, because they died so close together in time.  They each had cancer.  We thought this was strange that they were sick at the same time, but their illnesses were unrelated.

So, that's the short story of my siblings Maggie, Sage and Thor.  They and Zorro were my feline family until just last year.  We all still miss them because they were a part of the family for so many years, and they were each special in very unique ways.  Now, Zorro and I are learning to live with Willie and Grayson, and sometimes it's tough for me.  I wish I could make Willie and Grayson understand that I still miss my older siblings, but they don't get it.  They won't get it until someday they go through a similar loss."

Life does go on after losing a pet.  It's hard though, and like Curry said, it's something you don't quite understand until it happens to you.  Always take the time to appreciate your pets while they are with you.  I wish everyone lots of life, love and happiness.