Olivia, our black cat, got out of the house last night while I was asleep and got into a fight with another animal. She walked into the house with a slight limp, but seemed fine otherwise. She was much worse this morning and I carefully put her in her carrier to go to Best Friends Animal Hospital.When I came home from the hospital in 2010, Olivia was my constant companion. She never let me out of her sight. She would stay with me during those horrible, sleepless nights. Her purring would be the last thing I heard many nights.
When the vet gave the shot to put her to sleep I told her that she was one of God's creations and He gave her to us so we could see Him and His work.
She had been Natasha's cat, picked out by her from a barn full of kittens. Natasha hid her in her room for several days before I found her and took her to the vet to get cleaned up. Natasha freaked when seh came home and saw her playing in the dining room. She started crying when I told her she was her cat and needed to take care of her.
One of my favorite memories of Natasha was the day we spent making a ladder so Olivia could climb up to bunk.
I laid hands on her while the vet gave her the shot to stop her heart. Characteristic of her sour disposition, Olivia's final act was to give the vet one of her nasty, f--- you growls before going back to sleep. They put her in a cardboard casket and I took her home and buried her in a corner of the yard.
Oh Mike.. I'm so sorry. I had to go through this a couple months ago. I'll miss that snob, mostly because she actually seemed to like me, despite the fact that I was not you or Adrienne. She actually reminded me a lot of Abby. Again, I'm so sorry.
ReplyDeleteI'm really sorry about Olivia. I, too, lost my cat this past year, to kidney disease. Saw it coming months ahead but that didn't make it any easier. She was so far gone she couldn't even protest at the vet, poor dear. Not too long after, my vet foisted a pair of kittens from different litters upon me and my son. It's like having a couple of three-year-olds running around and fighting and demanding things, attacking my feet as I turn in bed and stuffing pompoms under the refrigerator, then watching with that cat intensity, as if they will emerge on their own. Such energy and affection; please remember there is another cat who needs a home. There is nothing emptier than a house without a cat to shed fur everywhere.
ReplyDeleteOur choir did a piece not long ago by Christopher Smart, who spent many years in a mental institution and whose sole companion was his cat, Jeoffrey. Here is what he wrote:
For I will consider my cat Jeoffry. For he is the servant of the living God. Duly and daily serving him. For at the first glance of the glory of God in the East he worships in his way. For this is done by wreathing his body seven times around with elegant quickness. For he knows that God is his saviour. For God has bless'd him in the variety of his movements. For there is nothing sweeter than his peace when at rest. For I am possessed of a cat, surpassing in beauty, from whom I take occasion to bless Almighty God.