In Memory of a Cat Who Had Absolutely No Respect for Personal Space

Gentle Reader, today..... I need to get a little sappy with you.

I think you might remember years and years ago, I lived in the Mark Twain Apartment complex when it burned down. I wasn't there at the time, don't get it twisted. But I did have two pets there at the time, Banky and Pawleen. And they died in that fire. It was very sad. I think the SFD at the time told me it was likely the smoke just put them to sleep.

Already we're off to a great start, huh. Sorry.

Anyway, a while later, I was finally able to get my bizzness together and had a new apartment and all that jazz. So it was time for another companion. I saw Kitten at the Sedalia Animal Shelter, and that was it.

Torties seem to find me.  It's a very specific subset of the Cat Distribution System.  She joined me in the tiny little duplex apartment I had with terrible insulation.  We huddled together in the cold days and sat in front of the fan on hot days.

You know how some animals just.......choose their human? She chose me. I was grateful she was so affectionate after I lost Banky AND Pawleen.

Well, she came with me when we bought the house, and eventually Figgy and Pickles joined us. Then Washington. Then Pickles left, and Washington left, but then Yoonji joined us.  This one was the constant.  After my divorce, it was never a question.  I would get "custody" of the kitty girls.

So for about thirteen years, we were best friends. Well, the kind of best friend that would scream in your ear at 4:00 a.m. when the food bowl was empty.  So a very "I Love You, but.... you better do right" kind of love.

For a long time, her little personality was in charge of our household. She earned the nickname "The Manager" because she had to know what you were doing, and had to be next to you or on top of you while you were doing it. And purring SO LOUDLY. Oh my god, you guys. Like, if she was purring in the living room, I could hear her in the kitchen. She always purred, when anybody ever pet her.

But in the last year, she started losing weight.  It was slow at first, and honestly I thought it was just because we had changed food.  After all, Figgy needed to lose weight.  Still does. So since she still seemed fine but a little skinnier, we carried on.

She got much more demanding when it came to food time. She got almost anxious.  As soon as I walked in the door, she'd start screaming at me for food.  She used to want to sit with me all the time, but it got more insistent.  Almost like she needed to be... closer than she could be to me. All the time.  Almost like she wanted to be the Luke Skywalker to my Taun Taun.  I even took her to work a few times.

So, we took her to the vet and she got some blood work.  He said her Thyroid was too fast. Okay, great. Pills twice a day. No big. We got used to it.  She gained weight back.  She went from about 4 pounds to 7, a healthy weight.

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But looking back on it now.... it was just us buying time.

About a week ago, her behavior started to change. She didn't follow me around as much. She started to drool. She just didn't seem to care about anything. If she drooled on the counter, she'd just...sit in it.  Her fur would get wet and she didn't care. And the big thing... the thing that made me take her to the vet... she stopped purring.

It was luckily over pretty quickly. Apparently she had developed not just Thyroid issues, but also feline diabetes and was in kidney failure. The doc said we could medicate the diabetes, but.... it's not like you can do kitty dialysis or get a kitty kidney transplant. And I wouldn't put her through that.

She was more than just a cat, you know?  She was family. She was my quiet shadow, my little heartbeat in the room. I loved her so much, more than words can ever say. I would’ve given anything to keep her here, curled up safe and purring. But I couldn’t let her suffer. That was the hardest part.

Loving her enough to let go when I wanted so badly to hold on.  They say a pet is the best way you can get your heart broken.

Our hearts are broken.   We Love you, Manager.  RIP.

Lovingly yours,

Behka