I have a wonderful cat.  She’s nuts, and funny, and makes me laugh every day.  She grows dearer to my heart every day.  I’ve had several wonderful cats, and MaChatte is one of them. 

But I’m thinking of another wonderful cat today, and this one was with me for 18 1/2 years.  Her name was Kitty. A year ago I had to have her put to sleep.  We had discovered with some blood work 2 years prior that she had an over active thyroid.  The vet said it could be treated, but at the age of this cat, even with the treatment, she would live maybe 6 months or a year.

 Kitty had several rules that kept peace in the house: 

1.Cats don’t get wet.

2.Cats don’t go away.

3.Cats don’t take medicine.

Having tried to give her allergy medicine several times in her younger years resulted in me being bitten and taking her to the vet for shots instead.  Now, I had to give medicine for her thyroid.  BUT!  The vet said there is a liquid medicine! Different flavors, too.

Kitty was never a seafood eater, but she loved chicken and turkey.  So I got chicken flavored thyroid medicine.  The vet said I would be lucky if she would accept it on her food, and would probably have to use a dropper and get it into her that way. (More biting, more trauma to an old cat, and an old lady…) But the vet underestimated Kitty’s love of chicken, and she never noticed that there were 5 drops of medicine on her food 2 times a day.

She lived for 2 years being treated for this thyroid problem.  The vet said a lot of older cats develop this, and it makes the cat’s internal organs deteriorate faster than they would have.  It’s a simple blood test to find out whether a cat has this problem.  Your vet will test your older cat for this, and it may keep your furry friend with you longer.

She slowed down after 2 years, but still retained her feistiness and desire to play every day, and sit on my lap, and still purred like a tiger, but she slept more as time went on.  Near the end, she stopped eating and drinking and her system wasn’t moving anything thru her.  She was still up and around, but no longer interested in playing at all. After 2 days of not eating and drinking, she was looking at me with a look on her face, like: Mom, I’m really sick.  Whoever said cats don’t express things in their face never really knew a cat.

I talked to the vet, who said this was the end and it would be better not to let her go on, cos she would begin to suffer.  I wanted not to cause any suffering for this dear old girl, cos she had never caused me any suffering, only 18 + years of love and happiness.  I had her put to sleep and was there with her as it happened.

Some people say they’re just animals.  No, they become part of the family.  They become part of YOU. They know when you don’t feel good and come and lay down with you.  They appreciate you each day as tho each day was a brand new day. The sound of their purring is one of the world’s best sounds. They give so much and ask so little in return.  Memories of Kitty will be with me as long as I live.  MaChatte would have liked her too.  She was a good ole cat.

She’s buried in my back yard, in a grove of bamboo. Of all the great cats I’ve had, I’ve never wanted to bury one here before.  She even has a marker. She had a favorite toy, a piece of beaded string.  It went with her over the Rainbow Bridge.  I’ve never written a blog entry with tears in my eyes before today.  Miss Kitty, never to be forgotten.