One of our cats died last night, in the hospital, after we visited her yesterday afternoon.
Her name was “Fluff” (or “The Fluff Cat”). She was given to my wife and her ex-husband seven or eight years ago, when someone had to move to a place where he couldn’t take the cat. She was a very sweet and talkative kitty that had no hesitation in making her wants and needs known, with a loud rumbling purr, and a very cute “trill” of approval that she made when you did something she approved of (such opening the cabinet that held her food) and a purr-meow that she made when she was happy (such as when she was eating something she liked). She was very much a people kitty, loving to crawl up on the bed and sleep next to you, willing to be cuddled, patient with children, and purring loudly when happy. She loved to be held on her mommy’s shoulder (at least until we had to start shoving pills down her throat), and spent her last days curled up on the desk in front of her mommy, or on a chair next to her desk… she even escaped from the bathroom (where we locked her up when we couldn’t keep an eye on her) one day, just so she could curl up on the seat next to her mommy’s desk and wait for her to come home.
When she was healthy, she was this big round lump of a cat, with a bowling ball for a stomach. Unfortunately, she somehow wound up getting IBD (Irritable Bowel Disorder, which is a placeholder for “we really don’t know why, but her digestive system is severely inflamed and not functioning properly”). The consequence is that the cat does not absorb nutrients properly, gets diarrhea off and on (which results in dehydration) and throws up any time she eats something she shouldn’t. The IBD caused her to lose weight, consistently and constantly over time, and even though we gave her prednisone and metronidizal and special low allergy food (which, unfortunately, she didn’t appear to care for), none of it worked. Very frustrating and upsetting process.
I’m writing this because she was a good kitty, and she deserves to be remembered, she deserves a little space of her own in the history of the big bad world that had her die too soon.
UPDATE: Oh yes, another Fluff characteristic was (when she was well), her insatiable instinct to groom… EVERYTHING… compulsively, especially when petted… she would sit there and groom your hand, another cat (even when it was annoying her), the wall or anything else in front of her, etc. It always made me laugh. She’d be pissed off, and growling, and still compulsively groom whatever was put in front of her… it was the funniest thing.
This is the third cat I’ve “lost” as an adult… the first one was hit by a truck, and we had to leave him with neighbors when we moved, because he was incontient and couldn’t be kept indoors. The second one was lost by idiots who borrowed our place the day after we rented it, and left the window open for our most curious and explorative cat to escape (the dogs on the property, in combination with the newness of the house, likely lead to her not coming back). … and now Fluff. Each time is painful, but the memories and love shown during their lives still make being a pet’s companion and caretaker worthwhile. My only regret is that my own limited resources prevented her from getting better and more consistent care (I’m a little bit angry about that), although we tried everything we could afford and that our friends with cats having similar problems recommended.
UPDATE: Fluff Cat Pictures! ;) They make me smile (just like the Fluff cat did), even though I am very sad about her death. She was such a sweet kitty. Everyone loved her, and she was very friendly.
UPDATE2: More Fluff Cat memories - she would sit in front of the cabinet where we stored her food, and stare at it expectantly, and meow frantically when you walked into the room (we couldn’t leave food down for her or the other cats, her because it was so expensive and the other cats loved to eat her food, even though she didn’t like the special diet, the other cats’, because it made Fluff sick, and she would go for it as soon as you turned your back - we had to either physically separate the cats in separate rooms, or stand over them while they ate and not let ourselves get distracted - she would even lick the dust off the other cat’s bowl if she got a chance… funny kitty). When she wanted to be fed in the morning, she would come into the bedroom and just sit there and howl continously for twenty minutes straight until you gave up and got out of bed. She would always make this funny “wah wah wah” noise before she threw up a hairball (just enough time to get her into the kitchen or bathroom when we were around). She adopted a spot on our bed, and would complain loudly if it were blocked by a human, another cat, or even if there was just an obstacle between her and her spot. My wife loved to fall asleep with the cat in her arms, a round purring ball of contented love.
UPDATE2: No one who ever owns a cat like Fluff has any doubt that catspeak has semantic content, or that they can communicate very directly their wants and needs (or when they are pissed off at you). One of my wife’s favorite Fluff stories is the time Fluff and I walked across the entire length of the house (a fairly decent sized one at that point), having a “conversation”. Fluff would go “meow”, and I would go “meow”, and Fluff would in turn go “meow” again. She had the funniest way of running too, her rear end would bounce up and down rhythmically. She loved to be petted, and would pure louder and louder as you did it. She would set her head on her mommy’s shoulder and gradually relax, her eyes would close to slits, and she would just sit there and purr contentedly. Getting petted, and being held in her mommy’s arms and over her shoulder was the last thing we did with her, for about an hour maybe, she was purring and happy for at least a short period. Dammit, now I’m sad and angry that I didn’t have the money to give her the care she deserved (barely have enough to make the rent as it is, and her death leaves me $600 in debt to the vet, after spending god only knows how much over the last couple of years, as well).
UPDATE3: Another unique Fluff attribute: she liked to be pulled by her tail and very lightly roughhoused. Seriously, I’ve never heard of a cat who did, but when we had hardwood floors, we would pull her by her tail over them and she seemed to enjoy it. She also liked being patted, firmly, on the tailbone, right about the top of the tail. She would purr and trill and jack up her hips in response and groom things uncontrollably (even thin air). Never seen anything like it.
