I remember the little fluffy ball of fur and her short constant meows and jackhammer like purring like it was yesterday when I brought her home. Tiny nose, teeth, and claws poking out from the airholes in the cardboard pet carrier. She was the runt of her pen, starving for food and affection. The first thing I did was change her shelter name from Squirt to Miss Pauly because I counted 5 toes on her front feet, 6 toes on her back feet, she is a polydactyl torti cat with extra big feet and big stare you down golden eyes. She had me to depend on, no longer would her needs be unmet . Countless days laying in the sunshine, staring out in the trees from the windowsill, or on the top of the couch, conversations in the kitchen, and warm snoozes in my lap. She especially loved Christmas Time and would spend hours under the warm glow staring up at the lights of the Christmas Tree. I made sure she had the best food, vet care, was kept happy with kitty treats on occasion. Despite the best care the ravages of time leaves nothing unchanged. Dr. K said she has arthritis, an elevated kidney enzyme, and the spot on her neck had not responded to her course of treatment. She had never bounced back from her abscess treatment, not eating, talking, or wanting to cuddle. She had stopped coming to work, her job was lounging on the towel I had for her on my desk while I did the paying work. Dr. K said she was dehydrated, has lost weight under all that fur, and her breathing was shallow and labored, the x-ray showed a mass in her lung. Alone I held my fluffy torti girl as she journeyed across the rainbow bridge, saying goodbye and thanking her for the wonderful joy and companionship she brought into my life for the past sixteen years. It was so sudden, Covid even screwed this up as my fiancé Jen was unable to say goodbye to her friend of six years. I counted her toes one last time, five in the front, and six in the back. Returning with the now empty cat carrier, apparently our misery loves company, the van battery decided to throw a tantrum. With the hood up, someone had compassion for two people bawling their eyes out to jump-start the van, we drove home in silence. A few months later we now have two new calico sister kittens Emma and Ella who have restored some joy and happiness to our home. And the van, it also has a new battery.
Miss Pauly was a wonderful cat, and filled my life with joy from her kittenhood in 2003. Her friend Jasper a red tabby also had a good life until his chronic kidney disease and old age reached a point where he needed to cross the rainbow bridge a few months later.
Ella and Emma have grown now to cats, are a year old now and still frolic among the hose chasing each other. Their personalities have developed into their kooky selves.