In Memory of Neko, the mouthiest cat I've ever known! (photo heavy)
Friday we brought home our kittens! It was so awesome to see them pour out of the carrier and running through the house. If you look close, I swear you could see confetti and glittery, rainbow trails after them!
We were all set to go to the kitten shower at the Hermitage Saturday, and I was going to take photos and blog about it. Good news is 37 kittens and cats were adopted!
About four am, Saturday morning, my husband got up for some water. A little while later he woke me up, as our beloved Neko was in distress! She was laying in the middle of the floor, and crying... we thought she was blind. We spent about an hour with her, calming her down, and then helped her tuck herself into a corner by the bookshelf where she felt safe.
We took her to the vet as soon as urgent care hours opened which was one pm. The place was already a mad-house. While the tech, S., examined her, Neko's distress got worse, and we all knew something was wrong with our baby. Soon, I was cuddled down with her while we waited for the lab results; see, the vet had noticed yellowing of her ears, a sure sign of jaundice. Now, why she had jaundice, we didn't know, but it's always serious!
I sat with Neko, and cuddled her, talking to her, calming her and just loving her. She was never a "lap cat", she liked to be in your face, on your chest, up near your shoulders! So, that's where I held her, like a toddler, laying on my arms.
It turns out that our lovely baby was suffering from acute liver failure. Her body was attacking her red blood cells, killing them, and her liver was shutting down. She was hurting, and there wasn't anything we could do to make her better...
We had to let her go. We were with her, loving her as she fell asleep. She was purring, and unafraid, and blessed us so much with her love! As her spark went back to the universe we were with her, and she was comforted...
Neko was the sort of cat who chooses one person, maaaaaybe two, if you're really lucky and she likes you well enough. She was my husband's cat, and decided when I met her, that I was "pretty OK help" too... because you know that's all humans are, is the cat-help. And I did cuddle her, and give her food, so that made me all right.
She talked! Like a 13 year old girl, this cat was mouthy! And she didn't make the name mew noise all the time, either. Nosirree, she had different sounds/mews/words for different situations.
When you sneezed, she'd name a ticking sound. That was the only time she'd make it, and it meant,
"Bless your sneeze". The only time! She was prompt too, often if my husband sneezed, she'd have her tick-tick out before I could say, "bless you!" Of course we'd bless her sneezes too, because we're a very polite family.
She loved laying on the floor in front of the sliding glass doors, or sitting in windowsill and looking outside. When she saw doves, sparrows, wrens or any other bird, she'd hunker down. The Huntress arrived in all her calico, chubby glory!! Then she'd start talking smack to the birds.
No, really! She'd be tittering at them, a teeny tiny sound, almost a murmur, but we knew she was saying, "You better be glad there's glass here, little chickens. Otherwise, I'd be eating your faces off right now!" She especially liked it when the neighbours chickens walked on the wall between our properties... that made her so excited! She was going to get those chickens one of these days... All birds were chickens.
Every Thanksgiving and Christmas we make a plate of a little bit of meat, the kidneys and liver, and some gravy for the cats. Willy got a little potato, as he liked them; it's a tradition my Dad started-- "The animals have reasons to be thankful too, and so they should be able to celebrate with us!" In our house we don't eat ham, so we had turkey both holidays... you should have seen her go crazy for that turkey!
"It's a biiiig chicken!!" She would whine as I carved it, carefully placing a little fat and skin and meat on her plate. "Gimme the big chicken!!" Then she'd proceed to growl and nom--- yes, those were the noises she made when she ate it, and she broke the neck in every little bite of food she ate. She did that with lunch meat, too, when we'd give her a teeny piece.
The best thing, that I think she did, was saving us from the shower.
Wait you say, how can a 7-10 pound cat save a grown human from a shower?
She'd pace the top of the enclosure at their house in Detroit, mewing and crying at my husband to come out of the water. When I spent the weekend there, she did that to me, too. And if you lifted your wrist toward her, she would grab it like you were her kitten, and that was your scruff, and she tried to pull us to safety!
I would die laughing!
When we moved down here, and had a tub and curtain, she'd pace the lip of the tub. Again, she'd stick her head inside the curtain and try to drag us to safety! She was determined not to let the water get us... and when we got out, she'd try to lick our legs and feet dry, all the while making a funny mew noise, "Silly kittens! Water is wet!!"
She was a jealous cat, and cuddly and purred like her body was vibrating apart. She was wonderful, and I feel so blessed that she loved me, and let me cuddle her. I love her too... and I miss her very very much.
Rest well, my Calico princess. I love you Neko.
We were all set to go to the kitten shower at the Hermitage Saturday, and I was going to take photos and blog about it. Good news is 37 kittens and cats were adopted!
We took her to the vet as soon as urgent care hours opened which was one pm. The place was already a mad-house. While the tech, S., examined her, Neko's distress got worse, and we all knew something was wrong with our baby. Soon, I was cuddled down with her while we waited for the lab results; see, the vet had noticed yellowing of her ears, a sure sign of jaundice. Now, why she had jaundice, we didn't know, but it's always serious!I sat with Neko, and cuddled her, talking to her, calming her and just loving her. She was never a "lap cat", she liked to be in your face, on your chest, up near your shoulders! So, that's where I held her, like a toddler, laying on my arms.
It turns out that our lovely baby was suffering from acute liver failure. Her body was attacking her red blood cells, killing them, and her liver was shutting down. She was hurting, and there wasn't anything we could do to make her better...
We had to let her go. We were with her, loving her as she fell asleep. She was purring, and unafraid, and blessed us so much with her love! As her spark went back to the universe we were with her, and she was comforted... Neko was the sort of cat who chooses one person, maaaaaybe two, if you're really lucky and she likes you well enough. She was my husband's cat, and decided when I met her, that I was "pretty OK help" too... because you know that's all humans are, is the cat-help. And I did cuddle her, and give her food, so that made me all right.
She talked! Like a 13 year old girl, this cat was mouthy! And she didn't make the name mew noise all the time, either. Nosirree, she had different sounds/mews/words for different situations.
When you sneezed, she'd name a ticking sound. That was the only time she'd make it, and it meant,
"Bless your sneeze". The only time! She was prompt too, often if my husband sneezed, she'd have her tick-tick out before I could say, "bless you!" Of course we'd bless her sneezes too, because we're a very polite family.
She loved laying on the floor in front of the sliding glass doors, or sitting in windowsill and looking outside. When she saw doves, sparrows, wrens or any other bird, she'd hunker down. The Huntress arrived in all her calico, chubby glory!! Then she'd start talking smack to the birds.No, really! She'd be tittering at them, a teeny tiny sound, almost a murmur, but we knew she was saying, "You better be glad there's glass here, little chickens. Otherwise, I'd be eating your faces off right now!" She especially liked it when the neighbours chickens walked on the wall between our properties... that made her so excited! She was going to get those chickens one of these days... All birds were chickens.
Every Thanksgiving and Christmas we make a plate of a little bit of meat, the kidneys and liver, and some gravy for the cats. Willy got a little potato, as he liked them; it's a tradition my Dad started-- "The animals have reasons to be thankful too, and so they should be able to celebrate with us!" In our house we don't eat ham, so we had turkey both holidays... you should have seen her go crazy for that turkey!
"It's a biiiig chicken!!" She would whine as I carved it, carefully placing a little fat and skin and meat on her plate. "Gimme the big chicken!!" Then she'd proceed to growl and nom--- yes, those were the noises she made when she ate it, and she broke the neck in every little bite of food she ate. She did that with lunch meat, too, when we'd give her a teeny piece.The best thing, that I think she did, was saving us from the shower.
Wait you say, how can a 7-10 pound cat save a grown human from a shower?
She'd pace the top of the enclosure at their house in Detroit, mewing and crying at my husband to come out of the water. When I spent the weekend there, she did that to me, too. And if you lifted your wrist toward her, she would grab it like you were her kitten, and that was your scruff, and she tried to pull us to safety!
I would die laughing!
When we moved down here, and had a tub and curtain, she'd pace the lip of the tub. Again, she'd stick her head inside the curtain and try to drag us to safety! She was determined not to let the water get us... and when we got out, she'd try to lick our legs and feet dry, all the while making a funny mew noise, "Silly kittens! Water is wet!!"
She was a jealous cat, and cuddly and purred like her body was vibrating apart. She was wonderful, and I feel so blessed that she loved me, and let me cuddle her. I love her too... and I miss her very very much.
Rest well, my Calico princess. I love you Neko.
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