Missing Harry

With the qualities of cleanliness, affection, patience, dignity, and courage that cats have, how many of us, I ask you, would be capable of becoming cats? - Fernand Mery

In a previous post, I mentioned that our best cat ever, Harry, had passed. It was a hard time for all the family, but I was deeply, deeply sad.  The house seemed empty without him even though we still had Jessie, Fidget, and Lily there. Jessie also seemed to miss him terribly.  Fidget spent hours just staring at random objects as if he lost something and couldn't remember how to find it.  I spent a lot of time going to animal shelters and playing with the tuxedo cats and kittens there.
 
It was then I noticed that black cats and kittens and even tuxedo cats seem to be the last adopted.  I would love to have a sanctuary someday just for such cats!  Eventually, I came across a little black kitty that we adopted.  He was almost entirely black but had a little white "bow tie" under his chin. He was a sweet kitty.  We named him Kezl, which is Yiddish for kitty.  And now we were back up to four cats under one roof and thought that would be the number of kitties we would probably never exceed.  But we were wrong .....

Saying Goodbye ...

I read once that time passes very quickly when we own cats and all too soon it will be time to say goodbye. Saying goodbye is the most difficult thing of all about being a cat owner. Well, in 2000 we had to say goodbye to our great cat Harry.  It was one of the saddest times of my life.  Harry got very ill with liver cancer. We kept him at home and spoon feed him for as long as we could until it was very clear that his time to pass was very near.  He was peacefully put to sleep while in my arms.  We buried him with some of his favorite toys on my husband's family farm under a cherry tree that we bought and planted in his memory.

Nine years later and tears still come to my eyes when I think of my good boy.  We have had many cats since then, but none like our Harry.  I hope when my time on earth is done there will be a few who will think of me as kindly as I think of Harry. I have always felt so fortunate that Harry was ours and that we adopted him.

There are some things I've learned about caring for aging cats since then and I will pass them along. Brush and massage your cat often. Elderly cats aren’t able to groom themselves as they once used to, and they will appreciate a tender, loving touch. Have a night-light or leave some lamps burning with 25 watt bulbs so your cat can find her litter box, food and water bowls, and you more easily at night. Put a warm, draft-free bed at floor level so she doesn’t have to climb or jump to take her nap. If your cat sleeps with you, get a stepping stool for her so that she doesn't have to jump and jar her arthritic bones.Gently massage, or simply hold, her frail body whenever you have the time. Cherish the time left with her and cherish all the times past.