In July of 2004, my little cat came to live with me. She came from Lollypop Farm (the humane society of Rochester, NY). I didn't pick her out, but was in phone contact with my daughter as she looked at the available kittens. I wanted a yellow or orange female kitten but there weren't any there that day. I got a description of each one as she looked. When she came to "Lucy" with seven toes. I told her to stop looking.
When my daughter brought my little cat to my little apartment, it was love at first sight. She established herself right away and would crawl up on the back of my neck and sleep while I was on the computer. When it was night-night time, she went under the covers on the bed the minute the lights went out and hid on me. I named her Lovey for a while and then Miss Muffet but in fact, I called her "little girl" or "baby girl". Life was good.
On Labor day weekend, just about a month and a half after she arrived, I fell and broke my pelvis. I was taken away and left a neighbor my key, as she volunteered to take care of my little cat. When my daughter checked on her three days later, she had no food nor had her litter been cleaned. My daughter gathered her up and took her to her house where she met her dog cousins, Buddy and Angel, who loved her very much.
Miss Muffet made herself quite at home in the cabin out in the country. She didn't get to go outside but made the most of her stay by exploring and getting to know Buddy and Angel.
Angel is giving the little cat a little bath.
Buddy sits still while the little cat chews on his tail.
This used to be Angel's spot to relax but she nicely gave it up for her little cousin.
"Getting away from Angel and Buddy is easy."
"OK, sometimes it's not so easy but that's OK, it's all in fun. Buddy will never find me in here."
The threesome in their new spots.
"It's been real, you doggies, but I have to go home."
While I was in rehab at the nursing home, my little cat came to visit but wouldn't look at me. She looked around and said hello to my neighbor but she ignored me. They say assigning human traits to animals isn't correct but it seemed she felt that I had betrayed her. After I got home and she came back to my apartment, she never again would sit on my lap or let me pick her up. She was still affectionate and very playful, wildly so most of the time. She sharpened her claws for three and four minutes at a time on anything and everything. We moved a few months later and she adapted fine. I used to take her out in the hallway to walk around and visit various neighbors who would come to their doors. One night, though, she sharpened her claws on a man's scooter. That was the end of the walks because she was too fast for me to stop.
As a recluse she became very leary of strangers. In addition to that, when she played she was apt to bite. I've averaged about two surface bites a month and in four years and four months had three punctures that needed medical attention. Too many for someone like me, unfortunately.
In November of 2008 I had to give up my little cat. My heart is broken, my blood pressure has gone up and now I come home to an empty apartment.
No more greetings when I come through the door; no more leaping from cupboard to cupboard; no more appearing out of nowhere when she hears my coffee cup being set on the table; no more hunting down a lady bug when it comes through the screen; no more sitting in the window like a statue. No more anything.
She was a mitten toed little cat who had a black birthmark on the roof of her mouth. She would have been at home in a jungle; she didn't miss a trick. If it moved, she saw it. She watched The Animal Planet whenever cats, dogs or birds were on it. She knew the sound of my daughter's car clicker and would be waiting by the door before my daughter even got into the building. Now she is no more and my life will never be the same.
I'm sorry my little girl.
Little cat rode around on my walker, snooping around, looking at everything. Every morning she'd come into the kitchen with me while I made coffee and she'd jump up on the walker. I'd say "go for a ride?" and I'd walk her back to the bedroom where she'd go back to bed until she heard the coffee cup. That was her signal to get her treats.
Boxes, paper bags, drawers ....... the usual things that cats love. I would keep a paper bag out and she'd get in it when I said "where's your house?" When I said "where's your food?" she'd go to her food. Her water bowl was in the bathroom on a cabinet. I changed the water four times a day so it was always fresh and cold.
She changed her preferences for where she slept from week to week. Sometimes it was the wheelchair; sometimes the office chair or the bed. Never the couch where I was sitting. She would come up on the arm of the couch hoping for a treat but wouldn't stay. One of her favorite places was behind a nightstand where I'd put a blanket for her.
My little cat thinking about pouncing, I think. Maybe not. Maybe she's contemplating life.
"Uh, what is that flash in my eyes interrupting my nap?"
That lump in the afghan, of course, is the cat. I don't think she thought anyone could see her.
"Ok, enough of hide and seek." Her favorite toys were little rubber balls that seemed never to stop rolling. She had a grand time with them.
Nothing like an afternoon snooze.
"Yes, that's my pink fuzzy toy. No, you can't have it."
Without a doubt, one of her favorite places.
She reminds me of a lion in Africa on the escarpment. When my son from Florida was here last May both of her legs were hanging over and he reached up toward her; she swiped at him. He wasn't amused but it was amusing. She could leap across the room from the top of the refigerator to the cupboards on the other side of the room. She liked to get in the freezer and in the oven but only for a few minutes (with the doors open, of course.) The oddest habit she had was licking the cabinets. I guess she liked the dust or taste of the wood.
"Not another picture."
A spring day in the living room window.
In the bedroom window a few months ago.
Good-by my little girl.
Miss Muffet
April 2004 - November 2008
Christmas at Rick and Missy's house while I was in Florida.
