"Just" a Cat? No way...

Today, we had a very sad loss. Baby Kitty (a lovely cat, gorgeous, with at least three "official" names -- Coffee Badger, Snotspot, and Crema) was hit by a car on the street outside out house, and was killed immediately. I still cannot believe she isn't here, on the sofa, curled up in her spot, loving being close to her humans.

I know some will say, "Well, it was just a cat"... Baby Kitty was so far from being "just" a cat, I can't tell you. It's amazing to me that a little cat -- probably only about nine months old, and weighing maybe five pounds -- could leave such a hole in our lives.

Baby Kitty was a stray, as far as we know. She attached herself to a friend of my son's, in the parking lot of the local community college. As I understand it, she followed the friend to class, and that was it... He had to adopt her... Unfortunately, the friend couldn't keep Baby Kitty, so my son volunteered to adopt her.

When the spouse and I came back from Hawaii last month, we opened the door to our house, and there was this gorgeous little cat. Mostly Siamese, with the most incredible blue eyes I have EVER seen on a cat. She was small, but elegant. Her coat was cream and brown, and she had a black spot by her nose... Leading her to be named "Snotspot" by my son. I objected, because this gorgeous feline could NOT be saddled with such an embarrassing name... I called her "Crema" . . . not anyone's favorite name, but I had to put something down on the vet's paperwork. I could have called her "Latte" or "Frappaccino"... But, she was always just "Baby Kitty" to us...

This cat was extraordinarily attached to her humans. She loved to climb up on your shoulders, and curl herself around your neck, purring madly. If you were sitting in a chair, working on your laptop or whatever, it didn't bother her a bit to leap up on your back, navigate across your shoulders (sometimes right over your head), down your chest, across your lap, and then either keep on going or (as cats will do) lay right down on whatever it is you were working on. She would follow me, or The Spouse, on our daily rounds around the house and in the driveway and elsewhere on the property. She had to be RIGHT THERE with you... preferably, right under your feet...

She was a wonderful guard cat -- constantly on the alert for new folks who were coming into her territory. If she heard the contractors show up in the morning (we're having our kitchen redone), she'd alert us, her ears would go up, and she needed to fly out the door to inspect them, and whatever goodies they might have in their truck...

When I would wash the dishes, she'd run into the room, and flop down by my feet, or get up on the sink -- who knew what exciting things might happen, involving soap and water! When I'd water the plants in the garden, with my watering can (with the sprinkler attachment on the end), she'd be right there, trying to figure out what was going on, and liking the wet leaves... When I got into the bathtub, she'd get up on the rim, sit on the rim like the majestic feline she was, a dead ringer for some ancient Egyptian god-cat, and try to figure out what that mysterious thing was that stood between her and the ledge inside the tub (hint: it was water)... And, at dinner time, when I banged on the can of wet food, she'd come flying in from whatever adventure she'd been on, howling like a starved demon... After scarfing down her dinner (as well as the portion of wet food I'd put in the other cat's bowl), she'd jump up on the sofa with The Spouse and me, and curl up in "her corner", to lick herself, and finally just curl up for a blissful sleep. In the morning, if she was not allowed into the master bathroom (to wrestle the bath mat into submission and try and figure out why we were standing under a falling water stream), she'd cry and howl... And, if there were clean clothes folded on the bed, that was the best thing of all... a ready-made nesting place!

She recently discovered lizards -- small ones -- and was enchanted to find out how much more fun they were than fake fabric catnip-stuffed mice! She'd hunt bugs, too, and was starting to eye the birds that flock in the trees around our house. I don't know if she had yet discovered the deer that come down the creek each day...

Baby Kitty was pretty much all Siamese, as best as I can figure. She was sleek and elegant, and had the most beautiful blue eyes I have ever, ever seen on a cat. She was, all in all, gorgeous. I've had beautiful cats before, and Miss Pudge (our older cat) is pretty darn sleek herself (if a tad large), but Baby Kitty was . . . well, not sure . . . a stunner... She was a loving cat... I'd say she was almost dog-like in her attitudes, but that would surely piss off either the cat lover contingent or the dog lover contingent... She was the most mellow cat I've ever held... she'd just lay in your arms, not try to wiggle out, and let you futz with her to your heart's content... I shall miss her terribly...

So, "just a cat"? Hmmm, I think not. That's like saying, "just a best friend", or "just a husband", or "just a piece of my heart"... She livened up this house like a force of nature. She got Miss Pudge to move around again, after our really really old cat wandered off to a better place a few months ago... She wiggled her way into The Spouse's heart... She even got me to be a gibbering, cat-talking-to slave...

I sat with her in my lap for a while, before she was buried, stroking her, and telling her she was the best little cat ever, and the sweetest girl, and the prettiest kitten... She was still warm... I think she would have liked it, laying in my lap, in the gentle sun, under the trees, with a slight breeze... She is buried, wrapped in a beautiful blue towel that matches her eyes, in the corner of our garden, under the Japanese maple, behind the camellia bushes, close to the new azalea bushes that she was busily investigating just yesterday. There are dragonflies, and birds, and lizards to chase... I hope her soul (I'm sure cats have souls) (at least this one did/does) is enjoying her eternal play there... She'll always be in my mind and my heart, leaping through the vinca plants in the back of the house, pouncing on the bugs in the azaleas, and helping me dead-head the rhododendrons...

So, no, she was most definitely NOT just a cat. Like any beloved person in one's life, there will never be another like her. We miss her.