When my cat, Bimbo, died I was devastated by the loss of such a wonderful friend. I had no desire to adopt another pet. No cat would ever live up to the memory of Bimbo, and I felt it would be unfair to adopt a new pet that would live in his shadow always falling short in comparison.
Then I met Whitney.
I first saw her in PetSmart trying to bury a turd. She scratched the wall beside the litter box, then she scratched the floor outside the litter box, and then she scratched the air above the litter box. She didn't manage to get a single piece of litter on that turd after 15 minutes of scratching. I read her profiles. She had been brought to the Humane Society the first time when she was 2.5 years old. Her owner described her personality as "crazy". In answer to the question "Describe this cat's favorite toys or games:" Her owner wrote "tearing couch apart". Whitney was adopted despite the bad profile, however she was quickly returned to the Human Society by her second owner. A new form was added to her original profile. Her second owner described her personality as "temperamental", and hand wrote on the form "Not a children's pet - biting children in house hold - hides all the time".
She had been living in that little cage for 11 months, and I knew we had to adopt her.
Whitney's neurotic personality kept her from living in Bimbo's shadow. She never pooped in the litter box. She preferred leaving her treasures on the floor about 6 inches from her litter box. She wasn't opposed to the idea of leaving a present in the living room or your bedroom either, so we had to start keeping all the bedroom doors shut. She also liked to practice low guttural meowing around 3:30 am at the top of the stairs, so we had to start putting her in the basement while we slept. She never mastered the art of retracting her claws, so every time she jumped on your lap you were guaranteed at least 5 punctures on your thighs (hence the nickname Velcro Kitty).
Whitney was my shadow, and she followed me everywhere. She was constantly underfoot, and I tripped over her more times than I can remember. Every time I sat down she was immediately there to jump on my lap (including when I was in bathroom). On those occasions when I didn't want her on my lap she sat looking up at me with squinty eyes that were so full of love until I gave in. She drove me crazy.
Whitney started to fade away this summer, and on Monday we had to bring her to the Vet and have her put to sleep.
In her seven years with us she didn't "tear up" our couch or bite our children. Instead she captured our hearts with her humble, unconditional love, and our hearts are broken with the loss of our beloved pet.
Good bye Whitney.
We miss you and love you.
4 comments:
i'm so sorry about whitney, i'm in tears. thanks for posting such a lovely life story. i'll give a little extra love to enterprise in memory...
Those kitty's at Petsmart always tug at my heart strings. I am glad one of them found a great, loving forever home! I'm sorry about your loss.
I've read this 3 times already because Vega drives me crazy, and this reminds me of how I'm going to fall apart when she leaves us. Neurotic kitties really are the best.
When Whitney was alive I used to get so mad at her constant basement-floor pooping, and now every time I go into the basement and realize there isn't any cat poop on the floor my eyes well up. Enjoy your neurotic kitty, because the more annoying they are in life the more you miss them when they are gone. BTW... thanks for all the nice comments.
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