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- Jan 1, 2016
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Etta the tuxedo cat came into my life 13 years ago August. She lived two houses down from me. I'm pretty sure she was one of 6 kittens that belonged to a cat we called Little Miss.
In September if this little, feisty tuxedo came bounding down the driveway of that house. She had a Siamese meow. Her tail was straight up in the air and she came running toward me talking all the way down the driveway. When she started to follow me down the sidewalk, I encouraged her to go back home. I remember she sat purposefully in the sidewalk, pouting as I walked away. She was so full of personality.
It wasn't much later that Little Miss showed up with her brood and Etta was with them. Etta seemed a little larger than the rest but was so very hungry. It could be that Little Miss adopted her. The neighbors didn't want Etta or the others. We set about finding them homes (including momma cat) since we had two adult cats we had adopted just a few weeks earlier from the shelter. In the end we were left with three of the kittens, little Charlie (who we let go in July of this year), Jeffery and Etta.
She sat in the living room window and growled at people who walked down the sidewalk or especially if they came up to the door--much like you see her in my profile picture. We built that shelf for the herd of cats so they could lay on their soft blankets and enjoy the birds and squirrels. She loved catnip pillow toys. She'd grab one and hold it in her mouth and swing her head down and then up, letting the pillow fly up into the air and then she would chase it. She loved the clothes in the hamper and would regularly pull a shirt out and roll around on it like a little weirdo. Once when she was pulling clothing out of the basket, it trapped her underneath. I have no idea at what point in the day that happened but when I came home for work, Etta was trapped under the hamper sitting there clearly annoyed saying "mraaaa!!!"
She could open doors. She understood her reflection in the mirror. She loved napping on our legs and she loved sleeping by my head. She drank water out of a cup on the nightstand so that my own water was safe (probably wasn't). She was the one cat in the universe who hated the smell of butter. She completely knew her name and was profoundly annoyed that we didn't respond to the names she had for us.
She loved having her ears rubbed and her chin scratched. She was a calm grown up cat presence and the only one that enthusiastically ate the high end cat food that we've spent small fortunes on over the years. In her later years she got a little hobbly bobbly but otherwise was a healthy girl. When her sister Charlie started getting sick, Etta was not eating as well. Charlie went down hill fast but I was able to get Etta back on track by hand feeding her meal by scooping it on my finger and her licking the canned food off. She loved the attention and perked right back up.
Then we noticed her belly swelling and that her spine and shoulders were getting so thin. Her blood test showed hyperthyroid and some white blood cell activity. The fluid in her belly was inconclusive. The last month of her life she went to a vet specialist who wanted to do a biopsy after nodules were seen on her omentum. I declined the surgery because if it was cancer we weren't going to put her through chemo and then she would be in pain from the surgery that would do her no good. The specialist prescribed heavy duty prednisolone and a drug to help her blood flow easily called Pentoxifylline. She got all that and her thyroid medication. She hated me giving her the medication but like always, she was such a good girl. She started to have trouble breathing the night before last and came up to lay down by my head. I knew it was the last time. I think she knew it too. She stayed there for a while for old times sake.
At the end I told her I was sorry for the medications but that we had to try and now she wouldn't have to worry about it any more and now she would be free and better. I thanked her for being our best pest ever. Kissed her head and nose and told I loved her crazy. She gave me a series of that now short and strained "mraaa" before she went to sleep.
I know it was the right thing and I spared her a scary death due to suffocation. It seemed that she might be losing blood and it was going into her lungs. Her buddy Scoo Baby misses her. Her brother Jeffery is sad. We still can't believe she's gone. I loved my Etta bo Betta Bites.
In September if this little, feisty tuxedo came bounding down the driveway of that house. She had a Siamese meow. Her tail was straight up in the air and she came running toward me talking all the way down the driveway. When she started to follow me down the sidewalk, I encouraged her to go back home. I remember she sat purposefully in the sidewalk, pouting as I walked away. She was so full of personality.
It wasn't much later that Little Miss showed up with her brood and Etta was with them. Etta seemed a little larger than the rest but was so very hungry. It could be that Little Miss adopted her. The neighbors didn't want Etta or the others. We set about finding them homes (including momma cat) since we had two adult cats we had adopted just a few weeks earlier from the shelter. In the end we were left with three of the kittens, little Charlie (who we let go in July of this year), Jeffery and Etta.
She sat in the living room window and growled at people who walked down the sidewalk or especially if they came up to the door--much like you see her in my profile picture. We built that shelf for the herd of cats so they could lay on their soft blankets and enjoy the birds and squirrels. She loved catnip pillow toys. She'd grab one and hold it in her mouth and swing her head down and then up, letting the pillow fly up into the air and then she would chase it. She loved the clothes in the hamper and would regularly pull a shirt out and roll around on it like a little weirdo. Once when she was pulling clothing out of the basket, it trapped her underneath. I have no idea at what point in the day that happened but when I came home for work, Etta was trapped under the hamper sitting there clearly annoyed saying "mraaaa!!!"
She could open doors. She understood her reflection in the mirror. She loved napping on our legs and she loved sleeping by my head. She drank water out of a cup on the nightstand so that my own water was safe (probably wasn't). She was the one cat in the universe who hated the smell of butter. She completely knew her name and was profoundly annoyed that we didn't respond to the names she had for us.
She loved having her ears rubbed and her chin scratched. She was a calm grown up cat presence and the only one that enthusiastically ate the high end cat food that we've spent small fortunes on over the years. In her later years she got a little hobbly bobbly but otherwise was a healthy girl. When her sister Charlie started getting sick, Etta was not eating as well. Charlie went down hill fast but I was able to get Etta back on track by hand feeding her meal by scooping it on my finger and her licking the canned food off. She loved the attention and perked right back up.
Then we noticed her belly swelling and that her spine and shoulders were getting so thin. Her blood test showed hyperthyroid and some white blood cell activity. The fluid in her belly was inconclusive. The last month of her life she went to a vet specialist who wanted to do a biopsy after nodules were seen on her omentum. I declined the surgery because if it was cancer we weren't going to put her through chemo and then she would be in pain from the surgery that would do her no good. The specialist prescribed heavy duty prednisolone and a drug to help her blood flow easily called Pentoxifylline. She got all that and her thyroid medication. She hated me giving her the medication but like always, she was such a good girl. She started to have trouble breathing the night before last and came up to lay down by my head. I knew it was the last time. I think she knew it too. She stayed there for a while for old times sake.
At the end I told her I was sorry for the medications but that we had to try and now she wouldn't have to worry about it any more and now she would be free and better. I thanked her for being our best pest ever. Kissed her head and nose and told I loved her crazy. She gave me a series of that now short and strained "mraaa" before she went to sleep.
I know it was the right thing and I spared her a scary death due to suffocation. It seemed that she might be losing blood and it was going into her lungs. Her buddy Scoo Baby misses her. Her brother Jeffery is sad. We still can't believe she's gone. I loved my Etta bo Betta Bites.
