SouSou - Dec 2000 to Aug 2018

This teeny, tiny princess' life ended today.  This has been coming since she was ill in the Spring with urinary tract bleeding.  She recovered really well from that and up until a few weeks ago was doing okay, okay for an 18 year old "the whole world exists to cater to me" princess.  Over these past few weeks I've watched her decline a bit each day.  I did some online research to get info on how to know "when it is time".  Each day I've thought we are getting close, yesterday I almost took her to the emergency vet, but talked myself out of it.  This morning I made the decision and the vet affairmed I called it correctly.

She was failing, but in no distress or pain, but failing.  So we had a bittersweet parting.

This little girl, at her heaviest, weighed 5.5 lbs!  A very tiny bundle of fir. She looked much larger, 7 -8 lbs, but that was just her lush coat.  The last few summers she's had a lion cut and looked like an overgrown rat.  But, having no fir during those hot months keep her more comfortable and playful.

She was the darling of all the cats and lived for them to pay attention and tend to her. She seldom had to groom herself, she always got the others to do that for her.  KoKo washed and washed her every night.  Muffin would sleep next to her to keep her cozy.  JoJo would wrap his paws around her to hold her tight to keep her safe. And those nights when she wasn't surrounded by one, two, or all three, she snuggled up under my chin, with her paws and head resting on my arm.  

She was not a lap sitter, but she loved to cuddle.  She was very stingy with her kisses, which only made them all the more sweet when she would deign to bestow one on you.  She was the social hostess.  Came to meet guests and was more than a bit insistent that they admire and pet her.  She had a great fondness for repairmen and would sit with them watching as they did their work and ran their power tools.  She also liked watching Garfield and Animal Planet shows on TV.

My sweet little girl, who will control my life now?  Who will drag the upstairs water dish into the middle of the hall where I almost trip on it to let me know it needed refilling?  Who will stand on my chest at 4:00 AM squawking and demanding breakfast?   Who will sit outside the bathroom complaining when I have been so rude as to close the door?  Who will pull at my arm and demand her share of the daily yogurt?  I will so dearly miss your demands and your company.

I find myself for the first time in 19 years cat-less.  I won't miss the litter box duty, nor the surprises of who threw up where, nor the coating of cat hair on just about everything.  But I will so very much miss  the sweetness of affection, the clown-fulness of play, and the ever present companionship.