Absinthe & Cookies (a bit bitter, a bit sweet)

A Lost Friend

As my regular readers know, my 17 year old kittie, Kang, has been ill for a while now. About ten days ago, he lost the use of his back legs, so we would use bed pads in his bed, keep him washed and changed, hand feed him and such. But he still purred, still greeted me when I came home from work. Yesterday, he took a turn for the worse, I could feel his body temperature was lower, and he didn't react when I sat with him. Having been down this road over the last few years with Muffin, Tasha, & L.B. I knew he was slipping away and probably wouldn't last the night. I sat with him for quite awhile before I went to bed, crying, stroking him, taking to him, telling him I loved him. The other cats, and Daisy our dog, came over trying to comfort me. Finally, Kang made the first noise he had and tried to purr at me a few times. He was always the cat that had comforted me when I was sad -- he always seemed to know. I think he was trying last night to comfort me one last time.

I wrapped his little body up this morning for the trip to the vet. He'll be cremated and they'll return his ashes to us in a cedar box. One day, when I have my own home, I'll bury him with my other lost friends. As I wrapped him up, I remembered when he was still a young cat, not a year old yet. Kang always loved anything green -- flowers, plants, you name it, it wasn't safe. One morning, I looked up and here he was with a long-stemmed rose he'd snatched from its vase, and he had it between his teeth, running along with it, so proud of himself. The rose had to have been longer than he was. It was hilarious. So I think that his grave site should have a rose bush -- he'd like that.

I'm going to miss my little feral kitten.

Posted by Ithildin at May 6, 2004 10:39 AM | PROCURE FINE OLD WORLD ABSINTHE