Monday, June 8, 2015

Passages

Just over 17 years ago we had to say goodbye to a very sweet cat named Remeliah (named for a great great...grandmother of DH. We called her Remmy.  Then some months later I got a call from a very good friend whose daughter is the vet in a neighboring town. A family had brought in a kitten. Of course we wanted it. We had her about a week, then took her in to the vet because she had fleas. They weighed her. She was exactly a pound so we decided she was a month old which made her birthday June 4. We bottle fed this tiny little thing and she fit into baskets we had around and filled with towels. We named her Molly. It suited her.
Much loved, this kitten grew. However, wild kittens like this sometimes become strange. She bonded to us but no one else could pet her. She never went outside, had the whole house to roam in and had many favorite spots.
Our daughter left for a semester when Molly was about 7. Coming home, we were all in for a surprise. Molly decided our daughter was a stranger, too. She would not let her touch her, would hiss at her if she got too close but did tolerate having her around. Molly was so funny. She didn't run away from people, just a expressed her dislike for them!! It was so funny.


We have a friend who comes from France each summer to visit. He's crazy about cats and Molly in particular but Molly will not let him pet her. Such a love hate relationship but you can see she loved DH and me. She would request that we pick her up a lot but on her terms.
She loved sitting on my lazy boy chair  in the evenings while I worked. 
That changed. Two weeks ago we took her to the vets because things had changed. Now you have to understand that this cat has never been really checked by a vet. She became like a lion when they even looked at her. They found she had a bladder infection and gave her a long acting antibiotic and said to come back in 2 weeks. We went back Friday. She seemed worse so they gave her a bit of gas so they could really check her out. The news was so devastating that we went back in and let her go. She would have just gotten worse and in days would have died. It was very quick after being fine for so long. There was no hope. It was so tough but necessary. I would never let her suffer. She had a good, long life. Just turned 17! Now she's in the hosta bed buried next to Remmy.
After all that sadness it was nice to see that the hollyhocks are blooming. This is a new attempt. We bought them last year and it looks like there may be hope that next year some of the small plants will bloom. It would be so awesome to have hollyhocks finally established here. My Dad would be so proud. I grew up with hollyhocks blooming around our home near Winnipeg.
So this week I shall have to get used to weaving without a welcome meow mid afternoon. She would want me to stop, pick her up and cuddle for awhile. I shall miss that.
Until next week, hope you're getting lots of weaving done.
Carol

5 comments:

LA said...

So sorry to hear about Molly....CeCe was 18 when she passed this winter, so I understand your loss. Remember the good times.

Theresa said...

Oh Carol, I am so, so sorry about Molly. She certainly had a great life all on her terms! 17 is a pretty good long life but we both know even if we doubled it, it wouldn't be long enough. Farewell Miss Molly, you lucky and loved girl.

erin said...

Carol, I am so sorry. Maybe she and Stinky are sharing a cuppa cream and catnip in the great beyond.

Rachel Berry said...

Sorry to hear about poor Molly, I know what it is like to loose a dear pet. We lost one of our dogs recently with bone cancer and our elderly black cat Harry died a couple of years ago at 17 years of age. Your tale of Molly reminds me of one our first cats we had as newly weds, a tabby called Polly who was so fearsome she could only be picked up if you wore oven gloves! She eventually moved in with my parents as she didn't like it when we had a dog. My Dad always said she would outlive him and she did by 2 years and died as a very cantankerous 20 year old!

Bonnie said...

So sorry about Molly. It hurts to lose our furry children. She was loved and had a good life.