Sunday, April 23, 2006

Goodnight, Kita

It's been over a month since my last post, so I thought I'd do one tonight. Be warned, however, that it is a sad one.



The picture above is of me and Kita, a cat that has been in our family for 20 years. Up until about a week ago she appeared to be fine. She was eating, drinking, and doing her usual strutting around.

She lived with my mom who called me tonight and let me know that Kita, quite possible the best cat we've ever had, is in bad shape. Kita stopped doing all of the aforementioned things and Mom had made the decision that tomorrow, April 24, our beloved Kita would have to be put to sleep.

So by the time most of you read this, our family will be a member short. And it breaks my heart.

Kita was the best. Every weekend Mom would fry some bacon and Kita would sit at the stove until it was ready. She always got a strip. She also liked to eat tortillas, bread, and crackers. Yes, she did eat cat food as well. The regular food was a way of rewarding her. And when she wanted water, she would stand at the kitchen sink until someone turned on the spigot.

I can't ever remember Kita hissing, scratching, or ever being mean-tempered. She was one of the most calm cats I ever owned.

Probably one of the funniest memories I have of her was one time when she was curled up beside me on the bed. I was relaxing watching some TV in my room, which had those old roll-up shades over the window. As I lay there, the shade decided to roll up on its own and Kita--well, let's just say she was in the living room before the shade was completely up. It scared the hell out of her, and the poor thing looked spooked when I went to find her. I had never seen a cat move that fast in my life. I always said that she used up one of her lives on that one.

Somewhere along the way she gracefully used up another 7, and tomorrow Number 9 will be over--a life that we will all miss.

I went over to see Kita one last time and my brother took the picture you see. It will be the last time she will ever curl up on me. And I wasn't going to leave the house until she purred. I held her for about a half hour tonight, and I didn't want to let her go. I told her we're going to miss her and we loved her. I only felt better when she began purring.

It was hard saying goodbye to the old girl, but 20 years is very old for a cat. And I thank God that she was around that long for us to enjoy.

So goodnight, Kita. We all love you and will miss you terribly.