I have not blogged much in the past few months because of Minnie. Caring for her has been a 24/7 job. She had stopped eating on her own about a week ago and even though I was assist feeding her, she was fading away. Yesterday she developed a URI and her nose became congested. making it hard for her to breathe on top of everything else. Just two months after being diagnosed with late stage chronic renal failure, we let her go this morning. She was sitting contently on Pop's lap when the vet gave her the sedative and injection. Minnie slipped away so very quickly and quietly - we knew it was time.
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| Minnie at about 7-8 months outside. |
This is our third loss this year - Lily, Ivy and now Minnie. Minnie was the next to last of the feral colony we inherited when we moved to the mountains. Sweetpea is the only one left of that group. (To read Minnie's gotcha story click here.) Minnie was tiny at six pounds but long and lean and fiercely independent. She did everything her way or not at all. She was not a lap cat but allowed you to come to her to give her loving. She did enjoy the attention.
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| Another shot of her as a youngster |
She was very vocal if you tried to make her do something she did not want to do. She had a raspy meow, similar to Ivy's quack and would not put up with much. She would reprimand the younger cats if they got too rough near her with a growl and firm paw whap.
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| Minnie watching over Joey |
She was incredibly devoted to her litter mate Joey. When we caught him and brought him inside to live with us, she was there through it all, even sleeping on his kennel where he lived for the first few days. They were inseparable, together always, sleeping, wrestling and grooming. When Joey passed in 2012, Minnie was there with him to the end.
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| Joey and Minnie |
Minnie disliked having her picture taken for some strange reason. She would turn her head or look down when you pointed the camera at her. I had to snap shots of her when she was not looking. Because of this I don't have many good close-up shots of her.
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| Napping in Mom's fern. |
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| Minnie walked between the inside and outside window. |
She was a curious intelligent and mischievous cat, always getting into something. She loved boxes or any tiny space she could get into for that matter. Just this past summer, she crawled into a dresser drawer I left open and because she is black I didn't see her when I shut the drawer with her inside, asleep. Hours later I wondered where she was but it wasn't until Pop came to bed and shut the lights out that we heard her raspy meow and scratching coming from the dresser. She was fine, just a bit put out from having been stuck in there. She loved to play and did everything with such abandon. She certainly kept us amused with her antics.
Minnie loved the Christmas holidays and got into the action of decorating the tree, wrapping gifts and of course unwrapping the presents. She loved to dive into the discarded paper, sliding on the floor scattering it it all over.
Minnie gave me the gift of living in the now, this moment to the fullest. She was chock full of joie de vivre and it spilled over into our lives. Minnie is buried with her favorite catnip toy on our land with the others. I will miss her terribly but I know in my heart that she was warmly greeted on the other side by all the beloved cats from her feral colony - Big Guy, Mamma Kitty, Leroy, Ivy, Nick, Bob, and especially Joey.
If all of these wonderful cats are watching over me as my angels now - how lucky can I get? Until we meet again sweet girl..
I am taking a blog break - I had Halloween and Callie and Snowball's Gotchas Days set to post but I will let Minnie's story stay here and do the others at a later date. Snowball's Gotcha Day post will be on the blog Thurs. Nov. 8 so come back then.