Pit Crew. As many of you know, when we need to cat test a dog, we rely upon my kitty, Olivia. Affectionately referred to as “b*tchy cat” (due to her incessant meowing and chatter) she has helped us determine if a dog was cat friendly simply by observing her around the dog. If Olivia didn’t leave the room and instead walked around freely, we knew the dog was likely cat friendly (ex. Hippo P. Otamus). If she stood still, there was a good possibility she was anticipating a pounce as soon as she moved (ex. most puppies). And, if she scampered out of the room at the first possible moment, or climbed up me like a tree, we knew cats were a ‘no go’ for that particular dog (ex. Hunk). We adopted Olivia from Anti Cruelty back in 2005; when we walked in and asked for the cat who had been there the longest and was continually being passed over. The volunteers handed Olivia, an 8ish year old owner surrender, who had been there for months but just couldn’t catch a break, to us. Within a couple of hours, she had scaled the walls of our loft (she didn’t believe in needing that adjustment time in separate rooms from the other cats) and plopped herself on my chest, (as if it were her very own cat perch) and our conversations began. Olivia has remained on my shoulder, chest or head for most of her time with us, often putting her paws over my eyes or in my mouth if she felt I needed to do less talking and more listening to her…and she even helped to mother the litter of puppies we had last year (no doubt confusing the puppies since they looked an awful lot like her, though they couldn’t figure out why her bark sounded so strange). On Easter Sunday, Olivia decided it was time to be quiet, for good. She didn’t prolong her departure; instead just staying in my arms meowing quietly as Fly and Titan sat by her side, taking turns giving her kisses. I am broken hearted. But what is even more heartbreaking is how sad Fly and Titan are…they didn’t want to leave her body after she had passed; and when their Aunt Cathy showed up, Fly wailed at her in a way we’ve never heard. Here’s a short video of Fly saying goodbye to her, just minutes before she passed. Goodbye my sweet b*tchy cat, I will miss all of our talks. – Tina
Posted on: Mon, 21 Apr 2014 09:38:40 +0000