Just a cat?

If you're a cat lover like I am, there is no such thing as "just a cat."

I found my earthly Angel on a beautiful spring day in 2002 in a grocery store parking lot, just a tiny ball of black fur and two greenish/gold eyes staring up at me. I picked her up and brought her to my face where she put a paw on each cheek and gave me kitty kisses on my nose. Need I say more? Of course she went home with me.

I took her to the vet for her shots and he told me she was only four weeks old. How could anyone toss out such a helpless little creature? I loved her, I spoiled her rotten and she was the greatest cat that ever was. She loved to travel too. I took her places in my car as a kitten so she would become used to being in a car and not get sick. She loved looking out the windows at all the scenery going by.

She wasn't fond of the leash, but would stay near when I took her in the backyard for some "birdie time" where she would watch birds with fascination and never harmed one of them. She loved the back deck that was high enough off the ground to keep her from jumping down and exploring off.

She was a social kitty and liked to make her presence known to strangers. After all, they were there to see her, right?

She loved all her scratchers and never clawed the furniture or the carpets. She never missed the kitty box and was very fastidious about her cleanliness. She was the Queen and ruled the house. Even the dog bowed down to her evil stares. She could speak with those beautiful eyes.

Those eyes were pure love. She loved me and my husband for sixteen and a half years. I've had many cats in my lifetime, but never one as loving or as soft as my Angel. She was the very epitome of an Angel.

My husband was never really a cat person until her. She demanded he pick her up and put her in his lap this last winter. Every morning and every evening she had a routine with him; she'd sit at his feet and look up at him. If he didn't pick her up right away, she would walk around his chair to the other side and he would pick her up.

I've never been loved by a cat quite like her before. She had her routine with me, too. Every morning between 4-5 am, she would walk across my husband and I up to my pillow and flop down, covering my face sometimes. Then she would get up, curl up next to me under the covers and purr ever so quietly.

She became very ill recently and the extremely difficult decision to help her across the Rainbow Bridge was made. She maintained her dignity to the end and even then, her spirit did not want to leave. Her body betrayed her. We gave her one last ride in the truck and I held her close so she could watch the river go by out the window. She absolutely loved that.

Angel left a huge hole in our hearts and it will take some time to heal from her departure. Miss Angel, we would love it if you came back to us so we could love and spoil you again.

Just a cat? Uh-uh, there's just no such thing as "just a cat." >^,,^<

(Due to our recent loss, I will be taking a break from my blog until September. I am enrolled in a writing class and have a big assignment coming up that I need to focus on.)