Yesterday I had to take one of my cats, my little girl, to the vet because she’s become highly lethargic, was dehydrated and had a snuffly nose. They felt it was best to get her in for intravenous fluids.
My little girl, Xena, and her brother, Tiddles, are my 20 year love affair.
Their mother, Miss Kitty, was a stray which I took in when we adopted another cat. I figured if we’re going to disrupt the household, might as well do it up! Little did I know that Miss Kitty was pregnant, until she started getting as big as a badger. At this stage, I was just calling her Miss Waddle.
I remember the blessed event. I was at work, serving tabled, grudgingly, at a local IHOP, if you can imagine. This job was the point where I realized that people were basically masochistic since many of them actually requested my section. My partner at the time called me to let me know that Miss Kitty was acting strangely, meowing and going around in circles. He said that he thought she was going into labor. He then asked in his overly dramatic fashion what he had to do for her. Rolling my eyes at the other end of the phone, I told him to boil water and tear up some sheets like they do in the movies, if it makes you feel better, otherwise, leave her alone. It wasn’t her first time at this rodeo.
He came and picked me up, then we went home. I went into my computer room, the spare bedroom, and he told me that she’d gone under the bed. So I disassembled the bed and watched over her while I worked on the computer. As each precious little kitten came out, I put it to the side where she wouldn’t roll over on it, but close so it had her body heat. None were breached, or problematic, so she didn’t need any of my attention anyhow. 5 kittens later, she was busy cleaning them while the mewed.
These little babies and their mother had quite a few travels while we were together. From Tennessee we moved to Massachusetts. After three years there, we moved to Florida, as my mother was dying and I had to take care of her. Miss Kitty passed away in Florida.
When my late husband asked me to marry him and move to the UK, I had to choose 4 cats to go with me; it was all we could afford. So I chose the elder cats, Piwacket and Goldie, and 2 kittens, Xena and Tiddles. The other cats were tearfully given over to a no-kill shelter where they found new homes.
So Piwacket, Goldie, Xena and Tiddles moved with me from Florida to Maryland, where we awaited our departure to the UK. Then we made the trip across the pond to the UK.
Piwacket and Goldie passed away here in the UK after a few years, leaving us with Xena and Tiddles. Now, being elder cats, they have their share of issues. At their age, they don’t do usual grooming and don’t scratch their claws anymore. As a result, they frequently need their claws trimmed and their hair clipped. Tiddles, being a long hair cat, is especially problematic. He’s got the beginning of kidney disease, which is fairly common in elder cats. Xena, on the other had, has a number of medical conditions. In addition to kidney disease, she has high blood pressure and a thyroid condition. But, they’re our furry family so I will take care of them until the very end… which I thought was upon me.
Whenever Xena shows signs of being ill, and I have to take her in for an overnight stay at the vet, I worry that it’s the last time I’ll see her. This time it was low potassium and dehydration, so they put her on a drip and gave her some vitamins. She’ll be coming home today.
My worry subsided, I’m happy to have her coming home and getting on the mend. Soon I’ll have her back in my arms, where she likes to lay when I’m home. All night, while I’m on the computer or watching TV, she climbs up in my arms, lays her head on my shoulder and that’s where she stays until bedtime. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for my furry family.
And so my 20 year old love affair goes on another day.
It’s quite possibly the longest that I’ve ever given love to anything in my life.
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