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Eulogy
June 2, 2009

Baby Kitty came into my life as a stray; I found her laying about the yard of the building I lived in. She was slight, nimble, and had a massive absess on her back. My lesbian neighbors trapped her and took her into the vet to get her fixed up. When she came back, she hid for days and was always embarassed about the bald spot on her back until it grew in.

I didn't want to name her, so I just called her "Baby Kitten" or "Baby Cat." I really didn't ever think I could keep her; there were plenty of other strays in the neighborhood, and my live-in boyfriend was allergic and supposedly hated cats. He started warming up to her, though, and with slow prodding, we got her to come inside the house, eat our food, and eventually join the household. When I asked him what we should call her, he said she already had a name.

Baby Kitty

She was a joy to have around; she was wary of others, but with he and I, she was incredibly loving and playful. She never scratched or bit, and only very rarely meowed, prefering a soft almost half-cough to speak. She had incredibly soft fur - anyone who was lucky enough to feel it would admire - I often called her "usagi-neko": bunny-cat. She had sparkling green eyes that would follow you around the room inquisitively, then, as soon as a petting hand was close, she would flop onto her side for a good rub.

After we moved to a different neighborhood, I kept Baby Kitty inside. There were too many ruffian strays around, and I didn't want her falling in with the wrong crowd. She would sit up in the back window and eye the group of cats that were fed by the old lady behind our building. One time we forgot to close a window before going to bed, and she got out during the night. I had to come home only a half day of work because I couldn't stop worrying about her. I found her crying under a bush near the front door, and I was able to capture her by pretending to be nonchalant about wanting to pet her. When I got her inside, she acted as if nothing had happened. I cried tears of joy that day - I was just so happy and relieved to have her home again.

Someone walking down the alley?

She continued to be my familiar through major life upheavals. Though she was very skittish for years, my last boyfriend was somehow able to pull her out of her shell. It might have had something to do with her being able to sit in his lap all day when he was unemployed - she really really liked that and grew quite attached to him.

I used to make up songs to sing to her, put to common tunes. They were always spontaneous and silly, and I like to think that she enjoyed them. This grew more common when I was alone in the house, when it was just me and her. I haven't really gotten into singing Shinji songs. He doesn't seem that type of cat.

Baby Kitty sleeps on Mr. Bear, close-up

When I moved here, I already knew that she had had kidney issues, so I continued to have the vet check her levels of whatever, and eventually she required special food, and recently I started giving her subcutaneous fluids weekly to keep her hydrated. When I got home last night, I found her laying by the cat tree, unable to get up to greet me.

I took her in a cab to DoveLewis and spent hours there, waiting for some kind of prognosis. Her kidney levels were up again, but they couldn't find anything that accounted for her neurological failure, so they kept her until this morning on fluids and in an oxygen chamber. When I went to pick her up at 8am, she could at least focus better, but there were no other noticable improvements. We travelled to her regular veterenary and spoke with our vet there. Her body was basically just shutting down on her, and there wasn't anything we could do about it. She died quickly, painlessly, and calmly wrapped in my arms resting on my lap. I hope she will forgive the decision I made for her. She was very very loved and I am already missing her more than words can express.

Baby Kitty "Studio Portrait"
Baby Kitty, ?/2002 - 6/2/2009
Best Feline Friend Ever