Kitty Kitty

1987-2003

January 11, 2003

Had to put my cat Kitty Kitty to sleep Saturday night.
She had been sick since August and it was time for her to go.
I had her since she was five and a half.
She was a very good cat and I'm going to miss her.
 

The story of Kitty Kitty goes like this:

When I moved out of the dorm in 1992 and into my first apartment, I was dating a guy who was allergic to cats. So, even though I was excited to be able to live somewhere where I could have a pet, I didn't want my boyfriend to have any attacks so I put it off. When he broke up with me on Valentine's day of 1993 I called my friend Mikel to take me to get a cat. The building I lived in required that cats be fixed and declawed. I think declawing is cruel and told the workers at the Golden Valley Humane Society that I needed a cat already declawed. They showed me several cats, but none were right. I told the woman that there must be some other cat I could see. She said she'd check the list and, yes, there was one more-- Kitty Kitty. She'd been brought in on Valentine's Day! It must have been fate. She was 5 and a half when I got her. A couple of years ago, my coworker, Carla, found a kitten and I brought her home to keep the then middle aged Kitty company. Kitty and Missy were never best friends, but got along all right. Kitty would always guard the bathroom door when I was in there and before I got Missy, Kitty would sleep in the crook of my knee at night. She liked to sit in my lap, but like most cats didn't like to be bothered too much. She was playful and would bite a little. I would have to warn people that tried to play with her. Whenever I leave town my neighbor, Connie, takes care of all my pets (there are two birds as well). When I came back to town after a conference this past August Connie told me Kitty Kitty had not eaten much the last few days. This was the start of a second bout with renal failure. Over the next four months I worked hard with my vet at Cedar Pet Clinic to try to get Kitty better. Connie and my friend, Chris, both helped me to give her subcutaneous fluids and I gave her lots of medicines. At her last visit in November, Kitty was down to less then 5 pounds. Last week I knew things were not going to get any better. She was even skinnier and was eating almost nothing. I talked to my vet on Thursday and made plans to take her in to be put down in a week. I needed time to get myself ready. On Saturday morning Kitty's breathing was raspy. Around eight I checked on her before getting ready to go out and found that she had thrown up a little blood. I knew it was time. I called Chris to take me to the Animal Emergency Clinic in St. Paul. Connie came over to say good bye. Chris and our friend, Goodie, drove out there in Chris' big old truck. I held Kitty on my lap as was wondered around downtown St. Paul. We found the clinic around 9:30. The staff there was very nice. Luckily, I had talked with my vet earlier about how the procedure goes. The staff was very nice and once the doctor started the procedure it went very quickly and quietly. The doctor gave me a flyer of the poem "The Rainbow Bridge." I read it on the way home. It is sad, but it is a nice thought.

I'm going to miss her. She was the first cat that was all mine. Now there's just me, Missy, Freddie Bird and Maggie Bird. Maybe one day I'll have to get Missy a kitten to keep her company.

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