My 'girl' and my eulogy to her.

[Scorp411]

She picked us.

There are cats and then there are cats and then there was Charlie.

It was a warm March for Edmonton. She was loitering in our yard. A big striped tabby with puffy long fur and a tail like a raccoon. My kids were feeding her behind my back. I knew it, though I’d asked them to only put out water for her, hoping I would find her owner through the S.P.C.A. or Pet Find or one of the myriad of organizations pet owners search for their loved ones.

My daughter is allergic to cats, you see. We’d already been through this. Too many heart wrenching attachments to pets we ultimately couldn’t keep. But for the third day in a row there are tuna cans in the garbage and I am not hearing back that anyone is missing the lawn tiger in my yard. Irritated, I am tying up the garbage bag and taking it out to the alley behind our garage The neighbour dog across the lane tears toward me, gleefully free of whatever restraints his owners have tried in vain this week to keep him in their yard. He is a pit bull, young, but adult sized and unpredictable. I freeze, but before I can contemplate what to do, the lawn tiger whooshes in from my yard and confronts the pup. He stops, startled by the even puffier cat now hissing in his face and when he tries to encroach into our driveway, the lawn tiger viciously swipes him with her sizable front paws and drives him back. It isn’t a stand off for long. The pup backs away and the cat keeps pushing forward, swiping at the dog’s nose until he turns tail and runs home.

I opened the next can of tuna.

We never did find her original owners, though it was clear she had had some. She was spayed and de-clawed and very sweet natured. Someone had loved her. In the end we figured either her owner had passed away and she was overlooked by whomever was looking after things or she was left behind by owners travelling through Edmonton by car. By the time she came to us the tips of her ears had been frostbitten away and she was thin. She didn’t stay thin for very long in our house.

Over the next seven years she spent her time laying on each of us by turn, and though I was her favourite human, she readily went to anyone, particularly if they were sad or upset. Animals do this, I know, but Charlie always knew, even if the human was not familiar to her. She would put her paw on your knee or your face and sit quietly until you let her know you needed her and then she would settle in for a good long cuddle and purr and she wouldn’t leave until you were alright again.

She demanded nothing. Unlike most cats I knew before her, she would ask for whatever she may have needed. To go outside, to have her food dish filled, to get a good petting -her standard query for these things usually came in the form of a patient look followed by a quiet meow if the human involved was too clueless to pick up on what she needed after ten minutes.

She always used the same corner of the flower bed for her toilette, even when it was forty below. If she happened to be forgotten outside she would go to the window well to my son’s room and meow mournfully to get in. I put a cat box out for her that I may have cleaned twice in seven years. She never used it. Not until the last three months of her life when she was forced to stay inside.

Charlie got her name from my daughters. She was beautiful, you see. Fluffy and big eyed with eyeliner around her golden eyes. So Charlene seemed appropriate. Oddly, we almost never called her Charlene or Charlie, it was almost always ‘Kitty Cat’ or ‘Kitty’ and very occasionally ‘Charlie Cat’.

She spent her days in our yard when it was nice out sleeping under the apple tree and her evenings on my bed and her nights with whichever kid would let her into their room. I never let her sleep with me at night, unless we were taking an afternoon nap together (which happened frequently enough) after the first few nights she was with us because she had a habit of parking all fifteen pounds of herself on my chest and purring cat breath into my face until I woke up and paid due attention.

She hated being brushed but tolerated it just long enough to get all the knots out but one. She loved being on a warm lap and rolling in a sunny spot on the concrete in the driveway. She loved going for a ride in the car to the drive thru to get ice cream. She ignored all but the most irritating inhabitants of our yard. The nesting magpies hated her, though she paid them no mind, only grudgingly coming inside when they dive bombed her under the apple tree. Two squirrels met their end in her paws but admittedly my hatred of their chattering outside my bedroom may have influenced her decision to execute them. She did keep the mice away. She had no trouble hunting, further evidence that she was on her own for quite awhile before she came to us, but it wasn’t her nature to kill for sheer joy and I never saw her waste what she caught. She detested dogs, disliked other cats, unless they were handsome. She loved all humans whether they deserved it or not and there were some that crossed her path that didn’t but she forgave them their indignities toward her and loved them anyway.

And when people inflicted indignities toward any of her humans she always remembered to love us best. For over two years of rather dark days she never left my side. She greeted me when I arrived home and wandered to wherever I was waiting to comfort me. Head bonk, purr, paw on the face, gentle smile, these are the things I will always remember. She delivered the gentleness that was lacking elsewhere in my life. The soft place to fall all of us need. I wouldn’t have made it through without her.

She picked us because we needed her the most.

Rest now, Charlie Cat, your work here is done.

[Zonny]

My condolences.

[Scorp411]

Thank you... I still miss her after a year and a half.

[xox2010]

Beautifully written. I'm very sorry for your loss

[frugal50]

so sorry for your loss

i also lost my girl in October

[MortgageQueen]

Your elequent eulogy bespoke your love for her. Having a once feral cat myself, I recognize the love and gratitude in her personality. My girl is much the same. One thing an animal recognizes quite clearly is love and devotion. . which you clear had . . .for each other.

As humans, we hope for that from at least one other in our lifetime. You gave that to her, and she gave it to you. It was a beautiful life. . .and you were part of that. Hold that dear to your heart and treasure it.

[hollyquaiscer]

So beautifully written. I cried like a baby I have lost 3 pets over the years, to either old age or illness and it rips your heart out. They are our children whether we know it or not. And they do pick us.

[Natalka]

So sorry about your loss...

[Scorp411]

Thank you all for your very kind words... other animal parents get it. I was thinking about her a lot yesterday because of the Christmas Tree... My kids pulled up the boxes of decorations and Rudy the rude was sitting on them trying to get in. K.C. was staring disapprovingly at me because of another change in his environment and I couldn't help but think that every year Charlie would watch us put up the tree with her gentle smile and sit with us after it was over and admire it.

The boys make me laugh because of the way they act, but Charlie was something special. Animal people understand... we've all owned at least one with a 'soul'.

[VeeVee]

OH Goodness you made me cry and I am at work lol
She sounds like she was a special cat, you were lucky to have her and she was lucky to have found your family.

[Scorp411]

OH Goodness you made me cry and I am at work lol
She sounds like she was a special cat, you were lucky to have her and she was lucky to have found your family.

Sorry 'bout that...

[walkonby]

Yup! me too, teared up through most of your eloquent post. Sorry for your loss, but to have such warm and fond memories of Charlie even a whole year later defines the love you had.

[couponclippercaitie]

You made me cry too! I'm so sorry for your loss, I know how hard it is to lose a pet. <3

We recently lost our beautiful 12 year old black lab to kidney disease, and some days are still tough.

[alicia]

Beautiful memories.

Sorry for the loss. I haven't experienced the loss of a pet yet, and I know it will rip my heart out when it does inevitable happen.