Bye Bye Kitty

Last week, my family had to put down our sweet kitty Casey.  She got very sick last week, and after going to the vet, she continued getting worse.  Since she was nearly a 15 year old cat, my parents made the decision to have her put to sleep instead of cause her more suffering.  

She has been in our family for just short of 15 years.  I still remember that year.  My parents had just bought a house the winter before, and it was the first time we had lived in town since I was probably about 3 or 4.  It was the first time I really remembered having more than two sets of neighbors, and since it was a tiny town with really no law enforcement or animal control, that meant stray dogs and cats run loose everywhere.  Welcome to basically all podunk towns in Oklahoma.

Cats somehow sense when people like them, and if there are strays, they always show up on your doorstep.  The first summer we lived in our new house, we had my first cat that moved with us from the old house.  His name was Sally (yes, I said HE).  Sally was a lazy guy, but none-the-less made friends with a pregnant stray that "landed" on our doorstep, and no, he wasn't friendly with her because of THAT, he was physically safe from parenthood.  We called his little stray friend Little Bit.  Not long after that, Sally got hit by a car and died.

Little Bit had her litter of kittens, and the runt of her litter was strikingly handsome and quirky, and he was the one that pulled our heart strings.  No, it wasn't Casey.  This little quirky kitten would be Simon.  

Here is a picture of Simon when he was full-grown, handsome kitty.

Simon was really born feral, as his brother's and sisters were extremely hard to catch, but since he was the runt he was small and slow, so we caught him often and he got used to us.  He finally got so used to us that he slept on my bed every night before going outside to go on his kitty adventures.  Little Bit didn't really like our intrusions, so she moved her family along elsewhere.

Just  a month or so later while my family was on a walk in the country - which really wasn't far from town.  (When I say I'm from a small town, I mean the 2010 U.S. Census says there is a population of 350 people kind of small). Deep in the woods yet just off the road, away from any houses or places where people live, we heard a faint meow.  Out came a solid white kitten with a black spot on her head who looked to be a few months older than Simon.  It was apparent that someone had most likely drove her out to that place and left her there because they decided they no longer wanted her.  My dad picked her up and carried her back home with us, and she was as happy as could be.

The next morning, I woke up to this new "Casey" sniffing my mouth while I was asleep.  Gross!  At least Simon quietly got up and went about his business instead of disturbing my sleep in the mornings.  Already, I knew she had a very 'outgoing' personality.  Sometimes that outgoing, or should I call it "meow't-going" personality was a bit annoying to all involved, but we loved her for it anyway.

From that day, "Simon and Casey" were a duo that never separated.  

Simon had some severe mental issues and was terrified of people.  One day when some family that he didn't know visited my parents, he got scared and somehow sneaked out of the garage, never to come home.  Casey has since been an 'only cat.'

CASEY'S FAVORITE THINGS

To remember Casey's life, I just wanted to share some photos of her doing her favorite things.

These are the things that if she could have talked, she would say made her life worthwhile.

Cuddling with her humans.

The paw towards my mom's face is her sleepy cuddly trademark.

Cuddling with "brother."

A nice enough pillow.

Sitting in boxes and paper bags, and even both at the same time.

Laying on computer keyboards during important work.

Sitting in open drawers.

Rolling in the dirt.

Chin scratches.

Sleeping on the bed.  My bed, but thinking it was her bed.

Loving the Christmas tree box every holiday season.

Being cute and answering questions.

A video posted by Saxon Smith (@coffeeisdarling) on Jan 1, 2014 at 11:26pm PST

And the glamour shots.  She loved ALL the glamour.

 Oh yes, she loved her glamour shots.

Casey has been a part of our family more than half my life.  We will always remember all the little details about her that made her special to us, like the rip in her ear, the way she meowed to answer questions, the way she came to "Pig, Pig, Piggy" instead of "Kitty, Kitty, Kitty" and all sorts of other things.  

The Turner family is missing someone special now, but we are glad that Casey didn't suffer long from her illness.  

Bye bye, Piggy.