by Romy Dawson
Sooty came into our lives unexpectedly. My husband and I had recently got married and had discussed having cats, but as neither of us had never had cats, we were full of misconceptions, so we chose not to have one. Not long after (nine years ago) we rescued Sooty from our roof top, a small black cat with a tiny white patch on her chest and beautiful green eyes. As she had a collar on we figured she belonged to someone so we left her outside our flat. She stayed there all night and in the morning came in and demanded food. She moved in permanently a day later. She was perfect, always purring, always friendly and good-natured, extremely intelligence, affectionate, trusting and, weirdly, obedient. Our Sooty had many adventures, got stuck up a tree for 3 days and nights until I found her and managed to rescue her. Climbing was not her forte. Had several fights as she was very territorial. Struck up a friendship with a fox. Always getting into trouble and pet insurance really paid off for her. She always liked the company of cats so 5 years ago we got her a companion, a fluffy black and white Maine Coon cross from our local shelter. They became firm friends and this despite the fact that Sooty had no idea about cat protocol. That cat would even go on walks with us...
She was so friendly and not afraid of anything, not even dogs. That was her downfall. A few years ago we had her micro-chipped just in case she ever got lost again. She did not but last Thursday, November 15, 2001, she was attacked by a bull-terrier and left bleeding on the pavement. A kind gentleman found her and took her to a Blue Cross animal hospital, which is a charity. Thanks to the micro-chip they managed to track us. She had an operation the next day and seemed to be doing well. Monday morning, a distressed call from the hospital. My baby was in enormous pain and they could not relieve it. Her kidneys were shutting down and they asked for that decision which is never easy. I left the office, took a taxi there, and held her in my arms as she was put to sleep, telling her how wonderful she had been and how much we loved her and would miss her. I could almost hear her relieved soul leaving her little battered body which turned into a "thing", a shell without its beloved soul.
It's so hard to come home, expecting a little black shape to be sitting by the door, waiting for us to come home. No little black face peering through the banisters on the stairs. No little paws walking carefully on the bed, over and on top of me to lie between my husband and I every morning for her morning cuddle. We are devastated and we don't know what to do. Can't stop crying. And yet, I am grateful for all the years we had together. But I want her back. We both do, but Daddy's little girl is no longer with us and that seems just too difficult and too sudden for us to accept.
Feeling slightly unfaithful we are going to look at other cats at the shelter, hoping to fall in love again with another baby, who can fill that big empty hole in our lives. We still have Tia, our fluffy one, but she is pining away without her little friend, and does not understand where Sooty is so we need to do this.
I know she is waiting for us, because it would just be too cruel if she was not. All my furry babies are there, waiting for Mummy and Daddy. May God give us strength to help us through this.