Feline friend today goodbye I said
Wrapped in your blankie, animal print for your fierceness and flannel for your softness a towel with your scent on it to comfort you
On that last car ride
A few anxious moments but really no fight left in you -- how you hated the car and going to the vet -- it was hard on both of us

The first time my boss, dr. cumming saw you he said , oh a maine coon -- cats bred for the atlantic seaboard, affectionate,
Big paws for the snow, desired by the sea captains for their prowess with rats.

I checked a website and you were a dead ringer for Olivia, the maine coone. But most of all you were our kitty.

I said look kitty aunt ollies peonies
Bloom for you today
June 21, 2005 your last day here
No more chasing birdies
Or sitting for hours waiting for the mouse

It broke my heart to see you so weak
And your coat that was always your pride and joy
Matty and not so clean
But you were my friend
We had our differences

I never did surrender to your will
Bloody-minded -- sat where you wanted
And did what you wanted

It was at the end that you needed me
To make that final decision
In the 3 years that scott has been gone
You haven't gotten your cuddles
And how you loved to be held
But I didn't like the cat hair

You chirped today when erin came
Because you knew she sat with her and
Coaxed you to eat
I was always hurried, in a rush
Selfishly wanting you to make it easier for me
To just go in your sleep here.
Not having to make that trip to the vet

You were such a grand lady
So haughty and yet so loving
So kind and yet so fierce
Sometimes you made me laugh
Like the time you tried jumping from the fence to who knows where slid down the patio umbrella and stepped in the cesaer salad, walking away shaking your back paw to get the dressing off
Ticked because the salad wasn't supposed to be there
Scott looked at me, I at him and then we both guffawed at your absolute nerve
Of course scott wouldn't eat the salad as the cat had stepped in it and you with your imperious attitude like accusing me for putting it in your way.
Or the look you gave me when I had a cat lover sleep over and she invited you to sleep with her in guest bedroom and you gave me your hard glare as if to say Emily invited me and I can stay if I want.

You had your favorite perches, one being on top of the cupboard over the fridge - and how did you get there? Well I guess jump on stove, jump on fridge
Or curled up in a ball on one of the white chairs or lying stretched out with exposed tummy -- so trusting -- I couldn't stand it and would walk by and give the tummy a rub and say 'no one should be allowed to be this relaxed.
You might lazily open one eye but really paid me no mind.

The look of utter astonishment when I said 'get off the kitchen table' and scott saying well mom she sits there all the time --

Or the thump of you jumping off something or other when you heard me come into a room.

Other times you made me angry
Trying to get my attention when you wanted food, not understanding the vet said you were overweight and had to diet
Every time someone came into kitchen you were there begging
I would try to creep into kitchen in morning but I guess you heard me get out of bed, always there demanding to be fed.

And the time you had the fateful encounter with the skunk
The morning I was driving to Calgary to see Cats and open back door to let you in
PHEW oh kitty you can't come in
Bathed you in the stuff vet recommended outside and you slinking away and looked like drowned rat
Four days later scott comes home, calls me at work and tells me he has bathed you in tomato juice, ah scott we have no tomato juice, oh I used tomato paste!
And you have terrible allergic reaction and have to be rushed to vet and wear the dreaded collar -- one of which you got rid of, and I remember you trying to slip through fence and the collar would clunk and you would try the next opening, same thing
And then one night, I am unloading dishwasher and you get eye contact with me and communicate very clearly I HATE THIS DAMN COLLAR

And scott putting big sunglasses on you and taking a picture and you laying on the new coverlet I made him with dalmation puppies looking like the queen, no a movie star, I am the greatest.

I see you lying in the lush green grass in the play area just being

Then you had to go and beat on wimpy blackie down the street -- then the board said no more kitties roaming at large. Blackies mommy not impressed. And you had to stay inside or be put on leash -- it is a wonder you didn't hang yourself -- one morning I come out ready to leave for work and you are up the tree on leash -- another time you are in grace's backyard and I have to coax you back how you managed to retrace your steps perfectly with leash around every pot I don't know but was so worried you would break something

Then the day grace said she had a pond and was putting goldfish in -- oh god, with kitty next door.

And your fondness for the chickadees -- the day I got up after scott went to school with a cast on my wrist and seeing something on floor -- chickadee feathers and me yelling murderer, murderer and hauling vacuum down to clean up.

The day scott saw you through kitchen window 'kitty has a bird' and running outside and bonking you on head so you would drop it -- and the lament you gave -- like dah, kitty the birdie is not going to come back to be eaten.

I got pretty adept at it to when I saw you had a birdie -

And the days I would come home from work and find the front lawn awash with bird feathers and say to scott get out there and clean those bird feathers up before anybody sees.

I remember the day scott said he came home from school at lunch and called me to say, I let kitty in and she dropped something in her dish -- it was a chickadee and it flew around the house -- I finally caught it and put kitty out front door and chickadee out back door. He said I think she thinks I ate her bird. I had visions of him eating this chickadee between two slices of bread!

I finally learned to look closely before I let you in -- if you had your head down more than likely you had an unfortunate chickadee --

Or the day you decided to open a 10 pound bag of sugar that was left on the pantry floor -- as mrs reid said well I have these sharp claws and need to do something with them -- somehow I failed to see the humor then.

I remember your defiance. I will do what I like and don't you try to change me. That ticked me off

Scott saying 'mom kitty has feelings too'

I remember when you were allowed out at night and being awoken in the early hours of the morning to a god awful cat fight and having to get the broom to separate you away from the offending party you were a real bag when you wanted to be. You scared me too! Remember thinking my god she is going to run up the broom and attack me. And someone saying I wouldn't have a cat like that but I knew you were a softie at heart -- purring and kneading as you sat on my lap.

You were just defending your property.

I remember you sitting for hours on end watching a certain place in the garden for the mice you knew were there. Totally focused, not flinching.

Goodbye old friend
Who will I talk to now
Who will enjoy the garden as you did
Who will sit in your chair
Who will alert me to the squirrel
Who will chirp at me when I pass by your chair at night in the living room

Are you chasing butterflies and dragonflies in kitty heaven
And lying in the lush green grass
Napping and just being

Old boot I will miss you
I remembered today how playful you were as a kitty -- how curious, how cute
We tried to train you to leash but you had other ideas
You were your own kitty and no one was going to talk you into anything you didn't want to do.

I hope you liked the song I played when the doctor put the needle in your poor skinny paw.

I hope you liked your blankie. I couldn't find your catnip bags. Your valium.

You were here when I came home from being with grandma and so wired
Listened patiently to my whining
When you stopped getting up for food when I would have a sleepless night I knew your journey was coming to an end

You needed me to make that decision
I wish I was a stronger person but it is hard to deal with this loss

No need to worry about covering furniture
Calling someone to kitty sit
Cleaning the dreaded cat litter
So why do I mourn
Feel so bad
Clean up cat sick

Because I know you were part human
You were quite a character
Lots of attitude
Lots of spunk

I know I will hear you moving around I will wait for your chirp and it will be an awfully empty house for awhile but we had a good run didn't we cheetarrah -- two old crones together in misery and joy.

No one will ever replace you in my heart. The only reason we got you was because scott had buried two hamsters and said mom, I want a pet who lives longer. We went to the spca and I had in my mind to get a ginger cat like my old tigger and brandy but you were our choice. I would say that 'damn cat' and scott would say but mom 'I love her'

When scott left to go work on the tall ships in mexico three years ago, a cold January day, I came home from airport and said kitty our boy has left us. You comforted me but missed him terribly. Kept looking for him, waiting for him to come home. The renovations were hard on you -- the noise and the packing -- neurotic like me. Everytime a male would come you would go up to them to see if it was your old pal. You finally got to see him in april this year and I am happy about that.

Oh and grandma saying, have you still got that damn cat.

Your bud was home in april and at first you gave him the cold shoulder then would not let him out of you sight -- you sat like the sphinx on grandma's queen anne chair just be near him when he worked on laptop -- slept with him at night.

A real boomer last night that I slept right through -- it was no coincidence, you were saying good bye to me. Happy and free once again to do as you bloody-well pleased.

I love you kitty and I will miss you. You were a wonderful listener, a good companion, always a challenge. I hope you are at peace now with the big kitty in the sky chasing dragonflies and resting in the cool, lush meadows