Flashback Friday

This week in 2009, Ayla caught and subdued a Blue Jay.  Even for a cat (and Ayla was a small one at about 5 lbs then), a Blue Jay is a seriously aggressive and fierce bird.  But she showed off her agility with that unfortunate Blue Jay...

Easy Like Sunday

TBT:   I don't normally do Angelversaries.  Actually, the idea never occurred to me, but I have seen some lately.  So I intended to do Ayla's first one at least.  

But I missed it.  It was September 2nd (Taz's Birthday, by coincidence - date, not year).  Somehow, I thought it was later this month.  So at least I want to correct that oversight...

Every kitty is "special".  But some leave larger holes in your heart than others.  Skeeter was one of those as was Iza too.  Time slowly heals the holes some, but Ayla was the most recent and her departure still hurts more.

Ayla was "special" to me in many ways.  She was my first purebred cat.  I only got her because she was too small for the breeder's needs and she was offerred to me as a "family cat".  In fact, the breeder had her own vet spay her before she would let me adopt her.

Many of you may know that led to problems.  For others, I will describe it briefly.  The first spay didn't take.  Neither did a second by the same vet 6 months later.  Months of Ayla going into heat every few weeks almost drove me crazy.  My own vet didn't want to make a third incision.

Ayla finally developed an abdominal infection, so my vet had to operate.  He found one entire ovary and part of the other still in her.  He told me he couldn't understand how the previous vet missed those after 2 operations.  I still have the remnants in a small jar of alcohol.

I emailed the breeder's vet pictures and details about the results.  He immediately sent me a reimbursement check for my expenses and said he was retiring.

After that, life with Ayla was wonderful.  I called her "Princess", and she deserved it.  Even for a cat, she was unusually graceful, dignified, and agile.  She just naturally posed "royally".

She talked to me often, but not in a demanding way.  She was a true mouse-hunter and loved the back yard.  But she was also always a good lapcat, tolerating my occasional shifts of position easily.

But all good things must come to an end.  In late August last year (at 16+) she stopped eating.  Meds didn't help.  The vet couldn't see a problem on x-rays.  Her weight was dropping rapidly.  The vet and I agreed that she was just "shutting down".

I will always miss her greatly.  

Thankful Thursday

TBT:  Remembering past Mews... 

Young Skeeter (8 months)...  I need to see the old pictures to remember how much he was more "spotted" than "tabby".  And I picture more white.  Without seeing actual pictures, I think of him looking more like Marley.  But he was so different!

LC, old...  This was actually one of her last pictures.  The younger ones are "cute".  But this one is the memory I will always hold.  At peace with the world and showing her love of the outside world.  No indoor waterbowl for her; she loved the taste of pondwater best.  The ripples from her tongue are wonderful.  It may be the best picture I ever took.  Not that I had anything to do with composing it.  It just happened and I was lucky enough to have a camera at hand.

Young Ayla...  Maybe a year old.  As a Princess, posing "purrfectly" just came naturally to her.  I can't have just "one favorite cat", but she is "up there".  

Middle-age Iza...  Iza was a very strong-minded cat.  Fierce with mousies and intruders and fierce in the house.  But soft as a cotton candy when on my lap or under the covers in bed.

Young Laz...  Too short a life.  A year in a bad home, a calm year here with Lori and I, and then it all went back downhill suddenly in the memories his troubled mind finally couldn't escape.

[Rather much edited as I re-read my original post]

Thankful Tuesday

Before I lose track of this pic, I want to show it...

 

After Ayla went OTB, I received flowers from the vet.  I mentioned that before.  But I also received 2 cards and wanted to show them with the flowers...

I'm not a big card-sender.  But I sure appreciated those.  And on this one-month Remembrance Day, the thoughts and comments from all of you then mattered to me too.  

It is past time to build Ayla's Memorial box...  I need to do some sad woodworking and digging.  She can't stay in the freezer forever...

And my grateful acknowledgement to the uncredited person who created this "free" image.  I will never know who you are, but that is Ayla to all intents and purposes...

Ayla, I miss you every day.  Your personal windowsill spot seems so empty without you there.  No cat talks to me as much as you did.  No cat sits under the bedroom chair as you did.  And you always meowed to me when I brought your foodbowl into the bedroom (so I would know where you were).  And then I would wait for you to decide where you wanted to eat...

The previous Mews were here when I was working and gone 12 hours a day.  So they saw me only a few waking hours of the day.  You were the first in my life to be with me when I was around 24/7/365 from arrival to the end.  I learned so much more of cats by that.

She was the very definition of catlike grace and beauty...

You were and are my Princess forever and ever.

Thankful Thursday

TBT:   Not to keep posting about Ayla (there will always be times I do).  But I am still adjusting to her absence, and it will take some time.  I've gotten beyond expecting to see her, but I still look at places where she used to spend her time and miss her.

She is sliding into the part of my mind that keeps track of "previous cats".  There are certainly many of them there; all were loved.  But it is a different place as "current cats".  The "current cats" place stays active most of the day.  The "previous cats" place only activates when triggered by something specific.

I am Thankful today for Ayla's 16+ years with me 24/7.  She was the first cat to arrive after I retired in 2006; the first to have my attention all day.  It made a difference in her (compered to previous ones) and to me.  The experience increased my understanding of cats and their responses and needs.

My pre-retirement cats only got outside on weekends and holidays.  They loved it, but their outside time was very limited.  I think Ayla benefited from more outside time (as did the Mews after her).  A house or apartment is good.  But getting outside allows a cat to experience a larger and more natural world.  I think it caused her to have a fuller life.

Yes, maybe a slightly more dangerous one, but she lived as long as the previous (more indoor) cats and was a very happy cat most of her life (well, she could have done without Laz in her elder years).  When she had been outside an hour (hunting mice usually), she would come inside (tail up high) and seek my attention.  She pretty much had the best of both worlds. and certainly seemed to enjoy both.

I've been looking for pics I haven't used recently.  These are all from many years past:

Loving the back yard...

Sniffing for some mousies...

Sitting calmly with Iza...

Sitting happily with Marley...

The Mews sniffing through the deck screen door about 2013.  I have this one framed on my wall...

And I am thankful for every cat that has graced my life...

Sunday Surprise

OK, I know it's Monday but I was surprised yesterday, so that was Sunday.

There was an insistent knock on the door.   Moreso than the usual knock of a salesman or contractor offerring "some great deal".  

It was a florist.  She handed me a bouquet of flowers.  I never normally get sent flowers...  So what was it about?

It was from my new regular vet.  I had emailed them that they could retire Ayla's file.  And they sent me a bouquet of flowers (and a note of sorrow) to honor her!

Every one of my previous vets (being advised of a deceased cat) said "OK, thanks for letting us know" (if that much).  These folks sent flowers...

And when I brought Marley in for his fluid injection Saturday, everyone in the room offerred sympathy to me about her loss.  They didn't look it up on the computer.  They just all knew.

Womancat Wensday

 TBT:  Well, there is one last small batch of processed pictures, then we are done with those.  There will be no more.  I will be so very much miss taking new ones.

Tuesday Thoughts

Thoughts -

Sometimes 3 catfood bowls are harder to fill than 4.

 

A house can be a lot quieter and emptier than you want it to be sometimes.

 

A quiet cat can fill a space more than 3 noisy ones.

 

What you detect in a house is not how many are in it.

 

"Presence" is not a number.

 

No one is truly alone.

 

There are some random things in life that make a big difference.  When I searched for a Siamese female cat to adopt back in 2008, there might have been so many possibilities that would have been good or bad.  I got ONE particular one mostly by accident.  She was wonderful.

 

Sometimes (and this may seem odd) you have a name for a cat in mind and you save it in your mind for years until the right cat for the names crosses the path of your life.  Ayla was that name.

 

Her name came from 'The Clan Of The Cavebear' by Jean Auel.  Iza (also OTB), got her name from the book too.  In the book, Ayla was a small lost Cro-Magnon girl adopted by Neanderthals.

 

BTW, (on the subject of names), Laz and Lori got their names from a book, too.  Robert Heinlein had a sci-fi book with 2 cloned sisters named Lapis Lazuli and Lorelei Lee.

 

Well Lapis Lazuli wasn't a female, but he has full beautiful blue eyes, so he got that name.  And of course, the next came along, she had to be the sister to match Laz's name...

 

Marley came with a name and I decided to keep it.  He was named for Bob Marley, the singer.  But Jacob Marley was Scrooge's business partner in life in The Christmas Carol, and the closest person he had to a friend.  And I thought of his name that way.  Anyway, it seemed to suit him.  Names come from strange sources, don't they?

 

But back to Ayla.  I tried to think yesterday if it had been one of the other cats who suddenly had to go over The Bridge.  How the impact on my life would have been different.  

 

Marley would be hard to say goodbye to.  He is such a calm and peaceful cat.  He loves The Lap.  He eats anything.  He seeks my attention all the time and is completely loved.  

 

Laz and Lori are both young and will be my last cats (probably).  They are both incredibly active.

 

But Ayla always seemed "different".  It is hard to describe a cat sometimes, but I always felt she was "most like me". When she meowed to me, it was almost like I knew what she was saying.  When Laz meows to me, I never quite understand what he wants.

 

In the dark of night,  The Mews often come around to settle by me.  Marley always settles at a corner of the bed.  Laz and Lori are hard to tell apart.  Both like to nestle in the crook of my knees, on my back, and sometimes under the blanket.

 

But I could always tell when it was Ayla.  She walked like on cloud-paws.  She was gentler on arrival.  She would rub her whiskers on my face to ask if she could go under the covers (and always "yes" you may).    She always slept against me politely and calmly. 

 

She stayed mostly in the bedroom after Laz arrived.  Her favorite spot was on the high windowsill in the master bathroom.  She loved just looking outside from there (I have birdfeeders).  She had 2 special places where she liked to eat.  One was the windowsill, the other was under a bedroom chair.

 

When I opened a food can, she knew it.  The other Mews came running to the kitchen, but she always waited patiently for me to bring it to her.

 

When I came in with her bowl, she always meowed to let me know which place she was in.  It was always very clear where she desired to eat.  

 

One time it might be "I shall dine by the window and watch the birdies".  

The next time it would be "I think I'll have the under-chair spot for privacy".  

 

I never knew which it would be, but she always called to me about which place she wanted for that meal.

 

She loved folded blue towels.  And was even a fussy about the color.  It had to be a medium blue, not too light and not too dark.

 

She loved sitting in the old laundry basket on a medium blue towel.  When I bought her her own laundry basket (with the same towels and in the same place), she ignored it for a month.

 

But she eventually decided it was OK for a Princess and spent most of her nights there.  

What do I do with an unused laundry basket now?  And does anyone want a half-dozen blue towels?

 

I have a small memorial space for OTB cats.  It needs to be scraped clean of some weeds though.  Skeeter, LC, and Iza are there in a row.  Time to start a second row.  Which sadly suggests more to come.

I think I'll stop now... 

Damn, it isn't Tuesday yet, is it...?

Monday Memories - Ayla

Today is a tribute to Ayla.   And our thanks and purrs to all for the supportive comments.   It has been a couple of hard days here.

I am missing some earliest pictures after all these years.  Even computer files don't last forever, it seems.

But she had a "pose".

And liked to be out on the old deck with Skeeter when he was very old and she was young.  And she was a comfort to him in his last months...  When he struggled, she sat next to him.  

Her best pic is probably the one in the tree.  Such a gorgeous girl...

She always did think she deserved to be a calender girl...

She loved special beds for years...  This is my best pic of her in one.  A Princess should always have a special bed.

And loved the top of the TV chair with the special mat.  She used to touch all the mat kitties sometimes...  I'm not sure what she thought, but she did that.

And didn't mind seeing herself sometimes.

And she always slept nicely...

She loved tight spaces...

Some cats are mean, some are good, some are wonderful.  Ayla was a "wonderful" cat.  She never did anything wrong.  And she loved my attention to her.

Drowned as I am in pictures of her, I don't have enough.  She slept next to me in bed most of her years, but I didn't capture those pics.  A bit of my reaching for the camera and she moved away.

She was on my lap in her early days, but I can't find them now.

I am going to miss her so very much.  

I miss Skeeter, LC and Iza all.  But Skeeter and LC were of my working days, where I was really only awake for a few hours around them.  It was almost like it was their home and I just "visited" a while.   Iza was a joy of my retirement time, but she died too young.  

Ayla was the transition from the Skeeter/LC years to the present.  It is like she had always been here.

Ayla was my first cat in 24/7/365 "at home, retired" life.  She was my constant presence and I was hers too.  It feels so empty here now without her.  I'm not even really understanding my day without her.  16 years is a long time even for people.

My Princess is gone.  Whatever physical troubles she had in her last month, at least they are over now.  I'm glad for that.  But the tears don't stop...

I will remember Ayla forever...