She was 6 months old when my sister-in-law caught some kids swinging her around by her tail on the street. Rose brought her home and asked my husband if he would look after her (she had 3 dogs who are not cat friendly!). He fell in love with the little curmudgeon, mean-streak and all. She kept his spirits up when he was going through some pretty tough times personally and he spoiled her rotten. He credits her for saving his life in more ways than one.
The first time I met Xena was on my first trip out here to California (I'm Canadian and we were just dating then). She was sitting on top of a cabinet all the way across the room, looking down at me. Her shoulders were up, her head was down, her ears were back, she was growling (I kid you not!) and her teeth were bared. She jumped down from her perch onto a chair, still baring her teeth, still growling. After a minute of that, she jumped down to the floor and started stalking toward me, all the while her head was down and she growled!
I don't know a whole lot about cats. Dogs, yes! Cats, not so much. Since I am used to being the alpha dog in my house, I walked right up to her, picked her up, hissing and screaming and growling and biting and scratching and I never let go. LOL My arms and hands and even one cheek were a bloody mess, but she's been my Baby ever since. That was 9 years ago.
About a week ago, I was watching her fight down a fly in the back yard and I thought to myself "She's slowing down, she's finally getting old". She is almost 12 years old (in a couple weeks) and the best "dog" I've ever had. A few days ago, I noticed that she has been missing her litter box when she needed to go potty. Again, I just thought she's getting older, she's a senior. I can deal with this, I'll just keep checking to clean up any messes she might have left. She also looked like she had lost some weight (she was 26 pounds when I met her, but she's slimmed down to 20 pounds since we moved into the new house and she has had more exercise).
The day before yesterday was the last time I heard her purr. She wasn't grooming herself anymore, causing some mats to form, but it had also lost some of its sparkle and shine. This morning, she was just not acting right, not breathing right. I waited for the vet's office to open, made an appointment for 10 this morning and drove the 45 minutes to Livermore.
My heart broke in two after the exam was done. Xena's body was shutting down. Her heart was weak, she was jaundiced (how did I not see that???), she had fluid in her lungs and she had lost 6 pounds from the last time she was in to see the vet (in November). The Dr told me we could throw a lot of money at this, do a lot of tests, but that the outcome would be the same in the end. So I called the family, my husband and kids. They drove the 45 minutes and we were all there with her at the end.
Xena died this morning with her head in my hands. I told her she was the best damn "dog" ever. I told her how sorry I was that she wasn't going to have the chance to beat up the new puppy that is coming home with us on Sunday like I promised her she could. I told her I was proud to have been her Mama and asked her to wait for me at the Bridge.
She was my Princess, my Marshmallow, my husband's FurFace, his Baby. She was the kids' tormentor (she tormented the kids, not the other way around!) and our escape artist. She was our guard dog (the mean-streak never went away) and protector.
I'm gonna miss that miserable cat.
She spoiled us all.
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