And this is Lucy’s kitten we kept, Willie. Even though she was the runt of the litter and the only female, she weighed in at eighteen pounds!  Her brothers were all big cats of her size or more. She was mostly gray with white undertones. Here, she's doing what she did best, contemplating deep, profound feline thoughts.  She never seemed to learn how to meow, she just ‘squarked’ in a very unlike-cat language and never seemed to care for other cats, except for Lucy.  If a dog came near, she considered them more of a curiosity than a threat (on the other side of the door.  But she loved babies and would tickle their noses with her long, soft tail until they giggled or laughed.  She was the “social butterfly” of our street.

Her passing was rather sudden, and her barging into the room

to squark and purr is still missed.

I’m sure she and Lucy romp and chase the squirrels, or whatever

cats do in their tenth lives.

Lucy was very special to me.

She was the best "Momma cat," animal friend and loving pet I have ever known, beautiful and wise.

I thought the cat living in the furnace room of the building I worked in was a male and started calling him "Lucifer."  This was in the fall of that year. I fed "him" throughout the winter and the following spring.  Then I discovered "he" was "great with kittens."  With her name reformed to "Lucy," she was very young and very wild and very pregnant.

I decided that "Lucy" deserved to have her kittens in a better, cleaner place.  So, I brought her home, gave her a bath (the bathwater looked like india ink!) and got a bed in a quiet corner for her to have her kittens in.  I was glad to provide better food and safe, loving surroundings for her and her kittens than the furnace room.

She had eight kittens in all, although only six survived past the first week.  These six all grew up to be fine, strong, loving, beautiful cats, even the runt of the litter, Willie. Loving homes were found for five of the kittens, but I kept Willie.  She was Lucy's companion when I was away from home, being "indoor cats."

Lucy saw me through some very rough times.  We shared many an afternoon dozing and playing.  Her kitty kisses and nuzzling were the most affectionate things she could do for me and she was a "lap cat extraordinaire," sometimes spending two hours non-stop purring and keeping me company, healing me.

It was sad to see her health decline.  Her loss will be with me for the rest of my life.  I know she is in a better place, chasing squirrels and napping, perfectly contented and beyond pain and suffering.

We shared a very special bond.  She "talked" to me

(and no one else) and treated me, at turns,

as her kitten, peer & parent.

I still miss Lucy...

This is Katie. I got her from Cat Welfare here in Columbus where the staff veterinarian described her as 'very orange calico,' although she had patches of gray and black.  She was very affectionate, and very well behaved from a very young age.  She  craved constant attention. A real sweetie!

She was always checking to see that I’d get up in the mornings and stand by her food bowl if it was getting low.  She was particularly amusing to watch her at the water fountain, checking it with her left paw (are all cats left-pawed?) before lapping leisurely the cool water.  She would closely oversee any efforts to clean and refill that fountain.

You could sometimes hear her purr across the room, but she preferred to be next to you or, better still, on you. 

Her recent passing was very sudden and quite unexpected.

It has left hole in my life, closely following another loss in our family,

making her departure doubly painful.