Goodbye Mimi, Love Michael

Sadly, I had to say goodbye to Mimi this past Monday. Her condition quickly deteriorated the prior week. She had lost more weight, and I was having to force feed her. Though she wasn’t lethargic she was getting weaker. Monday morning the look on her face had changed, she was feeling miserable now. Facing the fact that her prognosis was terminal and her quality of life had ebbed, there was no point it delaying the inevitable. She was small to begin with and though the steroids helped for a bit, she couldn’t bounce back from the weight loss. From the time I got her diagnosis, I knew this was coming. So I thought I was prepared for it. In fact, knowing in advance does not make it any easier. I had her for almost 2 years, adopting her, after she was found abandoned and emaciated with 4 kittens. I don’t know what her life was like before that, but I think she was pretty happy with me.

I find myself surprised just how much I miss her. As cats go and I’ve had a few, she was pretty unique. She had such a personality and attitude. She looked like a big ball of lint. In the summer when I shaved her she looked like something from Whoville. She liked to harass my other cat, Hazel (who is 3 times her size), to get her to chase her. I have also, never seen a cat so jealous. Even though she was not big on being petted and cuddled, whenever I gave attention to Hazel, she had to come get hers as well. She was also a ‘talker’. Most cats just meow. She had a soft little coo that had all kinds of inflections, from ‘hmmph’ to ‘oooh’. She communicated more like a dog than a cat.

I am fortunate that my boyfriend is a veterinarian, and though it was hard for him, to do the euthanasia, because he was close to Mims as well, it was nice for me to be able to say goodbye to her at home. Miss you Mimi.