Little Kitty 1995 - 2009

[rm]

Little Kitty's real name was Shiyung. I'm not sure she knew that. I named her after one of the three sisters of the ruling Orsinate in Aestival Tide, which is Elizabeth Hand's sort of sequel to Winterlong. It's out of print, and it is fucked up.

Anyway, Little wasn't very good at being a cat. She played fetch when she was younger and liked to stand in the shower with me and never learned how to meow properly, making a sort of one syllable grunting noise that usually meant "I'm really enjoying biting this roll of duct tape/box of tampons/book."

I got her 14 years ago to the day. She and her sister-cat (who is not her sister), who had just had their shots and were sleepy and pissed. Little immediately became "the cat" while Pretty Kitty became "the other cat" mainly because Pretty hid all the time.

Some of you first met her at a New Year's party I had a few days later. If you were there, you'll remember that some drunk idiot tried to steal her.

Little was there for the aftermath of Greg, for Michael (whom she was excessively fond of and whose voice she still could recognize on the phone last time I spoke to him in her presence, years after she'd last seen him), and for all sorts of other crap too.

She was there when I was rich, when I was poor, when I had an abortion and when I worked in the sex industry. She was there for the dot.com bullshit, for dreams of Baz Luhrmann (when I went to Australia, my roommate would email to say "the cats think I have eaten you"), and for a stupid fire below our Avenue C apartment where she got drunk on the smoke and staggered around for a few hours after. "Don't worry," the firefighters said, "cats'll survive anything."

And she did. She always had weird medical problems the cause of which was never found. There was the uterine infection and the liver thing (prior to this liver thing just now). She puked a lot. She was messy. Her fur was so thick it turned into little clumps that I swear she should shoot off her body at people at will. She had such massive whiskers I always thought she looked like a sea-creature.

She adored Patty, and drove us crazy in the process, always worming her massive bulk between us on the couch, or trying to by standing on our ovaries first or something. Patty was amazing with her, and I'd laugh and laugh at grooming hilarity, when Patty would use the cat rake on her and the clouds of hair would spin around her like some sort of horrible cat-induced Wizard of Oz thing.

Whenever I was sick, you know, which is often, Little always tried to help by standing on my stomach; my celiac disease does not thank her. When I was sad or scared, I would nap with my head on Little's giant belly. She'd usually let me do it for twenty to thirty minutes at a time.

She was an awesome cat, even if she was stupid (and inventively so), grouchy and too fat to effectively clean herself. She owned every house she was ever in, and loved every person I ever had, just, it seems, on my say so. She was enthusiastic and smug.

She loved broccoli.

Like, a lot. I remember once letting her eat some when Kali was over, and I'll never understand how a cat managed to eat plain broccoli one minute and vomit up acres of cream sauce the next, but Megan was there too and we all saw it happen. It was the most disgusting thing ever and we were all laughing so hard.

Patty and I talk about how Little thunders across the plains of our apartment. Really. She galumphed, and sat on this scratcher we got her which we called her double-wide. If this cat had been human it would have loved Southern food and Elvis, which isn't all that much different from what she did as a cat.

Little could have told you my whole life story. What I look like in the mornings and all the people I ever pretended to be -- it's more than you know. She can't, and I'm sad, and I miss her, but man... dodged that bullet, yeah?

They loved her at the vet, and everyone was crying with me. They were rooting for her and thought she was hilarious.

This is about all I can do right now. I'm leaving comments on but am not having them emailed to me, because I'm not sure to what degree I can process your sympathy.

She was the best of beasties, and if kitty heaven lives up to cliches as advertised, she was so huge they may be having trouble keeping the thing airborne right now.

Comments

[jinian.livejournal.com]

What a great cat. I'm sorry.

[hmrpotter.livejournal.com]

*hugs*

[eumelia.livejournal.com]

My condolences. *hugs*

[pennswoods.livejournal.com]

She sounds like a wonderful companion. I'm so sorry for your loss.

[bodlon.livejournal.com]

*leaves a little stone*

[deakat]

I am so sorry for your loss.

[therealycats.livejournal.com]

Aw, I'm so sorry :( Losing pets is the worst.

[teaboyfan.livejournal.com]

When we had Arthur (1991-2008) put down, it created a vacuum. The only real comfort is to remember that we had 17 years of happiness from him, and only a few weeks of serious grief, so loving them is definitely worth it. You're remembering the good times, which is the sanity-saver.

...

[the-ogre.livejournal.com]

You have my sympathy and condolences.

[manycolored.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry for your loss.

May she rest in peace and dine on forests of broccoli without barfing.

[logospilgrim.livejournal.com]

:-(

*very tender robed embrace*

[mysduende.livejournal.com]

Sorry for the loss. What a sweetie..

[ruisseau.livejournal.com]

*hugs*

My husband and I firmly believe that passed kitties spend eternity in the lap of the Goddess, eating gushy food, and getting all the scritches they desire. Oh, and being allowed to knock things off tables and windowsills all the time.

[maryling.livejournal.com]

Oh gosh, I am so sorry. I know how hard it can be to lose a critter who's been with you for ages. My thoughts are with you.

[ayoub.livejournal.com]

I'm so sorry for your loss... :(

[valkyrwench.livejournal.com]

Little sounds like a fabulous beastie, and if there's one thing I'm certain of, it's that she knows she's loved.

You have my sympathies, and *hugs*, if you'd like them.

[hab318princess.livejournal.com]

*hugs*

that was lovely, I feel as if I knew her through the wonderful words you've used to describe her

[tsarina.livejournal.com]

Godspeed Little.

I am so sad.

[evil_plotbunny]

It's so rough to lose a pet, even one who has live such a long happy life. *hugs tight*

I'm so sorry for your loss.

[saoba.livejournal.com]

May her memory be a comfort.

We lost our grand old dog earlier this year, and I was stunned at how hard it was just to tell people. Processing their responses lagged a bit behind that.

[spiderine.livejournal.com]

I am so very sorry for your loss. Kitty heaven must indeed live up to the adverts; it's only fair. But honestly, I bet she had heaven on earth with you. She had love, and petting and good food, and warm places to snooze and stuff to play with.

I feel for you so much -- losing beloved cats is one of the hardest things in life. Hugs and good thoughts.

(Phoenix, one of my cats who is in this icon, offers you nuzzles.)

[pantryslut.livejournal.com]

What a fine cat. What a fine remembrance.

I'm sorry she's gone, and for your loss.

[brewsternorth.livejournal.com]

*hugs* What a cat that was. (And nicely named.)

[lolliejean.livejournal.com]

This is such a lovely portrait of your friend. My heart is with you in the sadness of having to say goodbye. xo

[dremiel.livejournal.com]

I'm so sorry for your loss. She was clearly a fabulous cat and I'm glad you had each other.