Our first cat, Zorak, came into our lives in 1999. He was a tiny kitten full of spunk and vigor. He was probably too wild to contain inside a house and his lack of affection is probably what led us to get Princess and Rumble in 2001, but he certainly made up for the love factor in his later years.
We lost Zorak at the end of 2012, right before Christmas, two days before if memory serves correct. It was, like this year, a struggle to get into the holiday spirit. His passing was sudden and unexpected. With three little children under the age of 5, our attention span was just enough to keep the pets watered and fed. We didn't notice any changes in his behavior until it was too late so we took this one quite hard.
Princess was our second cat. We got her from my friend Jill. She was a tiny terrified puff ball who wouldn't have anything to do with us at first. It wasn't until we took a week vacation and left her with my friend Carol that she decided we might be acceptable humans.
Princess was the smallest of the three cats and the most agile, I suppose she had to be to stay out of the boy cats way. Ours were never a pile of happy cuddly cats that you see in meme's. They were a prickly bunch, staying out of each other's way as best possible in a two bedroom condo. I think their lives improved drastically with the move to Maryland. We didn't have any windows that got sun in Florida, not like the huge bay window in Maryland anyway! Princess and Rumble seemed to agree that their retirement home was exceptionally nice.
Rumble was our third cat, we got him a few months after Princess. At the time, my husband was a security guard and where he worked this young cat, a few months old, had been wandering around the premises for a few days. He jumped up to the side of our pick up truck and hung onto the window seal while meowing at me. I took him home on a Saturday thinking I'd take him to a shelter by Monday but by then he had sat in my lap all weekend so we decided to keep him as the other two cats were not nearly as cuddly. Rumble loved sleeping in my house plants and he was terrified of all of my children. He moved with us to Maryland in 2013 where he lived in the basement for his last year, coming up only when the kids had gone to bed or school where he would sit on the back of the couch soaking up the sun, while watching birds and squirrels. We lost Rumble in 2014, he was 13 years old, I was pregnant with Evie at the time and life was less hectic so we were more aware of his
failing health.
So here today I suddenly find myself in a cat free home for the first time in 20 years. No litter boxes to clean, no cat hairballs to swoop up before the dog gets there, no accidental kitty turds for the dog to snack on (disgusting, but it happens).
Regardless of how sad I feel about having no cats, I'm ready to take a break. I've started planning how our next house must have a cat room, with floors that are easy to sterilize, and windows with plenty of sun. It will happen when it's meant to happen.
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