Gracie

When our cat, Gracie, died I was so moved by the outpouring of love and sympathy that I received from my friends and family. I began thinking about our short time with Gracie and realized what a special, different kitty she was. I wanted to share this story as it actually is quite interesting!

In the summer of 2006 my dad decided he wanted to get a cat. He had been a few years without a cat, since his kitty, Katie, had passed away. He was ready. I encouraged him to get two cats, because he is very active and gone from his house and they could keep each other company. He asked me to pick out some kitties at the shelter for him and of course I was thrilled to do so!

So the kids and I headed to the shelter and took a look around. I'm the soft heart, always looking for the needy ones, and the ones with special stories. The first kitty we found was Spook, an all black cat. I was told that black cats were hard to adopt out, because of superstitions, so of course I took him. The next cat I saw was a baby kitten, not even weaned. Her mom had died and they were bottle feeding her. I decided I had to have her, for us...she was beautiful! Little Sophie. Then, realizing what a sucker I was, they showed me Gracie. She was a little older than Spook, but probably only a few months old. Her mother had Feline Distemper when she was pregnant, and she and all the other kittens had died. Gracie was the only one who survived. She was a little funny looking but seemed sweet enough. That was enough for me. I took her.

When we got them home, after a week or so, I figured out that Gracie must be deaf. Since Dad is blind, I decided that would not make a good combination, so we decided that Sophie and Spook would go with Dad and we would keep Gracie. She was very shy, would run away from people, when she walked she would bob and weave, almost like she was drunk. Her head would sway from side to side, she couldn't climb on anything. She could barely make it up the stairs.

I took her to the vet to have her checked out, shots, etc. He said she would probably always be this way, would be unable to get on furniture, climb the gate (to get to the "kitty room"). It was amazing that she had survived this long and probably would not live to be very old. She would always be "reclusive" and not to worry about her...at least we had saved her life and she would have a safe, good home.

Boy was he wrong. Within weeks of arriving at our house, the bobbing and weaving had almost stopped, she was climbing the stairs, chasing the other cats, I think she mimicked the other cats and that's how she learned to behave. She still didn't like people at all, but she loved the other cats and played and cuddled with them all the time.

We never paid that much attention to Gracie, I guess, she just "resided" here. Because she didn't like people it was hard to bond with her. But she was happy and beautiful.

A few weeks before Gracie died, I had noticed a slight change in her behavior. She had lost some weight, she wasn't playing with the other kitties as much. But with her, it's so hard to tell, since she won't let us close to her. When the kids and I were out of town, Dale texted me and told me that Gracie was going fast. She had stopped eating and drinking completely and was not being very mobile. By the time we got back to town (2 days later) she was not moving around at all. She way lying in the kitchen, under the kitchen table. I could tell she was just barely alive, her eyes were open and her breathing was shallow. I got the kids settled in, explained what was happening and sat on the floor next to her and called my dad.

She lived for about 30 more minutes, my dad stayed on the phone with me the whole time, of course...that's just the way he is. Gracie moved around a few times, just slightly. Then all of a sudden she started "making muffins". Her little paws moved back and forth, I think she was trying to comfort herself. Moments later she took a deep breath and sighed. It was over.

She lived a good life. A strange life, I will admit, but she loved the other kitties. She wasn't supposed to live at all and she touched us very deeply. She had a purpose and she was a good kitty....she will be missed.