Monday, January 28, 2013

Misty

My cat Misty died on Saturday.  She was a beautiful dilute tortoiseshell and very sweet but also very cautious.  She was one of the feral kittens from the late 90s and never tamed into the kind of cat who would snuggle or allow herself to be picked up or handled...until the end when she was too weak to argue and could allow herself to accept more love.

But if you sat on the floor for a while, she'd appear and want love.  I don't have any photos of her because mostly she liked to stay out of the limelight.

She died after living with cancer for I don't know how long.  She was 15 and I think, and hope, that she had a happy life.

At the vet hospital I went to in California - which I loved and always will - there was one thing that always bothered me.  Probably me just being sensitive.  They are a funny bunch there, so there are always funny posters and sayings and lists on the walls of the treatment room.  One of these funny lists was the lamest pet names. Like "Rover" and "Spot." The name "Misty" was on that list and it always bothered me. Of course I never said anything because how stupid to care that your cat's name is considered lame by your veterinary friends.  Especially a cat they'd never seen.

But it always hurt my feelings a little bit.  I would always look at that list and feel a little bad.  Because she was a very special cat and if anyone had ever seen her (not many people did, since she mostly hid) they would know why she was named Misty.  She looked like mist and it was the right name for that sweet girl.  And it wasn't lame.