About seventeen years ago we decided that we needed to return to the world of the Siamese cat. We wanted a traditional, classic applehead. We found a breeder in Connecticut who, like most people in that business, was a bit loopy, with a full house of felines. She was as old as the hills, wearing a prominent heart monitor in case, I guess, she passed out in the middle of selling us a kitten. There was a new litter, and her theory was that you should play with them and one of them would pick you out. We did, and one of them picked us out. She immediately grabbed him and drew an X on his belly with a magic marker.
A few weeks later, for my birthday, we went back to pick him up. There was still a mark on his belly, but I swore that she had switched cats on us because the one we had liked was normal and this one was nuts. We called him Pip because we had great expectations for him.
He fulfilled those expectations.
The magic of the best cats is their ability to mitigate between humans and the world at large. If you’re feeling a little sick, or a little lonely, the best cats are there to take care of you. Pip liked to be held like a baby. You could toss him over your shoulder as if you were burping him, and he would nudge his head into you and just start purring. If you couldn’t sleep, you’d roll over and he’d snuggle up to you. If you were just sitting around, he was in your lap. He was always there. Always. He wanted to be with you. And you wanted to be with him.
About five years ago, he became diabetic. The prognosis for diabetic cats is not great, but Pip thrived. Once his insulin dose was worked out, he ate fine and became his old self. A creature of habit, he always told you when it was time to eat, when it was time to give him a fresh bowl of water (a bowl of water sitting around would never do), when it was time to brush him.
A week or so he began to fail. We let him go today.
Seventeen years. That is the lifetime of a cat. The lifetime of a companion. A part of your own life that is unimaginable any other way.
I love that we are able have cats in our lives. And I love that Pip was one of the cats in ours.
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