by Chris Bosen
I named her Juliet because of her incredibly affectionate nature and insatiable appetite for cuddling but my wife Terry and I rarely called her by her "official" name. Usually we called her Tood, yes, T, two O's, and a D. I think we derived it from Tweety Bird's famous, "I tawt I taw a putty tat" line but it was always hard to explain the name. Throughout the day we would invariably call her Baby (Because she let us both hold and cradle her in our arms just like a baby), Little One, One, and Furry.
We first met her in late January 1998 in Tupelo, Mississippi. My wife (who was then my fiancee) had heard a kitten in the parking lot of our apartment complex for a day or two and decided to put some milk in a cupcake paper and set it outside our second floor door. The cat behind the high-pitched meow wouldn't venture up the stairs though so Terry moved the milk down to the bottom of the stairs. Every night at about 5:15 the little "Meow Kitty" as we called her then would show up in the parking lot and over a few days we got her to come up farther and farther up the stairs until she would eat outside our door. On Feb. 1 she set foot inside our small apartment for the first time. She was very cautious and as I closed the door Terry said, "She's not going to like that." Sure enough, she yelled and pawed at the door so I let her out again. The next night, however, she returned. This time the little Meow Kitty came inside and after a brief but thorough exploration of our modest abode she cuddled up on my chest and went to sleep for several hours.
Together we went through many things. Staying up for two nights with her going into heat and pacing and yelling to get outside and then letting her go outside on a windy, cold, drizzly night. Having her return two and a half days later. Nursing her back to health after her surgery. Teaching her to fetch milk jug rings, watching her stalk balled up Klondike bar wrappers, and delighting in her ability to ask for a kitty treat and then stand on her hind legs and reach way up to pull the treat in your hand down to her mouth level. Moving her to Arkansas for a few months until we moved into a pet-friendly duplex after our marriage in June. Then moving her cross-country on a four-day trek from Mississippi to California in June 2000. Her least favorite thing was to get in a car even to go 5 minutes to the vet so the move was quite an experience. But she handled it like a trooper and adapted quite well to our new apartment home. There was less wildlife to keep her entertained from her window perch but she seemed to enjoy the new digs. Every time my wife or I would return home she would great us at the door, roll on the floor and then ask for a treat before being scooped into our arms and cradled. She would jump into bed with us every night and stay there, sleeping on my arm or at our feet or by my wife's head, until the morning. She was the perfect cat for us.
The vet told us when we got her she was about 1 year old or less. She always had a clean bill of health during check-ups and got her vaccinations. She kept herself in pristine condition, constantly grooming her gray/brown/black tabby fur and her snow white vest and paws. In December we noticed her eating had declined and we took her to the vet the day after Christmas thinking she may have ingested something creating a blockage or had a tooth-absess or something. X-rays showed fluid in her lungs but blood work was inconclusive. We gave her antibiotics and tried to nurse her to health trying every type of food imagineable. Then we found a house call vet and had him come see her in January to spare her the stress of a car ride...which she still despised. The home vet did more blood work that was inconclusive and subsequently a bronchial wash to diagnose the lung fluid but the results showed no growth of any fungus or bacteria. We were baffled. The only explanation was a lump in her abdomen near her spine the vet could feel on two separate occasions. She hadn't eaten anything for nearly 6 weeks and would just take a few licks of water. Her behavior hadn't changed much as she still got around and sat with us and things. Even the lung congestion seemed to clear up as her breathing normalized lately. Then, Sunday she nosedived and continued to huddle up on the floor of our closet where we would lay be her side during the day. I had rarely left her side for the past 6 weeks and prayed nightly for her recovery. Now we could tell by looking in her eyes that she wouldn't recover and it was time for her to go.
The home care vet came today at 11 a.m. and she was gone by 11:15 or so. We're trying to celebrate her life, we would have had her three years on Feb. 2, and adjust to our spiritual relationship with her instead of her physical presence. We know we did the right thing in sending her to the Rainbow Bridge but our tears keep flowing. She was my first pet and became our child. I didn't think we would have to say goodbye so soon. We thought she would be with us for many more years. She gave us nothing but joy, happiness, and love and taught us a great deal about ourselves and the world. I'm sure there's a reason God picked her to come join the others at Rainbow Bridge, Fifi, Bo, and everyone else, even though we weren't ready to share her. I prayed that God would provide her a bright sunray to bask in, a warm blanket to cuddle in, a meadow to trollup and chase butterflies in, an unlimited supply of milk rings and Pounce treats, and a gentle hand to caress her until we join her. I also asked her to come visit us in our dreams. We miss her so much already.
We named her Juliet when we rescued her from the harsh, lonely life on the street. She rescued us from lonliness and made our house a home. Today we rescued her from the harsh disease, pain-filled life and sent her to Rainbow Bridge. While her body is gone, her spirit fills our home, our heart and our soul and although me miss her we'll never be alone again because she is always with us. We love you Tood. Go to your sunray.
Thanks for letting me share this story. It has helped with the grieving process as has reading the many stories and poems on this page.