I had been living with my precious Polka-Dotted Princess, Camille: a Dalmatian I had adopted in November of 2000. Dave likes kitties. He had Sierra, a gorgeous silver Tabby cat he had adopted about a year before we met. Each of us had built a little world around our furbabies and when we decided to blend the family, we were incredibly lucky that Camille and Sierra got along so well. It wasn't perfect, they weren't all snuggly and, in fact, the dog was more than a little scared of the teethanclaws (dog-ese for cat).
For two years, we had great adventures as a family, even though both of our four legged children were getting on in years. Camille, being almost 14, was getting a little wobbly and starting to show her age. Sierra at around 12 years old was having some problems. About a year ago, she started to suffer from renal issues. We took every step we could; changing her diet, making sure she got plenty of fresh water, making sure she got to the vet very regularly. It was a toss up as to how long both of the "kids" would continue to be with us.
Three weeks ago, Sierra's health started to fail. We had her checked out, put her on IV fluids and medicine, gave her plenty of love and fought as hard as we could for her. It was all in vain. Last Saturday, October 18, little Sierra took her last breath while curled up trustingly in my lap. I like to believe knew she was loved and that she would always be a part of our family.
As for us, we were crushed. I can still feel the warmth of her little body like a phantom on my lap. I reach down dozens of times every day to rub her delicate little head. Dave still wakes up early in the morning to make sure she's fed before we have our own breakfast. Even Camille, who had wisely kept an eye on the teethanclaws at all times, was distraught and wandered from room to room moping and looking for her sister.
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| Camille and Sierra October 17, 2013. |
I know there are those out there who will criticize this next part and say we're not taking time to appropriately grieve Sierra. We could not stand being a kitty free household. We were all three missing the scamper of a little bitty underfoot. The night Sierra left us for her next great adventure, we found ourselves staring achingly at the adoption window at our local Petsmart without having consciously driven there. We knew we would need to have a kitty soon.
We decided to start looking right away... not to replace Sierra, because there is no replacement for her. She was the Queen; the Meep; the Little Itty Bitty Pretty. I still smile when I remember how she liked me to hold onto her tail when she took me upstairs to show me her empty bowl. She would stop on the stairs and wait until I had a grip and then she'd trot upstairs content that her silly human wouldn't get lost on the way to the food bowl.
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| Sierra and her Teddy bear - Petaluma, CA, June 2012 |
Off to Petfinder.com we went. Three nights in a row we scanned ads and read kitty profiles. We researched different breeds. We discussed kitten, adult and senior choices. Then we decided that since we're pretty used to dealing with special needs animals (Camille has a lot of special care now in her elder days and Dave has had a couple of special needs kitties before) that we should focus on that category of kitty.
One quick search and we saw Mazie. Dave and I read her profile and both looked up and each other knowing that she was our kitty.
What follows in this blog is Mazie's story. Her little life has already been a miracle and we hope they just keep coming.
Please check back soon for more of Amazing Mazie's Tale.
Meep!
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| Family snuggle - Christmas 2011 - Petaluma, CA |
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