I realize that, with so many competing and more important matters to address and debate here at DailyKos, this stupid little diary about a silly little cat is probably a waste of time and electrons. I also realize there are far better diarists here at DailyKos who write far more eloquently than I and about more interesting and urgent topics.
Nevertheless, I must write this, if anything as a salve to my soul and, hopefully, maybe brighten my wife's Christmas a little.
Two Sundays ago, December 6th, we lost one of our "babies". And it still hurts. Bad. And I'm still crying. Just like when we lost Whiskers nearly three years ago.
If you have nothing better to do with your time, allow me to tell her story.
March 9, 2007, was one of the most painful days of my life. We made the decision to put Whiskers, our cat of nearly twelve years, to sleep due to renal failure. The outpouring of sympathy from members of the DK community in response to my diary Requiem for Whiskers was critical in healing the gaping wound left in our hearts.
One week later, we read the news of the first massive pet food recalls. Needless to say, this only exacerbated our grief and ignited our anger. My wife, Sandra, directed her energies into blogging about the tainted pet food scandal and memorializing Whiskers at her blog The Last Meow. I poured myself into the Whiskers Memorial Butterfly & Flower Garden.
Still, it wasn't enough. Although we still had the Mighty, Mighty Pooh Cat, there was still an empty spot in the lives of myself, my wife and our two sons.
That's when the two little monsters came into our lives. In April, using the ruse that we would just be "foster" parents, my wife took custody of two little orphaned kittens. Both being female and over the objections of my wife, I christened them Scylla and Charybdis.
They were only three weeks old when someone poisoned their mother and not even close to being weaned. If you've never had the experience of bottle feeding kittens or puppies, all I can say is it isn't exactly the same as feeding human babies. I can still see Charybdis flailing her front paws madly and crying so pitifully as I cradled her in my left arm to give her that first bottle (Ever had to measure and mix kitten formula?).
Charybdis (at top) and Scylla
Having lost Whiskers to tainted pet food, my wife was determined that the girls and Pooh would never be allowed to endure the same agony as he had suffered. She fastidiously researched pet foods and fed the girls (and Pooh) all manner of good stuff (and some stuff you're really not supposed to give kitties). "Spoiled rotten" wouldn't even begin to describe their treatment.
As they grew, their personalities took shape. Scylla pretty much became a homebody, someone who would occasionally travel outside, but preferred to have company. Charybdis, on the other hand, possessed two operating modes: Wide Open Throttle or Off. When "activated", she truly exemplified the phrase joie de vivre.
Charybdis WOT!
Total System Shutdown!
I'll spare you the thousands of other pootie "tails", including several trips to the vet for various things, including a broken tail (we never did figure out how and she wasn't telling). There is one thing, though I will share: nearly every night, as I sat at my desk, she would jump in my lap and curl up in my left arm, just as she had when she was a kitten on the bottle, while I read DailyKos and other blogs. Every so often, she would reach up and pat me on the cheek as if to say, "I love you."
On that terrible Sunday two weeks ago, however, a horrible tragedy took Charybdis away from us, well before her time. As was our custom, I let the girls and the Pooh in from the garage where they slept every night. After the usual dispensing of treats, "Good Mornings", and petting, everyone proceeded to the front door. Charybdis, apparently chasing a squirrel, ran into the road in front of our house and was struck by someone who believed the posted speed limit of 40 mph was merely a suggestion to be ridiculed. Fortunately, she did not suffer.
Never having lost a human child (and never wanting to experience that), I suppose it would be presumptuous or even hyperbolic to assert we had lost a child, or perhaps even trivializing the those who have actually had to deal with such a tragedy . But a child she was, especially to my wife. A day hasn't passed that I don't remember the look of sheer horror and the screams when she saw me run into the road to recover Charybdis. She has cried every day since.
I can't begin to describe the huge hole ripped into both our hearts that day. Both of our sons seemed to take it well, although, being typical young males, there not about to admit they cried. Scylla, never before having been separated from her sister since birth, has yet to adjust to being alone. The Mighty, Mighty Pooh, aloof as he is, has looked about the house for the "nuisance". Even Fenris, the dog, has inquired into the whereabouts of his occasional walking companion (Charybdis, the little tease, had learned she could walk just in front of what she considered a great, slobbering beast as long as he was on a leash!).
We buried Charybdis, a.k.a, "Kitty BAD!", along with her favorite mousey, near Whiskers, the big brother she never knew.
In closing, I have three simple requests for each of you who were kind enough to read my lamentations for our very sweet little ball of fire:
- Please, please, please spay/neuter your pets.
- Please, please, please patronize and support your local pet shelter and not breeders.
- Lastly, but not leastly, please obey the posted speed limits. They are not suggestions and they apply to everyone, not everyone else.
Actually, I would ask one more thing: It's probably bad form to "pimp" someone else's blog and I know DailyKos is not exactly the proper forum to make personal requests, but I would ask that those so inclined visit my wife's "shrine" to Charybdis: Charybdis
She has no idea I am doing this and would like very much for it to be a surprise. It's the least I can do for making fun of her for Cat & Dog blogging. In all seriousness, I hope it will cheer her up a little and make Christmas a little less sad.
Thanks and Happy Holidays.
Charybdis in the Whiskers Memorial Butterfly Garden