Lexie, Our Zombie Cat

We lost another little soul last night… a little soul with a big presence.  Lexie, our cat of 18 years, passed away last night. 

Lexie came to us in 1997, after our other little soul, Ginger (17) passed away.  Lexie was at the Humane Society, and when I went to her cage, she rolled all over the cage trying to get me to play with her.  When I wouldn’t play, she reached out and grabbed my hair.  Since we were all grieving so much over the loss of Ginger and since Lexie was full of so much life, I brought her home.

Steve said “why did you bring THAT cat home?”  It didn’t take long for him to figure it out.  She belonged here.  The first thing that Lexie did when she came into her new home was to jump onto our large canary cage and hang onto the side.  When Jason came to get her off, she looked up at him and said “mrow”, as if she was saying “Whut?  This is MINE!”  Whenever we tried to discipline her or to call her, she never responded.  We soon found out why.  Lexie was deaf. 

We took special care not to let Lexie out in the backyard alone.  She loved to chase the birds, but since she couldn’t hear, she would never be aware of danger, nor would she hear a car approaching if she were to jump the fence.  In later years, she could go in the backyard alone, because she had lost the urge to leave the yard she loved so much.  We could let her out and she would lay on one of the patio chairs in the sun or find something to hide under, but she loved being outside.  She had the moves of a jungle cat, with a lumbering gait that left no doubt that SHE was queen of her yard. 

Lexie had a very long and happy life.  She ate well, she played well.  She was one of four cats we were to bring home after Ginger passed away, but she was the first.  When Shelby came to our home, Lexie ran right over to her and licked her clean.  She never knew a stranger.  She loved to antagonize the dogs.  First Rebel, and then Tucker after Rebel left us.  Both coonhounds hated when Lexie was near, because she would bite their ear to get them off her favorite couch so she could curl up and get comfortable.  And they obliged.  One of her favorite things was to climb the Christmas tree every year and get stuck up there.  She did it at least once every year until she got older, and we suspect she was responsible for our tree being on the floor when we woke up one Christmas morning.

In the last couple of years, Lexie started to lose weight, and lost so much that we started calling her our Zombie Cat.  She was still happy, and still purring the day before she passed away.  But yesterday, she stopped eating.  At first, we thought it was because Samantha was gone.  Lexie and Samantha had become unlikely friends, eating together and sometimes sleeping together.  Like we did for Samantha, we put Lexie in the crate to keep her safe and tend to her every hour or so.  Then she took a turn yesterday afternoon.  She had a seizure while I was watching over her.  It was pretty bad, and I knew it when I saw her eyes afterward.  I hoped it wasn’t so, but feared that she would go that day.  Unfortunately, I was right.

I awoke this morning to find the crate covered and a note on top, written in Jason’s handwriting.  It said, “T.O.D. 10:39pm”.  My heart sank.  Two babies in 48 hours.  It’s going to be a tough day.  Lexie will be buried right next to Samantha today.  I will be at work when it happens, although I am usually present when we have to do something like this.  I’m just glad I didn’t have to make the decision to put her down.  She wanted to be with Samantha.  We will honor her wishes.

Rest in peace, Lexie, our Zombie Cat.  We love you.  1997-2015

Samantha - Our Quirky Cat

One of our cats, Samantha, passed away in her sleep last night.  She was warm and comfortable at the end, and we knew that we did all that we could do.

In the last month, Samantha started losing weight quickly.  She was never overweight, and this alarmed me.  We tried to get her to eat different things, and for a while, it looked like she would recover.  Then she stopped eating.  We gave her turkey meat and she ate it.  The she stopped.  We gave her tuna, which she ate a little of.  Then she stopped.  We tried to give her salmon last night and she wouldn’t eat it. 

I combed her last night and could feel her bones through her skin.  She had lost all her fluid and a lot of muscle mass.  I knew it wouldn’t be long.  I brought her water.  She was poking her nose into the water dish, and it surprised her when her nose hit the water.  We started to give her electrolytes by eye dropper last night.  She got enough strength to wander around the house and change rooms a few times.  When she crawled under the piano leg and we decided to make her comfortable for the night, and to protect her from herself and her confusion, because she didn’t know us.  We brought out the cat carrier and put some cushioning in it to make her comfortable.  This morning, she was cold.

Samantha was a hard cat to love.  When she was at the Humane Society, we were told that she was adopted and then brought back.  Gee, I wonder why.  Any time anyone tried to pick her up, she would hiss and run away.  I tried anyway.  She would purr when stroked, so I did.  I decided to bring her home from the Humane Society as a Christmas gift for my son, Jason.  When Christmas morning came, I said “Merry Christmas, Jason!” and the carrier (box) that she was in was hissing.  That was her.  She hissed at people, dogs, other cats.  Everything.

She started to get close to me when I got sick years ago.  I had to sleep alone with a noisy oxygen machine, and she used to sleep with me then.  She would put her head in my outstretched hand and her body against my arm.  And she would purr.  Loudly.  Boy, would she purr.  I guess she decided she liked me.  But still, she wouldn’t let me pick her up.  If it was HER idea to sit on my lap, she did.  But she didn’t like me picking her up. 

Samantha was a constant companion, even when we didn’t like her.  She had lost her hearing a while back, and otherwise was healthy.  She had great posture, unlike any of the other cats we had.  We thought she was going to outlive the others because she was so healthy.  Her descent was fast.  I guess it was better than a slow descent.  I’m glad she’s not suffering, but I will miss her quirkiness.  She will be buried today, next to Gidget, Shelby and Sophie in our backyard.  I know she’ll be waiting for me on the other side, but she’s having fun playing with her housemates right now.  There’s time enough to wait for me later on. 

Rest in peace, Samantha.  We love you.  1998-2015