Reader Su Gould has contributed many cat-themed cartoons (and cockatoo-themed cartoons) to this site, and her cat Callie recently died. She sent me some photos and reminiscences (indented), which I offer as a tribute to the late Callie.
This is my tribute to my beloved, recently deceased Cal. She was 18.5 years, and the only cat I ever sought out to do a particular job.
When my mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, I moved back in with her. She was down to zero cats, the last one died at 20 years. I knew neither of us would get through this without a cat (everyone in my family has always had cats), so the cat had a job from the start. I searched the local shelters for a kitten that had coloring that would would be easy to spot in the yard. At one animal hospital I auditioned several kittens, all who just played around in my hand. But when they put Callie in my hand, she just sat there and said “You have chosen wisely,” and that was that.
• CAL AND MY MOTHER. Even when it started to get very bad, with my mother frantically looking for the cat every 15 minutes, Cal never hid or scratched, she accepted the intrusions. Whenever my mother took a nap, Cal would join her.
Her first baby pictures:
• CAL AND HER WEASEL. Three weeks after I got Cal, I bought her a Weasel Ball (a synthetic “weasel” attached by a tether to a randomly moving ball.) She observed it for a minute, then grabbed the ball, chewed through the tether, and took off with the weasel. It remained her companion for her entire life, and she is buried with it.
• CAL AND FURRY FRIENDS. On a Friday, I got a call from my mother that Callie had invited two squirrels in the house. I thought she was making this up, but the next day, Cal repeated this, in front of me. (My mother opened the door and two squirrels came in, followed by Callie.) Later on, she also invited in a large, starving, male Persian, so feral that I had to set a Havahart trap to remove it from my bedroom after two weeks of trying to socialize it.
Cal in the garden:
Callie unimpressed by the supernatural:
• CAL ON THE PHONE. Several years ago, Cal started talking on the phone to her Godmother (who has five cats who chime in ocassionaly in the background). She would go and get her weasel and carry it around to various places in the room, talking all the while. As long as I’m on the phone, she can keep talking for a half hour. Never quite know what point she is trying to make, but she was always very insistent.
The final pictures of an old moggie who had a great life:
RIP Callie
*sniff* that is a serious character.
Rest now, baby girl
What a beautiful kitten and grown-up cat she was! Thank you very much for sharing her story. The heartache echoes across the world. RIP Callie.
It is lucky for a cat to be adopted by a loving family and lives to the end of her life.
Su Gould, I am so sorry for your loss. I extend heartfelt condolences upon the death of your beloved pet Callie.
What a great cat! You are so lucky she found you.
My deepest condolences. What a lovely memorial! She was beautiful.
There are few times I ever had an ‘if only..’ moment about the mythical … but Randy Newman’s definition of heaven as a place where “every cat and dog you’ve ever know comes out to greet you..”
sigh
Sob…
My heartfelt condolences. What a beautiful tribute to a member of your family.
Call me strange, but that was more affecting for me than the poor lady who had the tumour…
🙁
But she had a good life 🙂
So sorry for your loss, Su.
And thank you for sharing such a touching and beautiful tribute to Callie. Your words surely tugged on my heartstrings.
Thanks for the touching story and giving such a great life to an obvious one-of-a-kind cat (not to mention beautiful).
A week ago last Saturday, we put down our 14.5 year-old dog Mardee. It’s difficult, but knowing they had a good life brings some peace.
Now for a kleenex.
Another kleenex for me, too.
What a beautiful tribute. All the pictures and the video are delightful. Callie was obviously superb at her job. 🙂
Heart-felt condolences to you and yours, Su.
Thank you for all of your kind words.
I’m sorry for your loss, Su. I’m glad you found Callie and had so many years together.
Callie was as kind as her owner…always giving refuge to others in need. The part about her inviting squirrels and other critters into the house put tears in my eyes. She was inviting the needy into the best and safest household around.
My utmost condolences for your loss, Su Gould. Callie was a being to be missed. It will get easier. I think of a poem that struck me in college, one of the only ones that ever did:
For a Dead Kitten
Put the rubber mouse away,
Pick the spools up from the floor,
What was velvet shod, and gay,
Will not want them, any more.
What was warm, is strangely cold.
Whence dissolved the little breath?
How could this small body hold
So immense a thing as Death?
Sara Henderson Hay
very nice!
Sweet, and my condolences. She looked like a wonderful girl.
Aw, just now saw this, Su. The passing of an impressive moggie, I’m glad I got to meet her in real life. RIP Callie. Hillary Rotten Kitten thanks you most humbly for your delicious treats.
Hillary Rotten Kitten – great name!