Requim, again... Pippi Longstocking Cat. 1997 - 3/17/2013

Today I said goodby to another good friend.  Pippi was a small cat with a big heart.

She arrived (accounts vary) sometime in 1997, she and another cat and her former owner moved in August 2001, and she's been here ever since.  The ex - fiance'; long since gone but the two cats remained..

Pippi was so skittish, she'd only approach you if you had been lying down still for a few minutes... and you couldn't really pet her; she would disappear.

Over time, she discovered wet food, sashimi and steak; and found her voice.  She was my shoulder cat, loved to perch on my right while I was working or watching TV or a video.  

Pippi had a little burring purr; with a hint of a chirp in it...  especially when you scratched her behind the ear, or under the chin.  She also had these amazingly sharp (think surgical steel) tiny claws that would go into skin through shirt and tee, especially when she determined that she was NOT getting down... 

She spent almost all of her time on top of the 85 gallon fish tank, I went through towels trying to keep her dry and off the lamps (the main reason for the perch).   She didn't "Play" with string, ball or feathers... but you could see her watching everything from her perch on high.  Also I think she liked the vantage point, and it was warm and moist during the cold winter nights.  She could jump the requisite 5 1/2 feet straight up the side of the tank; and only needed "stepladder" assistance (a chair and a multi-drawer cabinet) recently as she got older and more infirm. About the last 5 years she had a mild form of leukemia that affected her intestines, so part of the ritual was to feed her medication to make her guts quiet and allow her to digest what she had eaten.  

She was extremely vocal (siamese yowl) when she wanted my attention, and would happily climb from the floor to my shoulder by any means convenient.  If I was sitting, she might be amenable to my lap...  or any odd bits of raw fish I might be eating at the time.

She got weaker a couple months ago, and injured her rear knee and hip.  It wasn't as much fun as before to jump places, and the last week she got a bladder infection, rapidly declined and her quality of life became debatable.  

She still managed a morsel of good steak this morning; and she passed with some gentle help from the doctor at 11:57am on this Sunday.  

My universe has lost another tiny bright light...

Pippi Longstocking Cat.  1997 - 3/17/2013
Renee gave me this in email last night... 6/1/2013