Farewell Killian

We've lived in our current house for a little over 7 years (I think.). Ever since the day we moved in a friendly orange tabby, that belonged to the house just to the right of us, would meander in and out of our backyard, sometimes taking a cat nap in our flower beds, sometimes 'using the facilities' on our lawn. Never wanting too much attention, his presence didn't bother us much. A few years ago the owners of the house to the right of us moved and failed to take with them the friendly orange tabby. Who knows why? They did come back a few weeks later and half-arsed tried to search for the cat, to no avail. I mentioned to them that he was still around and even offered to take their number in case he returned. They declined.

Then came a  night in 2007...

Josh's 32nd Birthday (Wine Tasting Party)

The orange tabby, whom we then called Alley Cat, wandered in and out of the festivities being held in honor of Josh's 32nd birthday. Alley was a lone ranger making his rounds from neighbor to neighbor, but being as abandoned as he was you could tell he was on the hunt for some grub. It was this night that I decided to provide him with  a bowl of  our own cat's food. I gingerly walked up to him in the the flower bed that lines our back fence and placed the bowl in front of him. He scurried away but slowly made his way back to the bowl and chowed down. That was it. We now were the reluctant  caretakers for Alley Cat. My husband was a little less than pleased. Primarily because of the deposits left in our backyard.

***

The years passed and Alley Cat became a permanent fixture in our backyard...

You can see Alley Cat eyeballin' the new crawling member of the household back in 2009.

Here he is last summer in 2010 finding left over goodies on the grill.

In the last two years, Mazzy had developed quite a fondness for him. She renamed him Killian, that being the name of the "orange" tabby  that resides at her Uncle Scott and Auntie Erin's house. Their Killian is actually more of a beige, but Mazzy insisted that our orange tabby was  a  Killian as well. So we then officially changed Alley Cat to Killian.  Mazzy and Killian #2 became pals...

She was affectionate with him... and he with her.

The times we'd ignore his rubs against our chair or leg, she'd call him over.

Killian and Mazzy

A few weeks ago I noticed that Killian appeared pretty thin around the middle. I chalked it up to it being summertime and all and that he was probably losing weight while out on the prowl.  Then I noticed him sleeping and napping in not the usual places. He'd appear in the citrus pots, behind the garden bed, in the garden bed. A definite change in behavior.

This past weekend we were outside in the yard and I noticed how docile he was. As the kids were playing around him, eventually pouring water over his back, he made no movement. If you know cats, then you know cats do not like to be near water of any kind unless they're drinking it. I watched him a little more closely and it became ever increasingly clear that our ol' Killian was ill. Mazzy went to pick him up and I asked her to put him down,

"Maz, put Killian down, I'm thinking he's not feeling well."

"Mom, he likes it, see he let's me do this (pulling him up further)."

"I know babe, but he's tired, you can tell. Let's put him down. It might hurt his belly." 

"Maz, we might need to let Killian go to the old kitty house where they take care of older cats."

She puts him down and walks toward the garage. I can hear her crying. I walk in her direction and she comes running toward me, "Mom, I don't want to never see her (she always called him a 'her') again. I'll miss her!" 

I dry her cheeks and lift her up to give her  a hug. She continues to sob and I sit her down with me. I know we have to have a talk about Killian dying, but God, I don't know how.  I continue on with a jumble of thoughts about how long a life Killian has enjoyed with us and even with grandma and papa when they lived in the home and how he's tired now and deserves to find some peace....how he will feel better than he does right now and he'll be able to be in heaven with his other kitty friends. I told her that when she grows up she will be able to adopt another kitty from a shelter and name him/her all by herself. (She insisted that she'll name her new cat, Killian. Shocker.) She found comfort in that.

We sat there for a while...tears streaming down her face. Her poor heart felt for him, and knew that she'd miss him terribly.  I knew that Josh would have to take Killian to the animal shelter on Monday. It was time. Earlier that day Mazzy had asked that I take a couple photos of her with Killian. So I did.

Did she unknowingly  sense something? That she wanted that one last photo with him....to capture him in a picture before it was too late?

It turned out that Killian's fragile body could not wait for the shelter to open it's doors and we lost him yesterday.


I thank you Killian for the place you hold in our hearts, especially Mazzy's. May we always remember you fat, happy, and basking in the sun.