Sympathy Pain

“We don’t need another cat…” Famous last words.

It was 1996. My ex-wife and I had been married about a year. We had traveled to Birmingham from Atlanta to visit old college friends. While visiting, we went to a pet store where another college friend of mine worked. We were not there to get a cat. I mean, who travels 200 miles and gets a cat on a whim. But there she was. This heart shaped faced, slender, black little girl. She was a very slim, slinky cat. My ex fell in love with her.

“We don’t need another cat.” We were living in mid town Atlanta, in a one bedroom apartment. We had a cat, Friday, and had no idea how he would be with another cat. We put her with other cats in the store, and she was very sweet. Liar cat…

“But we are going straight to Oak Mountain to hike. We can’t take her.” So we put her on a harness, and she did great. I had run out of stuff…and she had grown on me. I’m a sucker for animals.

So, we adopted her. Named her Shelby, after the county we were in, and headed hiking. She did great for a few minutes on the harness…then rolled out of it and took off up the mountain. Off I go in chase. She would stop, let me get within a few feet, and go farther up the mountain. Finally, I figured out what she was doing. She needed to poop. Once I let her do her stuff, she let me catch her.

We got home, and she hated Friday.They never got along.

On the first night home, I was holding her, and she bit me and ran off…this is not a way to get on my good side. We found out that she had an abscess on her foot, probably from the run up the mountain. So we took her to the vet. The next night, she…mucussed…all over me. She had impacted anal glands. Back to the vet. This little bitch cat was cost us money we didn’t have…but we did it. And she still hated Friday.

Well, years passed, and that little black cat became a firm part of my heart. She was solid black. So I’d watch her hid in dark places and pouncing on Friday. He had that look like “Teeth and claws, man, that all I saw, teeth and claws!” She was such a funny little cat. Fast. She was a hunter. She was also not meant to be an indoor cat.

I got a frantic call at work one night. “The cats are gone…” Shelby had found the plumbing access in a closet, pulled it open, and escaped to the yard. Friday, being a lemming, followed her. I nailed the access closed. She pulled it off again the next day. I had to use drywall screws to affix the panel.

She was also an amazing healer. She knew when you where sick, and would not leave your side until you were better. She would curl up on you, and purr. Sarah said the first time she did it to her, she thought it was weird…until she fell alsleep to the little cats purr and warmth.

During the divorce, I got Friday and Shelby. We had gotten a couple other cats from my sister, so Jack ended up with 2 cats at both homes. Shelby was also terrorizing the kittens. Friday had become the alpha cat, so was mostly safe from her ambushes.

Why am I writing this? Shelby left us yesterday. We are one less. She had begun to show her age in the last few months, spending her days soaking up the sunshine, and sleeping on pillows while inside. This weekend, she developed an upper respiratory infection. I was going to take her to the vet Monday morning, but I guess she knew. We heard he standard Siamese meow, and head out to the sun. I took a shower, went to get her, and she was gone. I looked everywhere around the house. When the sun went down, she didn’t come home. I believe she was keeping her dignity, and leaving this world on her own terms. Like she did everything.