I have always been a cat person. While I like dogs, and my previous dog Halo was the best pet ever, in general I have a thing for cats. There is one problem with cats. They die.
One of the pets that we have had the longest was a cat named Whitney. We got her as a rescue and instantly fell in love with her. She had one of the calmest demeanours I have ever seen in a cat.
While almost all of our pets usually pick one human that they bond with the most, Whitney was really the family cat. She spent time with all of us, depending on the time of the day and where in the house we were.
We referred to Whitney as the Matriarch of the family.
This included taking care of the other animals as well. While as far as we know, Whitney never had any kittens, she mothered every one of the cats that we brought home since she has been around.
This was especially true with our latest, Maggie. Maggie was orphaned when her mother was hit by a car and Maggie was found in a shed as a very young kitten. Maggie never had a mother to look after her but she had Whitney.
Maggie was a pretty rough kitten and did not know how to groom herself. As soon as Whitney was able, she pinned Maggie down and groomed her to get her looking and feeling somewhat normal.
We actually lost Whitney a number of years ago when she disappeared for a month and we found her in another city. We had mourned her loss but then got a second chance.
However, Whitney had some issues and that included some significant pain. Walking was difficult and jumping had gotten almost impossible. There was no way she was going to be able to do our move to Ontario.
Sadly, we had to have her put down. This was very difficult. To make matters worse, I was not there and Amanda had to take her without me.
Pets are a part of the family. They are not “just animals.” There is real grief at the loss of a pet. We are thankful for the time we got with Whitney and for the second chance we got after she disappeared. She was a beautiful cat inside and out.
