It seems that all I am posting lately are pet obits… (sigh)
Noodles was very sick in the last weeks of her life and had to be PTS on September 26, 2011. We thought she would be with us for a good long while yet… and our hearts are broken…
When Noodles found us, we already had 2 cats (Orion & Boots) and a dog (Merlin). That was our family, and it had been that way for a long time, 2 humans, 3 fursons. But she knew what she was doing… She threw herself at Bill’s feet one night while he was outside having a smoke. He thought of bringing her inside, but was afraid of the stir it might make with the other fursons, and I was asleep. He told me all about her the next day, and that she had a collar (no tags though). I said, maybe she is lost, and her humans are looking for her. I told him we should definitely bring her in, see if we can help. And so the next night he did.
We figured she had been dumped, but we weren’t sure. So in the days that followed we drove around the neighborhood, looking at the various missing-cat posters, we went to the county animal shelter to have a micro-chip check as well as asking if anyone was looking for her, we posted ‘found cat’ messages online, etc. No one was looking for her.
Noodles hated the other cats and the dog (but Merlin just adored her from first hiss), she growled, hissed and scratched at all of them. She was very protective of her own food, and couldn’t wait to eat everyone elses. And she was a biter.
But Noodles was also very sweet, she was a gorgeous calico girl, had a huge purr and a fiery spirit. Bill always said, “she was like a winter storm, both beautiful and terrible at the same time”.
We were smitten.
Noodles did calm down after being spayed, and over time stopped hissing and growling at every furson. Her bites became love-nips which didn’t hurt. Plus we learned to read her signs of being over stimulated. She didn’t mean anything bad, she just didn’t know any other way.
While Boots & Orion were alive, Noodles would terrorize them, and yet, they would not let her on the bed when we were in it. I’m still not sure how they enforced this rule, but it was clear and precise. She could be on the bed any other time, but not when the humans were there. Humans were divided equally, one to a cat, and so she would have to sleep elsewhere.
After Orion passed, of course she knew she could come up on the bed with impunity. There have been many nights I’ve been missing my sweet boy sleeping next to me, head on my arm… purr in my ear… and I would cry quietly. Out of nowhere, there was Noodles, snuggling up next to me, purring, licking my hand. She was a comfort to me these last few months, but now she’s gone too.
I miss the way she would lay next to me when I sat on the couch, and bury her head in the side of my leg and purr until she fell asleep there. I miss her love nips, the licking, the way she would run up to you if you were singing. Noodles loved music. She was the most musical of all our furs. When Bill sang, she would come running & throw herself at his feet. When I sang she would come running and throw herself at my feet.
Every morning she would be out here in the living room, in the sunbeam where ever it was shining, sunning her belly, waiting for her breakfast. When it rained, and I would open my umbrella to leave it out to dry, she always sat under it… too adorable.
The apartment feels cold and empty without her… Those who are only here a short time still leave their indelible mark upon our souls. Our sweet Noodles will not be forgotten.