kiddles

Kiddles sleeping on my head.

The Old Guy, 2008

The Old Guy, 2007

When I was ten, mum and I went to the SPCA and got two cats; Kiddles and Cuddler.  Cuddler passed away six years later, but Kiddles stuck around.  He stuck around so long that he lived to be twenty years old.

Shortly after we brought Kiddles and Cuddler home, I took them into my grade five class as part of a project I was doing about cats.  When I was growing up, Kiddles would sleep in the bathroom sink.  In my final year of High School, Kiddles was witness to me coming home drunk for the first time.  When I was twenty-three and home for Christmas, Kiddles slept on my head at night (thereby waking me up).  When I was twenty-six-ish, I developed my allergy to short-haired cats (funnily enough I'm not allergic at all to long-haired cats), and consequently haven't cuddled him much since.  When I was twenty-seven, Kiddles' health started deteriorating.  We called him "the old guy", and lovingly laughed at his loss of balance (caused by arthritis in his hip and shoulder joints).  We (well, mostly my mother and step-father, seeing as how it's them he lived with after I moved out when I was eighteen) comforted him through what we're convinced was some form of Alzheimer's.  We were less than impressed when he became incontinent.  And now, we're sad to say goodbye.

At 8am Central European Time Zone, on June 14th (that's 11pm-ish, June 13th, Vancouver time), Kiddles was gently put down.  He was surrounded by his family - my mother, step-father, the other family cat Mogli, and me (on skype).  The vet came to his house, and Kiddles took his last breath in my mother's lap.

I have known Kiddles for most of my life (twenty out of twenty nine years).  It's heartbreaking to say goodbye, but it's not a tragedy.  He was twenty years old, which is pretty damn old for a cat.  He was adopted when he was nine months, and spent the rest of his life as an indoor/outdoor cat with a family who loved him and spoiled him.  He was never happier than he was when he was sitting in my mother's lap.  He was the alpha cat who taught others how to hunt.  He was the suck who tried to monopolize cuddles.  And he was the king who demanded he be fed on time.  And, strangely enough, he was one of my oldest and dearest friends.

Tonight I do nothing but celebrate his life.  And yes, I know that some people will laugh at the fact that I lavish so much love and affection on an animal (I know my good friend Erin will never understand).  But I don't care.  I raise a glass to Kiddles.