This morning I buried Nefertiti, eighteen years to the month from when we picked her up as a noisy, boisterous kitten.
Of all the cats we have known, Nefertiti will always be special. I have never known a cat with such knowing, so alert and curious and so demanding of attention. Even yesterday, frail as she had become, she was still hooking the food bowl from under other cats’ noses and swiping them if they objected. And during the morning, I noticed her sunning herself down by the shed. It can be said that her day was spent well, as were all of her others, including the times she gashed her leg as a young cat leaving us worried that she had damaged a tendon and the time a local cat picked a fight with her for being in her own garden. She came through it all unbowed and ever ready for the next adventure.
And, of course, there was the French interlude, and it was Nefertiti who first ventured out onto enemy territory to strike a claim for England.
When the end came, it came very quickly. At about nine yesterday evening, she was lying listlessly by the door and we knew this was it. I wondered if she would last the night, but she was still with us this morning but very unwell. I phoned the vet and made the necessary arrangements. Half an hour later I phoned back to cancel. This cat lived her life to the full and we have enjoyed her company for eighteen years. Now we are going to miss her terribly.
Bury her deep, down deep,
Safe in the earth’s cold keep,
Bury her deep-
No more to watch bird stir;
No more to clean dark fur;
No more to glisten as silk;
No more to revel in milk;
No more to purr.
Bury her deep, down deep;
She is beyond warm sleep.
She will not walk in the night;
She will not wake to the light.
Bury her deep.“Cat’s Funeral” – E V Rieu
And that, I did, next to her old oppo, Bast. Rest in peace, Nef.
Sorry to hear the news LR.
But 18 is a good innings and she was obviously loved hugely.
Indeed.
Sorry to hear this 🙁
Sorry to read that LR…my condolences 🙁
It’s always a sorrow when the Furry Reaper comes to call. I’ve had a terrible run in the last two years, one to cancer and one to anti-freeze. They do leave a gap in the fabric, bless ’em…
This one bigger than most – she was part of that fabric for so long and was always demanding attention, usually at the most inappropriate times, such as godawful o’clock in the morning.
I feel your pain. our Misty was 18 but so very ill we called the vet. This was in December before Christmas. Then Ben, our Maine Coon tom died in his sleep on 1st February. We took him in after a very bad car accident as his owners did want him (he was 9 months then) and he made it to nearly 9 years. I’m still upset about them.
I have buried quite a few cats over the years and always shed a little tear. Yesterday I sadly buried a chicken. Chickens have a shorter lifespan than cats, so if you regard them as pets, which we do, you have even more little bereavements.
Still, once you have got over it you have the joy of choosing a kitten or a couple of pullets as replacements.
My sympathies – she certainly looks a character,
That is very moving LR, you have my sympathie.
John Gibson
I’m so sorry, LR. There can be few things in life which chew you into such small pieces and spit you out the other side more than the loss of one of our fur babies. Having gone through it myself last November it’s all still very raw and no doubt will be for a while yet. Of course Nefertiti had a lovely, purrrrfect life. Of course she was loved, and of course she was aware of that at a pussycat level. But right now, days – seemingly just moments – after “the event” they just don’t help a great deal. But they will. Time, as they say, really is a great healer and it is those things which will lead you to recognise – although it seems impossible now – that the good years you had together are actually worth the rottenness of the last few days. Even if, right now, it doesn’t feel like it.
My sympathies at your loss. She was a lucky to have had you, your family and your associated cats to live her long life with.
LR. 18 is a bloody good run for a cat or a dog. Our companions are all too brief I’m afraid; Tout passe, tout casse, tout lasse. Sadly true, and no consolation I know, but you had the joy of her companionship for 18 interesting years. Remember her at her best.
Our HEX (Hexadecimal) was 12 on Wednesday …..
That’s right, born May Day 2001.
A sad but uplifting post. Thanks for the beautiful poem. (E.V. Rieu? Didn’t he translate the Iliad and the Odyssey many years ago?)
Sorry to hear about the sad news. Made me think about our own cat who lived to 12 who had a lot of personality. He succumbed to cancer of the tongue. Now in a special place in our garden which I occasionally look at.
Damn sorry mate
So sorry to hear this news, very sad. It sounds she had a great life it brought back memories of when my Cyril passed last year I miss him everyday.