Princess

"Princess"
Princess was put to sleep on May 12, 2016, she was 14 years old

May 2004 - at age 2.75 (approximate)
In May 2004, I took in Princess - making her the 3rd cat in my house at that time. My friend Nancy and I first spotted this little gal near our office building two years earlier when Princess was roughly 1 years old. She's nearly solid black with one blind eye. And she crept so softly through the grass outside my office window that we joked that she didn't bend a blade of grass. Princess was extremely wary of humans. She was pretty feral at the time. But after two years of softly talking to her and leaving her food, I felt a bond with her. And the abandoned house she was living under was about to be torn down. So in May 2004, I trapped her and made her part of my family. It took awhile for her to learn to eat inside a house, but eventually she got the hang of it. She was small, and avoided trouble - but this was no scaredy cat. She would investigate possible dangers, and then silently creep away - and tried to be so small as to be invisible. She was neither mean nor moody. But she didn't want to be close to other cats or humans, the exception being my beloved cat Tiger (and after he passed away, she became very close to me). Princess adored Tiger from the minute they met. To see her let down her guard for him was precious beyond words. She was never comfortable with me picking her up, but she sure loved getting on my chest in bed. At night she'd cry on the end of my bed until I got under the covers so she could get on my chest for some affection. Precious.

Over the years, Princess developed a few chronic issues: pancreatitis, hyperthyroidism, renal insufficiency, and some arthritis. These things caused her some problems periodically, but I'd take her to the vets (which she did not like) and she'd always fully bounce back. She remained affectionate towards me even when she wasn't feeling great - what a trooper. But she quietly developed fluid on her lungs without me knowing it until she had trouble breathing on May 12, 2016. An X-ray that night at the Animal Emergency Clinic revealed a tremendous amount of fluid on her chest - and numerous spots on her lungs. This was almost certainly cancer, and possibly heart failure. Her open-mouth breathing worsened even in an oxygen tent. The vet said that her condition was grave, and that there weren't any clear solutions. I felt it wouldn't be kind to put her (a semi-feral kitty who wants all humans but me to leave her alone) through even more medical procedures - like inserting a needle into her chest to drain the fluid. Especially since these procedures were not likely to help her much. So I sadly decided it was time to let her go, she was 14 years old. I always felt honored that she allowed herself to be so close to me, and I sure miss her.

Below are some pictures of Princess, followed by several short video clips.

July 2005 - Princess age 3, Tiger age 14
As you will see, most pictures of Princess also include Tiger. She adored Tiger - and he was very good to her.

Nov. 2006 - Princess age 5, Tiger age 16, Linda age 12
Linda (gray tabby) has never liked being very close to Princess. But if Tiger (orange tabby) was nearby then Linda would allow herself to be extremely close to Princess. In fact, all three would snuggle togther if Tiger was in the middle. He was a magical kitty.

Nov. 2007 - Princess age 6, Tiger age 17
Two months before this picture was taken Tiger suffered a heart attack. Two ultra sounds revealed that is heart was only contracting at roughly 20% of normal. With a lot of TLC and some LASIX injections (to remove fluid from his chest) Tiger lived for 14 months after his diagnosis, quadrupling most of the vet's expectations. And he was happy and relatively healthy for nearly all of those months.

Jan. 2008 - Princess age 6, Tiger age 17
Tiger taught Princess the trick of laying in front of the heater vent during the winter. When Tiger would hear the central heat kick on, he'd dart up to the catwalk and soak up that warm air!

July 2008 - Princess age 6, Tiger age 17

Sept. 2008 - Princess age 7, Tiger age 18
Tiger and Princess loved being out in the cat enclosure. And they would normally lay very close to one another on a shelf. When this picture was taken, Tiger had been diagnosed with severe cardiomyopathy for over a year. He would be gone two months later.