I'll miss you Jazz...
Posted: Tue Oct 04, 2011 12:02 am
Forgive me guys, I just feel like I need to vent, and I don't really have any friends who would understand. I'm not really talking to anyone in particular and I'm not even sure I care if anyone reads this. I just need to get it out there.
I just got word that my cat Jazz had to be put to sleep today. She was 17 and half years old, so she lived a full life. It's hard to describe just what a unique and awesome creature Jazz was. I'm just gonna go over some of my memories of her here...
I first saw her at the local pound. We were there to pick out a few kittens because our family cat had died about half a year earlier. In one of the small cages were a litter of 6 kittens, all identical, sleeping in a pile. All except for Jazz, who was sitting on top of the pile, looking around curiously. We took her out, and I held her for a bit. She was so tiny she could sit on the palm of my hand. Then it was time to put her back and look around at the other animals before we made our choice. When they tried to take her away from me, she immediately clung to my sweater with all four limbs and began crying as loud as she could.
I'm a softy. She just wanted to be held, and the thought occured to me that since they wereall identical, if we put her back there's no way we'd be able to figure out which one she was again if we decided to get her. I agreed to hold her while we looked around some more, and she began purring loudly.
Little did I know, she'd bonded to me. She spent literally her entire life following me around whenever it was possible. Complete and total devotion. All she had to do was sit on my lap and the most content expression in the world would spread across her face. She would often meow loudly while wandering around the house looking for me. She liked to go outside, but she always wanted somebody to go with her. She was an extremly talkative cat and would often announce she'd entered the room by meowing continuosly. Petting her, speaking to her, or even looking at her would often prompt a vocal response. Guests often asked if there was something wrong with her because she'd make such a noisy entrance whenever she entered a room.
Jazz was never a graceful cat. As a kitten, she was clumsy, often running into chair legs and falling off furniture. Early on she developed a habit of wedging herself under impossibly low furniture, Our couch in particular had only about an inch of clearance off the ground, but she'd regularly jam herself under it. As a kitten, she once squeezed her way under the crack of my bedroom door, which was even smaller. She liked nothing better than to sit on my lap and have me rub and moosh her face, as if I were making a snowball out of her head.
While the other cat we got was out hunting rodents and generally slaughtering the local wildlife population, Jazz would catch butterflies and bring them to me, looking so increadibly proud you'd think she'd managed to catch a bald eagle. When she tried to play with the other cat she'd always spoil her surprise attacks but letting out a loud battle cry before pouncing and promptly get punished for it. The other cat would pin her to the ground and begin cleaning her head, while she cried so loudly you'd think something was killing her.
Durring her first year of life, we go her a mouse toy mounted on a spring. After a few months she managed to rip the pelt off of it, and then proceeded to carry it everwhere she went like a security blanket for almost an entire year until she eventually lost it somewhere.
As she got older she still wasn't graceful. She wasn't clumsy anymore, but she had an odd weight to the way she carried herself that could only be described as "lumbering." She often headbutted things she was curious about. Not rubbed against them like most cat; headbutted.
Once, I witness what started as a play fight with our other cat. Jazz was getting her ass kicked as usual since she really lacked refined skills most cat have, and the two of them were both starting to get angry. Suddenly Jazz let out a loud meow, lowered her head and charged, headbutting our other cat so hard she was sent flying clear off the couch. From that day forward, Jazz was the top cat of the house. She had a certain "Don't mess with me" attitude. I once saw our dog let out a growl and try to chase after her. Jazz pivoted in place and got right in the dog's face, starring her down. She slowly lifted her front paw, and while never breaking direct eye contact, patted the dog gentlely on the side of her muzzle twice as a warning. Our dog backed off FAST.
She once did something very similar to my first girlfriend, whom she extremly jealous of. (she warmed up to her quickly shortly afterward. That was the first and last time I ever saw Jazz act unfriendly towards a human.
As she got towards middle age, Jazz became fat and lazy. She had a peculiar indifference to the weather outside. She no longer went outside much, but it didn't matter if it pouring rain or there was foot of snow outside. She would just slowly plod through it as if it made absolutely no difference at all. It had no effect on how often she went out when she did, either.
One day when she was being particularly lump-like I declaired it was time to play "Roll the Kitty." I sat down next to her and began rolling her across the floor like a log. She would meow a single time for each full rotation. I got her halfway across the room before she actually bothered to spread her legs to prevent me from pushing her any futher.
If something spooked her, her tail would puff up to the width of a baseball bat when her fur stood on end. She was once mistaken for a raccoon because of this.
When I left her to go back to school, it was extremely hard. But as much as I knew she'd miss me, I also knew she wouldn't be happy in a tiny apartment. Plus there are a lot more dangerous animals in my new area, and I was afraid she might get killed if I ever let her outside.
She'd always be waiting for me outside when I went home to visit my parents, sitting at the end of the walk. She'd climb on my lap and follow me arround like nothing had happened.
Earlier this summer she started losing weight. The vet ran a few tests on her and determined her kidneys were only working at about 50% capacity. Since cats have particularly stong kidneys this wasn't as bad as it sounds, but it wasn't good either. We changed her diet with some new food, and miraculously she started to recover where medication had failed.
But it wasn't enough, it seems... These past few weeks she began losing weight again quickly. When I saw her during my latest visit a little over a week again, she looked like she was nothing but skin and bones, though she seemed healthy enough otherwise. I left knowing there was a good chance I'd never see her again.
The last two days she took a turn for the worse.
She didn't want to do anything but sleep on people's laps for hours on end. She didn't want to be left alone.
I was hoping if I could find time to make the trip up to visit again this coming weekend I'd be able to see her at least one last time but... This morning she was so weak she could barely stand. I'm told she was purring as they carried her to the vet.
Jazz, I'll never forget you.
I just got word that my cat Jazz had to be put to sleep today. She was 17 and half years old, so she lived a full life. It's hard to describe just what a unique and awesome creature Jazz was. I'm just gonna go over some of my memories of her here...
I first saw her at the local pound. We were there to pick out a few kittens because our family cat had died about half a year earlier. In one of the small cages were a litter of 6 kittens, all identical, sleeping in a pile. All except for Jazz, who was sitting on top of the pile, looking around curiously. We took her out, and I held her for a bit. She was so tiny she could sit on the palm of my hand. Then it was time to put her back and look around at the other animals before we made our choice. When they tried to take her away from me, she immediately clung to my sweater with all four limbs and began crying as loud as she could.
I'm a softy. She just wanted to be held, and the thought occured to me that since they wereall identical, if we put her back there's no way we'd be able to figure out which one she was again if we decided to get her. I agreed to hold her while we looked around some more, and she began purring loudly.
Little did I know, she'd bonded to me. She spent literally her entire life following me around whenever it was possible. Complete and total devotion. All she had to do was sit on my lap and the most content expression in the world would spread across her face. She would often meow loudly while wandering around the house looking for me. She liked to go outside, but she always wanted somebody to go with her. She was an extremly talkative cat and would often announce she'd entered the room by meowing continuosly. Petting her, speaking to her, or even looking at her would often prompt a vocal response. Guests often asked if there was something wrong with her because she'd make such a noisy entrance whenever she entered a room.
Jazz was never a graceful cat. As a kitten, she was clumsy, often running into chair legs and falling off furniture. Early on she developed a habit of wedging herself under impossibly low furniture, Our couch in particular had only about an inch of clearance off the ground, but she'd regularly jam herself under it. As a kitten, she once squeezed her way under the crack of my bedroom door, which was even smaller. She liked nothing better than to sit on my lap and have me rub and moosh her face, as if I were making a snowball out of her head.
While the other cat we got was out hunting rodents and generally slaughtering the local wildlife population, Jazz would catch butterflies and bring them to me, looking so increadibly proud you'd think she'd managed to catch a bald eagle. When she tried to play with the other cat she'd always spoil her surprise attacks but letting out a loud battle cry before pouncing and promptly get punished for it. The other cat would pin her to the ground and begin cleaning her head, while she cried so loudly you'd think something was killing her.
Durring her first year of life, we go her a mouse toy mounted on a spring. After a few months she managed to rip the pelt off of it, and then proceeded to carry it everwhere she went like a security blanket for almost an entire year until she eventually lost it somewhere.
As she got older she still wasn't graceful. She wasn't clumsy anymore, but she had an odd weight to the way she carried herself that could only be described as "lumbering." She often headbutted things she was curious about. Not rubbed against them like most cat; headbutted.
Once, I witness what started as a play fight with our other cat. Jazz was getting her ass kicked as usual since she really lacked refined skills most cat have, and the two of them were both starting to get angry. Suddenly Jazz let out a loud meow, lowered her head and charged, headbutting our other cat so hard she was sent flying clear off the couch. From that day forward, Jazz was the top cat of the house. She had a certain "Don't mess with me" attitude. I once saw our dog let out a growl and try to chase after her. Jazz pivoted in place and got right in the dog's face, starring her down. She slowly lifted her front paw, and while never breaking direct eye contact, patted the dog gentlely on the side of her muzzle twice as a warning. Our dog backed off FAST.
She once did something very similar to my first girlfriend, whom she extremly jealous of. (she warmed up to her quickly shortly afterward. That was the first and last time I ever saw Jazz act unfriendly towards a human.
As she got towards middle age, Jazz became fat and lazy. She had a peculiar indifference to the weather outside. She no longer went outside much, but it didn't matter if it pouring rain or there was foot of snow outside. She would just slowly plod through it as if it made absolutely no difference at all. It had no effect on how often she went out when she did, either.
One day when she was being particularly lump-like I declaired it was time to play "Roll the Kitty." I sat down next to her and began rolling her across the floor like a log. She would meow a single time for each full rotation. I got her halfway across the room before she actually bothered to spread her legs to prevent me from pushing her any futher.
If something spooked her, her tail would puff up to the width of a baseball bat when her fur stood on end. She was once mistaken for a raccoon because of this.
When I left her to go back to school, it was extremely hard. But as much as I knew she'd miss me, I also knew she wouldn't be happy in a tiny apartment. Plus there are a lot more dangerous animals in my new area, and I was afraid she might get killed if I ever let her outside.
She'd always be waiting for me outside when I went home to visit my parents, sitting at the end of the walk. She'd climb on my lap and follow me arround like nothing had happened.
Earlier this summer she started losing weight. The vet ran a few tests on her and determined her kidneys were only working at about 50% capacity. Since cats have particularly stong kidneys this wasn't as bad as it sounds, but it wasn't good either. We changed her diet with some new food, and miraculously she started to recover where medication had failed.
But it wasn't enough, it seems... These past few weeks she began losing weight again quickly. When I saw her during my latest visit a little over a week again, she looked like she was nothing but skin and bones, though she seemed healthy enough otherwise. I left knowing there was a good chance I'd never see her again.
The last two days she took a turn for the worse.
She didn't want to do anything but sleep on people's laps for hours on end. She didn't want to be left alone.
I was hoping if I could find time to make the trip up to visit again this coming weekend I'd be able to see her at least one last time but... This morning she was so weak she could barely stand. I'm told she was purring as they carried her to the vet.
Jazz, I'll never forget you.