March 11, 2005

R.I.P. Pippy



4/1/97 - 3/11/05

3 comments:

Ol' Froth said...

I'm so sorry about your cat. One of mine is 18 years old now, and I think I'd be inconsolable when she dies.

djhlights said...

Sorry about your loss.

Maria said...

Thanks for the kind words.

Pip was one tough cookie who I got from a NYC animal shelter when she was five months old. Even then, she was an Old Soul who one of the staff members nicknamed "Little Babushka" (which I often called her).

Pip was fiercely protective of her territory and never failed to growl and hiss at anyone who walked within five feet of the house (even if she saw them daily). She loved for me to take her outside to our little garden in the back, but she would jump the fence to fight any cat that came near the yard (she always got the better of the other cat even when they were male and larger than her).

She was a little sweetie with me though. If it was up to her, she would have spent all day on my lap and she would greet me at the door like a puppy dog, standing on her hind legs and peering over the window.

She was diagnosed with kidney and heart problems two months ago and put up a good fight (and endured daily subcutaneous injections of fluids from an IV bag as well as injections to fight anemia). Her kidneys had improved a good deal but her heart hadn't and she had developed cancer in her hips as well. In the end, the vet was somewhat amazed that she looked as good as she did and that she was still walking around despite the fact that her red blood cell count was so low that she had only seen that count in cats that were already dead. She took a major turn for the worse on her last day and I knew it was time to let her go.

She'll be greatly missed.