(no subject)
It's taken me a while to do this because Obe's decline was so fast. I expected Moki to go long before she did, but I thought to have many more years with Niobe.
In the fall of 2001 my friend Jason bought a rabbit. It was a very excitable rabbit and about a week after he got it, it died of a heart attack. His roommate Kirby and I accompanied him to the Friendly, NC pet shop to get another. While he looked at bunnies, Kirby and I were headed to the aquarium area to look for an addition to Kirb's fishtank. On the way, we passed the cats. As I walked past one, a beautiful and sad looking torti, she put her paw up against the glass and gave me a miserable look. At the time I lived in a dorm and pets were not allowed, but Jay and Kirby lived in a house. As I was moving off campus in December, I was tempted to take the cat home. When we left with Jay's bunny, Kirby and Jason both agreed that if their third roommate, Wil, agreed, I could keep her at their house for a few months. He did, and we went back the next day.
When they handed her to me, she immediately clawed the hell out of my arm and ran and hid under a shelf of dogfood. It was a production getting her out and into a carrying box, and she moaned the whole way back to campus. We spent the night on the floor in the boys' spare room. Obe wouldn't come near me unless she thought I was asleep. She spent most of the day hiding behind the refrigerator, and didn't come out until late that night when she sniffed my shoes, and then my feet. This was the first evidence of her fondness for stuff that smells bad. She eventually decided that maybe I was okay.
I named her Niobe after a book character I liked, and the boys started calling her Obi Wan. Her full name became Niobe "Obe Wan Kenobi, Secret Agent Kitty 001" when she started darting around like a (bad) spy trying to hide from us.
We soon moved into a house off campus with three other girls, two of whom also had cats. Despite the fact that Obe was tolerant of these other cats then, as she got older and more ornery she refused to allow any other cats around to possibly steal food or affection. She spent most of her time in our room or climbing on top of the partition between the kitchen and the living/dining room.
After a couple months there, I realized I hated school and I wasn't doing very well in it, so Obe and I came home to my parents' house. She learned to grudgingly tolerate the dog, and Moki learned to tolerate Obe (by allowing her to be in my room only!) but though neither enjoyed the competition, they both enjoyed eating each other's food.
I found many special torments for Obe, under the heading "affection."
but I like to think she didn't mind too much, and maybe still liked me a little
She managed to make herself at home here, despite a dog and my parents, who both claim that she is evil.
We lived with my brother for a while and she had to put up with Chewy, the evil ferret.
He liked to chase her around the house. She didn't like that so much. When we moved back to Mom and Dad's, this experience did not make her any more tolerant of Moki. Alas.
We moved into the basement. Obe decided it was her tiny kingdom. She ruled with an IRON FIST!
And occasionally let me snuggle her. She expanded her kingdom to the great outdoors, but was too much of a chicken to stay outside for long.
In the middle of September, 2006 OBe started walking a little funny. I took her to the vet who basically declared Obe constipated. After a week on stool softeners, Obe not only didn't get better, but started hiding behind the furnace and walking with much more difficulty. Obe was diagnosed with a spinal injury, and was given steroids to help the swelling go down so she could hopefully heal the injury. She enjoyed a week of that
Since she was having trouble moving around, and she seemed to like being behind the furnace, we shrunk her kingdom to the laundry room.
Unfortunately she did not get better, and her hind legs stopped working entirely. On October 10th, 2006 I had Obe put to sleep. She could no longer get to the litterbox, nor did she enjoy being touched anymore. She didn't even like people being in the room with her.
the morning of her final vet appointment
In the fall of 2001 my friend Jason bought a rabbit. It was a very excitable rabbit and about a week after he got it, it died of a heart attack. His roommate Kirby and I accompanied him to the Friendly, NC pet shop to get another. While he looked at bunnies, Kirby and I were headed to the aquarium area to look for an addition to Kirb's fishtank. On the way, we passed the cats. As I walked past one, a beautiful and sad looking torti, she put her paw up against the glass and gave me a miserable look. At the time I lived in a dorm and pets were not allowed, but Jay and Kirby lived in a house. As I was moving off campus in December, I was tempted to take the cat home. When we left with Jay's bunny, Kirby and Jason both agreed that if their third roommate, Wil, agreed, I could keep her at their house for a few months. He did, and we went back the next day.
When they handed her to me, she immediately clawed the hell out of my arm and ran and hid under a shelf of dogfood. It was a production getting her out and into a carrying box, and she moaned the whole way back to campus. We spent the night on the floor in the boys' spare room. Obe wouldn't come near me unless she thought I was asleep. She spent most of the day hiding behind the refrigerator, and didn't come out until late that night when she sniffed my shoes, and then my feet. This was the first evidence of her fondness for stuff that smells bad. She eventually decided that maybe I was okay.
I named her Niobe after a book character I liked, and the boys started calling her Obi Wan. Her full name became Niobe "Obe Wan Kenobi, Secret Agent Kitty 001" when she started darting around like a (bad) spy trying to hide from us.
We soon moved into a house off campus with three other girls, two of whom also had cats. Despite the fact that Obe was tolerant of these other cats then, as she got older and more ornery she refused to allow any other cats around to possibly steal food or affection. She spent most of her time in our room or climbing on top of the partition between the kitchen and the living/dining room.
After a couple months there, I realized I hated school and I wasn't doing very well in it, so Obe and I came home to my parents' house. She learned to grudgingly tolerate the dog, and Moki learned to tolerate Obe (by allowing her to be in my room only!) but though neither enjoyed the competition, they both enjoyed eating each other's food.
I found many special torments for Obe, under the heading "affection."
but I like to think she didn't mind too much, and maybe still liked me a little
She managed to make herself at home here, despite a dog and my parents, who both claim that she is evil.
We lived with my brother for a while and she had to put up with Chewy, the evil ferret.
He liked to chase her around the house. She didn't like that so much. When we moved back to Mom and Dad's, this experience did not make her any more tolerant of Moki. Alas.
We moved into the basement. Obe decided it was her tiny kingdom. She ruled with an IRON FIST!
And occasionally let me snuggle her. She expanded her kingdom to the great outdoors, but was too much of a chicken to stay outside for long.
In the middle of September, 2006 OBe started walking a little funny. I took her to the vet who basically declared Obe constipated. After a week on stool softeners, Obe not only didn't get better, but started hiding behind the furnace and walking with much more difficulty. Obe was diagnosed with a spinal injury, and was given steroids to help the swelling go down so she could hopefully heal the injury. She enjoyed a week of that
Since she was having trouble moving around, and she seemed to like being behind the furnace, we shrunk her kingdom to the laundry room.
Unfortunately she did not get better, and her hind legs stopped working entirely. On October 10th, 2006 I had Obe put to sleep. She could no longer get to the litterbox, nor did she enjoy being touched anymore. She didn't even like people being in the room with her.
the morning of her final vet appointment