Goodbye to a beloved pet

Two days ago my family and I had to say goodbye to our beloved cat, Demi. She was nineteen-years-old and we've known for many months that the day was coming but it still came as a sad shock to have to say goodbye forever. Because of her longevity as a member of our family her daily presence will be dearly missed.  

Demi came to us at the end a long string of cats who had come and gone -- JellyPoofBarneyCloverTeazerToriSocks -- names and personalities which run together in our memory. Only Ichiro, another long-lived cat who died in 2020, and Gumbie, who came with me into our marriage, stand out with Demi as special cats who grabbed a hold of our hearts and wouldn't let go.  

Demi was young until she got old. There was never an in-between Demi. She was beautiful, sleek and healthy until one day (it seemed) she could no longer jump up on the counter to get food and soon she just stopped grooming herself, leaving that task to me and my pitiful efforts to keep her clean and mat-free. 

Demi was named as part of a family tradition to name pets after the musical CATS which was inspired by the poetry of T.S. Eliot's Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats. Here are the names we appropriated from those poems:

• Gumbie---"I have a Gumbie cat in mind..." She was a beautiful black and white long hair.
• Jellicle, Jelly for short--- "Because Jellicles can and jellicles do..." He was a lovely, sleek black cat with a few white markings and a very mischievous disposition.
• Rumpelteazer, Teazer for short---"Mungojerrie and Rumpelteazer were a notorious couple of cats..." She was a long-haired tabby, a stray who found herself at our door one day. 
• Victoria, Tori for short---Victoria was the dance captain in the Broadway production and the center of the story in the film but no songs mention her name. Our cat was a beautiful, but neurotic half Siamese, half Rag Doll long-hair.
• Demeter, Demi for short---"There are fancier names if you think they sound sweeter, Some for the gentlemen, some for the dames, Such as Plato, Ademetus, Electra, Demeter. But all of them sensible, everyday names..." She was a beautiful, silky, white long-hair girl.

Whenever one of our cats dies someone jokes that the cat is going to the 'Heavyside Layer' which is also a reference from CATS. In the play the cats are gathered to determine which cat will be honored. When Grizabella, the rattiest cat of all, shows up everyone dismisses her as not special. But after Grizabella finishes singing "Memory", the tribe understand and empathize with her. As all the others greet Grizabella, the music builds and leads to the lyrics "Up Up Up past the Russell Hotel, Up Up Up Up to the Heaviside Layer." Old Deuteronomy takes Grizabella by the hand and leads her onto the tire, which rises up. Grizabella enters the Heaviside Layer. We like to imagine that Old Deuteronomy has thus guided our old Demi to the Heavyside Layer where she will live as a happy and healthy cat again.

The collage above shows a fairly good summary of her personality:

• She was a mouse and bird hunter (unfortunately) and would sit at our rock wall for hours if she thought she heard a mouse.
• Though she rarely sat on our laps, she loved to be petted and scratched. For years she would sleep between Don's and my pillows. Woe to the person who accidentally uncovered their hand at night. She would be right there ready to be petted for as long as we could stand it.
• She was not only a friend to her humans but to our other pets. In her later years she often sought out our dog, Bingley, for comfort and warmth. 
• Demi was always acutely aware of our comings and goings. She wanted us to stay, if at all possible. When we did travel she would usually act angry when we got home, but only for a few hours. Then all was forgiven.
• One day Demi came home from a trip to the yard covered with yellow pollen. Her yellow spots unfazed her but she liked all the attention she got from us at the time.
• Christmas delighted her. When she was young we had a rotating artificial tree. She would climb aboard and ride that Christmas tree around and around in circles for hours. She also would try to get as high in the tree as possible. Over the years her trips up the tree caused the branches to sag so we got rid of it. Every year we would place ornaments on the bottom branches for the pets, ones we didn't mind if they were played with. We would have to return these ornaments to the tree over and over. On Christmas morning Demi and Ichiro would always get a small stocking stuffed with catnip as their gifts.
• Demi was beautiful. We think she was a Turkish Angora, though we'll never know for sure. Her coat was long and silky and it didn't mat easily, until she stopped grooming. She had one blue eye and one yellow eye. Very unique.
  
  
  
• Demi loved to go outside and usually stayed pretty close to home. But if she didn't return when I called her I'd get pretty worried since we'd had pretty bad luck with the string of cats that preceded her. At one time our neighborhood was filled with wild bunnies which attracted coyotes, so that was always a worry.
• I took the last photo in the collage above of Demi the morning before her last trip to the vet. She was no longer able to jump up on the couch or beds, so she resorted to sleeping on the dog's bed. I think she looks so peaceful here.

Goodbye, dear girl. I love you so much and will miss you forever.

-Anne