R.I.P. Missy

Missy - 1999-2019

20 people years, 96 cat years.

Brought to us as a tiny, tiny thing, not yet weaned when the mother abandoned the kittens, I remember twice daily using a baby teaspoon to drip a warmed milk and water mixture onto her mouth and being delighted when she licked it off.

We progressed to Missy licking milk off my finger and eventually following the finger into the bowl of milk which then got slightly thickened with Weetbix for extra nourishment. From there she quickly moved on to soft cat food before beginning to steal raw and cooked meats from the table after clawing her way up the chairs.

Missy chose "no-one" as her Mum and spent a lot of time in her bedroom when she wasn't outside. Always slightly feral and always a very small cat under a huge amount of fluffy hair, "no-one" and I arrived home one day to find a very satisfied kitty and a clump of bird feathers on the front porch. Under the porch table was a beak and one foot. That's all we found. Missy caught and ate an entire bird!

Several months later I walked into the kitchen to find Missy on the table helping herself to a corner of our roast beef dinner. I cut off the corner and gave it to her, then served up dinner and didn't say a word.

As she got older, Missy preferred to spend more time outside and didn't like to be picked up or patted, but eventually we had to put her food and water bowls inside as the neighbour cats were eating Missy's food. One of those neighbour cats was pregnant and she was Angel's mother.

Just a couple of years ago, Missy began spending more time inside and actually began sleeping on "no-one's" bed with her. This year Missy would often climb up onto "no-one's" chest for  comfort and cuddling. She even began to purr which was a rare thing for Missy. She still didn't allow me to pat her and would sometimes hiss at me if I tried or if I walked too close to her on my way to open the door and let her out.

Most recently, every time I visited, I would go outside to Missy's favourite sleeping place and say hello, then Missy would follow me inside to eat and drink a bit before going back out.  she even allowed me to gently scratch behind her ears for about two seconds. 
We noticed that she was becoming slower and would sometimes go into "no-one's" room while K was at work and call for her. I would go in and let Missy know that her Mum wasn't home yet but would be here after her long afternoon nap. I visited a couple of days a week, mostly to check on Missy. Her appetite remained good right up until a few days ago.

A couple of months ago, Missy's waking times were fewer and her breathing became slower, although she did still follow me inside to eat a bit before calling for "no-one" then going back outside. Last Monday, I noticed her breathing was very shallow with quite some time between each breath.

Missy passed away on Thursday, December 12th, while "no-one" was at work.  She came home and found her and let me know right away. I cried and cried. I'll miss her, but I am glad Missy won't be suffering through our three days of 40C next week.

Missy about four years ago, maybe five, calmly watching a butterfly.