Thursday Tears - There is no love like the love of a cat

  Mom lost her 17 year old cat, Yarko, this morning.  He had been steadily going downhill for the last 3 months or so.  These last two weeks, he stopped eating much, could hardly walk, and would hide almost all day and night.  We took him to the vet this morning, and the vet felt a lump in Yarko's abdomen.  Cancer.  He was about 84 years old in human years.  Mom and I didn't want him to hurt anymore, so we told him goodbye.  

  Pets are part of the family.  They are part of our family stories. I cannot remember a time in my life when I didn't have a cat. I come from a long line of cat lovers on my mother's side of the family.

My great-grandmother,
Bessie Alice Carter Ranney (1883-1960)
with Jerry the cat

My grandmother,
Ethel Irene Ranney Tapley (1913-1973)
with Muffin

  

(I know I have pictures of Mom with Yarko, but I cannot find them right now!)

 

Here I am with Gracie, 
one of the many cats I've had over the years.

  Mom and I went to the shelter here in Augusta in June 2009.  The cats were kept all together in one large room.  Potential adopters went in and picked out which one(s) they wanted. Mom picked out Spiro and Yarko that day (well, actually they picked us). So she's had Yarko by her side for almost 16 years.

  The employees of the shelter actually laughed when we told them we chose Yarko.  We soon learned why.  As an orange cat, he was a wild man.  He was hard-headed, determined to have things his way, a screamer when he was wanting to be fed, and he did not like other cats.  (We only discovered this after  Spiro passed!)  Yarko liked to be the only one; the center of attention.  When Mom later adopted Charlie, Yarko was not having it, and they never bonded.  When I moved in, Yarko had FOUR more cats to deal with.  He was not happy.  He demonstrated his displeasure in various ways every chance he got.  He would slap any cat that got too close.

  Yarko could also be sweet and loving.  I mean, he was a cat, and everything I described also describes most all other cats.  

  Through it all, he loved my mom.  He loved his "sister" - me.  So today was a tough day.  We like to imagine that he is running around and play fighting with Spiro over the Rainbow Bridge this evening.

Yarko
2007-2025