Maxine is also a charter quadraped in the Roundly household, having shown up on the scene in the summer of '97, courtesy of the same girl who got me Lester. The girl and I went our ways shortly thereafter, so it would seem that Lester marked the beginning of our relationship and Maxine the end.
Ahh, shit happens! But Maxine, like Lester, stayed the course and was with me until her death just this summer. She had kidney and lung problems, both of which seemed to come about all of a sudden. May and June were pretty much a blur of rounds of medications and trips to the Animal Hospital and Animal Emergency Center. Things got a little bit better and then a lot worse, until I had to make the difficult decision to have her euthenized. July 1st is a day I won't forget.
It's something you just have to go through at one point or another with your pets, the fact that they don't live as long as you do. That you have to say goodbye to them. Maxine was a member of the family, having had her for 12 years, so her loss was not taken lightly. I bawled like a baby that evening, and felt the sting of her loss for- well, I still feel the sting of her loss, as it were. Just like losing a person, you don't stop missing them but rather simply get used to it.
But except for a funky May and June of this year, we had 12 good years. I had her de-clawed and fixed during her first year, and the very occasional Vet visit thereafter, but basically no real problems. Between her and me and the dog, we formed a nice intact little unit over the years, pretty much had our routines down. Maxine was there curled up next to me every night when I went to bed and then every morning when I woke up, a purring little bundle of fur to bring me into and out of sleep. My two quadrapeds definitely had their own space(s) within the house. She had her chair in the house and Lester had his, and ne' er the twains met as far as that went. But I'd catch them sitting together on more than a few occasions. They were better friends than they'd let on to be.
She did have some personality characteristics that were all her own. There was a certain coquettish way she'd throw herself on the floor when she wanted to be petted, as if to say, "C'mon, do me baby!" I suppose, all told, she was just your basic cat: feed me, pet me(when I want it), leave me alone. But she was my cat-or, okay, I was her human. I did have a cat before getting Lester and Maxine, but she ran off after about a week, so I can't really count her. Maxine, like Lester, had a bond with me.
I now have two kittens here in the house. They've been here a little over two months at this point and we're all doing just fine. Lester was overjoyed when I brought them home, which made me realize how much he'd been hurting without his feline buddy. It'll take awhile for him to have the kind of rapport he had with Maxine, but they're getting there.
And their rapport with me is something that's growing as well. It won't be exactly like it was with Maxine, them having their own personalities as well(plus there being two of them and all the sibling rivalry that brings forth), but still we have a nice relationship. You don't replace one relationship with another, but you do have to move on in life.
We still miss you, Maxine. Me and Lester both.
Ahh, shit happens! But Maxine, like Lester, stayed the course and was with me until her death just this summer. She had kidney and lung problems, both of which seemed to come about all of a sudden. May and June were pretty much a blur of rounds of medications and trips to the Animal Hospital and Animal Emergency Center. Things got a little bit better and then a lot worse, until I had to make the difficult decision to have her euthenized. July 1st is a day I won't forget.
It's something you just have to go through at one point or another with your pets, the fact that they don't live as long as you do. That you have to say goodbye to them. Maxine was a member of the family, having had her for 12 years, so her loss was not taken lightly. I bawled like a baby that evening, and felt the sting of her loss for- well, I still feel the sting of her loss, as it were. Just like losing a person, you don't stop missing them but rather simply get used to it.
But except for a funky May and June of this year, we had 12 good years. I had her de-clawed and fixed during her first year, and the very occasional Vet visit thereafter, but basically no real problems. Between her and me and the dog, we formed a nice intact little unit over the years, pretty much had our routines down. Maxine was there curled up next to me every night when I went to bed and then every morning when I woke up, a purring little bundle of fur to bring me into and out of sleep. My two quadrapeds definitely had their own space(s) within the house. She had her chair in the house and Lester had his, and ne' er the twains met as far as that went. But I'd catch them sitting together on more than a few occasions. They were better friends than they'd let on to be.
She did have some personality characteristics that were all her own. There was a certain coquettish way she'd throw herself on the floor when she wanted to be petted, as if to say, "C'mon, do me baby!" I suppose, all told, she was just your basic cat: feed me, pet me(when I want it), leave me alone. But she was my cat-or, okay, I was her human. I did have a cat before getting Lester and Maxine, but she ran off after about a week, so I can't really count her. Maxine, like Lester, had a bond with me.
I now have two kittens here in the house. They've been here a little over two months at this point and we're all doing just fine. Lester was overjoyed when I brought them home, which made me realize how much he'd been hurting without his feline buddy. It'll take awhile for him to have the kind of rapport he had with Maxine, but they're getting there.
And their rapport with me is something that's growing as well. It won't be exactly like it was with Maxine, them having their own personalities as well(plus there being two of them and all the sibling rivalry that brings forth), but still we have a nice relationship. You don't replace one relationship with another, but you do have to move on in life.
We still miss you, Maxine. Me and Lester both.
The Rainbow Writer approves this blog, living also in a household of 14 legs, same demographic breakdown: Argent, Joliet Jake, D'Ville...and me. Condolences about Maxine, and empathy about having one or more kittens. Batten down everything in the house! = )
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