Arwen 1994-2012

It is with great sorrow that I write that on Friday evening, April 27th, 2012, my darlin Arwen kitty passed away in my arms with Jay right by her side. She was 18 years old and had a very long and happy life. Arwen came to live with me when she was just a kitten.

Baby Arwen

Arwen & mouse

My kitty Aragorn had passed away when he was quite young, from a congenital lung defect.

Aragorn

I was shocked and heartbroken, but my other cat, Tierann,

Tierann

who never seemed to like him much while he was alive, was truly bereft. She prowled the house endlessly looking and calling for him. I decided to go out and find another companion for Tierann and found Arwen in a pet store not far from my house. She was there with her littermate, a sister. As I took Arwen out of the cage, I dared one look back at that remaining kitten, who just look so sad I couldn’t stand it and turned right on my heel and took that one, my Mistletoe, as well. I mean, if you’re getting one kitten, what’s two? (the answer to that is twice the work…but never a regret here!)

Double Trouble!

Bathroom mischief!

Tierann seemed less than pleased with this development, but the kittens charmed everyone else (and I suspect, Tierann was secretly taken with them as well). Tierann was quite the legendary character among those that knew her and Mistletoe was also unique and spunky to say the least. Arwen was quiet, laid back for the most part, very sweet, full of purrs and always the lady. She had the longest whiskers imaginable and took great care in keeping her long fur appropriately groomed.

She was a great sport, unlike my other girls, about all of the various costumes in which I dressed her up.

Lobsters!

Arwen Court Jester

Space Cat 'Wen

Arwen Bunny

Arwen Witch

Princess Arwen

Howdy Partner!

She even seemed to like wearing her Christmas collar.

Merry Christmas!

Tierann left us at 19 years of age in 2007 and Mistletoe passed away 1 1/2 years ago. I feared Arwen would be inconsolable, having been with a pack of cats her whole life. However, although I’m sure she loved her sister, she was ecstatic at being the only cat. Finally, she was the star of the show and Jay and I were happy to give her top billing. I can’t tell you how much we will miss her.

As it turns out, I am the one who is inconsolable at the loss of my pack.

Arwen, Tierann & Mistletoe

Rest in Peace Sweetness.

Mistletoe 1994-2010

It is with incredible sorrow I write that on Wednesday September 22nd, 2010 my beloved Mistletoe passed away. “Mistle” or “Moo”  as we also called her, was quite a spunky little character. She and her litter-mate sister Arwen were born in Norfolk, Virginia in 1994. My darling cat Aragorn had passed away due to a congenital lung defect and both my cat Tierann and I were very sad. I thought Tierann might need some companionship and we were lucky enough to find the “bab-bies” -Mistletoe and Arwen. They were “Oh My God” Cute as kittens!

Baby Arwen & Baby Mistletoe

Baby Mistletoe

Although upon their arrival, T-Cat acted as if she was very “put-upon” and “long-suffering”, but I know she enjoyed and came to love those kittens.

Tierann "Bab-bie" Sits

Mistletoe was always very gentle and loving to her family. She adored her “big sister” Tierann, who was also quite a character in her own right as I’m sure those of you who knew her would agree.

Quintessential Tierann

Mistle would often tried to groom her. This did not ever go over too well with the T-cat, so Mistletoe would content herself to sit as close as possible to her idol.

Mistle & Tierann Lounge

Whenever Mistle thought there was danger, she would spring into action to defend the clan. There was a huge “tom” cat named Midrange who was our neighbour in Norfolk. He would often come by to peek in the sliding glass doors to see what we were up to. Mistle would literally launch herself at him, crashing into the glass all teeth and claws, until he left-I’m sure much more out of confusion than fear. Undaunted by her size, she was fearless, even ready to challenge Brain and Phil’s huskies when we made the move to DC. Mistletoe and Arwen moved with me five times-twice in Norfolk, twice in DC and finally became suburbanites with me in Falls Church. Mistle always took in stride, just happy to be with us, where ever we were.

Mistle ready to go!

Mistletoe was a water-baby. I know, that is exceeding strange for a cat, but she would always camp out near a sink in all of our abodes, just hoping somebody would happen by and turn the faucet on for her so she could get a sip of water- everyone knows its best right out of the faucet- and to play in the stream.

Sink At 9th St. SE

#20 Sink

Mistle in Falls Church sink

Sink Play Time

Mistle Sips

Later in life she decided that licking her fur to get clean was a horrible idea and she just wasn’t going to do it. Unfortunately, she was sporting 1/2 white fur, which really showed the grime. Luckily she did love water so every couple of weeks I would jump into the bath tub with her. She absolutely loved it, purring the whole time I sudsed her up and rinsed her off. She would even stand still while we blew dry her fur.

Sudsing Up!

Rinsing Moo

Rinsing Off

Mistle and Lea in tub

Bath time kisses

Strike a pose!

Jay styles Moo

Mistletoe first became ill last October 2009. She was diagnosed with complete renal failure. It was an incredibly fast onset-she seemed fine on Friday and by Monday we knew we had a very sick kitty. Her vet gave us little hope that she would recover and prepared us for the worst, but she bounced right back after just one night in the hospital. Everyone in the clinic called her “the Miracle Kitty”. Since that time, Jay and I have had to give her a daily I.V. of saline solution (sub-Q I.V.) to aid her failing kidneys. Quite the trooper, my sweet baby also took in stride, hopping into Jay’s lap and even purring every night when we came in to “administer her fluids”. (or inflate the kitty as we said) With her “extra” time she got to experience the great 2010 “Snowpocolypses” with us.

Mistle-deer

Snow Cat

Polar Cat braves the drifts

As well as endure another Easter.

Happy Easter!

I am grateful for many things surrounding Mistletoe. I am grateful I was lucky enough to be with her and share her life with her for the 16 years and 4 months that she was on this earth. I am grateful we had an extra 11 months with her once she became sick, that no one expected we would have. Finally, I am grateful that when her time came, she passed on very quickly, at home in my arms surrounded by Jay and Arwen, those whom she loved very much. She is already dearly missed and I look forward to a time when we can meet again.

View entire Mistletoe Gallery, View entire Tierann Gallery, View entire Aragorn Gallery