Yui

In 1998 I saw a listing for black kittens in Pets Mart with a note saying she had two left and she would have to kill the last two. We jumped in the car and went to the address listed on the card. At trailer (illegally) parked next to a power plant was an old woman with about sixty cats. She explained she just couldn’t take two more. The kittens were 8 weeks old and had to be dealt with. After a 30 minute chase I got a hold of a black female kitten with a white spot on her belly. I named her Yui. (my friend took the other cat).

Yui was afraid of the world. She didn’t like going outside, she didn’t like anyone but me. The first night I had to put her on the shelf of the waterbed and sleep with my hand on her so she would stop crying. She spent the next 6 months on my shoulder every moment she could.

Her favorite place to sleep was on me. She learned how to just roll when I rolled staying on my back, my legs or my hip. She loved tuna and a can opening meant she would crawl up to you to get it. She loved chasing moths and attacking feet under the pillows. She loved to hide and could jump from the floor to the top of the fridge in one leap. She would run up to me, fall on her back for a quick belly rub then run off, earning her nickname woowoo. She loved boxes and tunnels and would head but me when she was hungry or wanted attention. She would yell for me and expect an answer back. She sung to Japanese music. Over the last few years she would stay out when others came to our house and let them pet her. She was always purring, a loud happy purr.

She was 13 years old this year. Earlier this year she stopped eating dry food. I got her back to it with a mixture of wet food. She started loosing weight. She stopped eating food all together this weekend. I got her to eat a few bits of tuna and some chicken broth but then she stopped that too. On Wednesday she started crying in pain.

I got her to the vet asap. She was in full renal failure. There was nothing left to do. We cuddled her and petted her. When the doc gave her the relaxant she put her head down and her breathing slowed. She was gone before the full drugs were administered. She gave one last jump and gurgle and was gone.

I miss her so much already. She isn’t at my feet when I work. or sitting on my chair with me. She wasn’t crying for her food in the morning or purring on top of her scratch box. Out of all the pets I’ve had this has hit me so hard. All I pray for is that she is happy and pain free now. I miss her so much.