Today I said goodbye to my lovely Joancat, aged 14, after a short incurable illness.
I have always loved cats. As a child I was devoted to my grandparents' cats, but my father, a great bird-lover, would never let us get our own. In my teens I developed a cat allergy, and that coupled with 20 years of going into the office every day seemed to rule out cat ownership permanently.
But my cat allergy lessened (an unexpected benefit of middle age) and it was obvious towards the end of the Covid lockdowns that hybrid working would be the way forward for my organisation. So in February 2021, thanks to my local rescue, I brought home Joancat, who had been badly scared in her previous home (which acquired children and a dog) and needed somewhere nice and quiet to live.
After two days of hiding behind my bookshelves, Joancat (she had a real name which I never used, preferring a series of ridiculous nicknames) emerged and took control of my life. She was ludicrously affectionate, loving nothing better than snuggling on my lap, staring into my eyes and stretching herself along my body as I slept. She was very expressive too, with dozens of distinct sounds I learnt to understand, from the cheerful "mrup!" of greeting as she jumped on top of me to the warning "mip-mip" when she saw a Bad Cat in the garden. She never learnt to understand human language, but she didn't need it as I just did what she wanted most of the time.
I had lived by myself quite happily for several years, but it was delightful to have a fellow resident to say goodbye to in the morning, hello when I came home, and "what time do you think this is?" when she jumped on my head at dawn. I soon realised that she hated to be left alone for more than a night, and I booked numerous housesitters to come and stay when I was away - all of whom loved Joancat, and one of whom has become a proper friend.
I will miss her very badly. I'm grateful to all of the human and feline denizens of The Litter Tray, who I have learnt a lot from and whose antics have continually amused me, and provided great light relief when I was going through a hard time at work. Particular thanks to @Judystilldreamsofhorses whose posts about her late lamented cat and her decision to put her to sleep when her illness proved incurable have provided me with a lot of comfort as I wrestled with the same decision this weekend.
Give your cats a snuggle from Joancat for me.