Callie, New London, WI

Back when I was a teenager we had a cat that gave birth to a litter of kittens and then got really sick. Her kidneys failed and we had to make a decision of whether to try to save her or have her put down. It was an especially hard decision knowing that she had a whole litter of kittens to take care of, but in the end it didn’t look good and euthanasia seemed like the best option.

To care for the kittens we had to buy formula and tiny bottles. My brother and I set our alarm clocks for every few hours and took turns feeding each of them for weeks. Until they were old enough to eat watered down food and then real food. When the kittens were big enough we gave them away, but kept one calico kitten for ourselves. Appropriately, we named her Callie.

Callie lived with my parents for the past 17 years. Over the weekend my parents had realized they hadn’t seen her for a while, which isn’t that odd. She had a warmly insulated house outside where she lived and my parents’ house is on a large plot of land with a woods and a pond and lots of hiding places. Callie and their other cat Bailey have the run of the land, as does the dog, Dakoda. They all spend a lot of time both inside and outside.

I just found out this morning that when my dad found Callie on Sunday it looked as though she was soundly sleeping in her cat house, like normal, except that she had actually passed on to kitty heaven sometime in her sleep. I’m saddened because we had her around for so long, but I know that she had a long, long life. Almost 20 years old! Still, when my mom sent these photos of her and our dog Max who passed on a couple years ago, they brought a tear to my eye. Callie was kind of a major grouch and a loner, so I didn’t think I’d miss her really, but when I think about how long she was in our family… I think there’s also a special bond because we had to be adopted mother to her when her own kitty mom died when she was a few days old.

RIP Callie & Max. At least they are back together now.

Callie & Max, New London, WI

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