Jiji, King of our hearts.

[christinaja]

A few years ago, a friend of my husband's asked him if he wanted a kitten. I was staunchly opposed at the time, just having had my heart broken by the hit and run loss of my rat terrier, Max. But when we went to the friend's house, we met this gorgeous little bluepoint fluffball, and I fell in love. He wasn't ready to go yet, so we decided to wait until he was ready and bring him home. The day came, and we had all of the things in place for a new kitten. Our daughter was thrilled and excited. When we got to the friend's house, that little fluffy thing was gone. He offered us instead this inky black, puma-like creature that was "full of **** and vinegar." I warily agreed, and we brought him home. Immediately, he was rip-roaring all over the house, attacking feet and unseen intruders, getting into everything, and playing the hardest I have ever seen a cat play! I was sure it was going to end badly. My daughter decided to christen him Jiji, after the black cat in the Hayao Miyazaki film "Kiki's Delivery Service." Then he started growing. And growing. And growing!
What I also began to realize was that this cat was incredibly SMART. He could open doors using the doorknob and could tell when we were in terrible moods. When he was almost 2 years old, I had a very, very scary medical issue. At only 28 years old, I had developed a mass on an ovary that was suspicious for cancer. The surgery was somewhat extreme, and I had to rest in bed for a week following my release from the hospital. From the moment I got home, Jiji barely left my side. He calmly curled up with me, and waited to eat, drink, or potty until I had gotten up to do the same. He was just as much my baby by then as he was anyone else's.
My daughter bonded like superglue to him. Every night, he was in bed with her, and every day he waited for her to get home from school. She would draw pictures of him, and he would follow her around, seeing what kind of trouble they could get into together. His favorite thing to do was investigate cabinets, and if we couldn't find him, we knew he was in a cabinet somewhere.
In November of 2009, shortly before Thanksgiving, we brought home Rosalie. At first, Jiji was NOT happy about this. He hid in our room for three days. Then, a remarkable thing happened. He began to completely dote on Rosalie, grooming her, cuddling her, playing, and in essence, raising her. In late April 2010, the day before he was scheduled to go in to get neutered, little miss Rosalie came into season. We hadn't gotten him neutered previously because, amazingly, he had never sprayed! Well, he tagged her. My daughter saw it happen, and she asked me what was happening. I explained kitty birds and bees to her, and to my chagrin, she knelt down next to them and said, "Just one! I just want ONE kitten!"
Less than two weeks later, I came home from my classes at college to find my baby boy barely walking and peeing blood. He was lethargic and wouldn't eat or drink. After making a phone call to the vet, we took him in to be seen. We were told it was kidney failure, with an unknown cause. He had never been sick, and tested negative for feline leukemia. At that point, we made the difficult decision to do the humane thing and have him put to sleep. We waited until my daughter came home from school so that she would have the chance to say goodbye. It was horrible for all of us, but especially her.
July 1st, 2010, Rosalie let out a terrible yowl close to midnight. She had been acting odd all day, sticking close to me in a way she had never done before. Next thing I knew, I was helping to deliver five beautiful kittens, three colorpoint and two tuxedo. Four boys and one girl. Almost immediately, my daughter laid claim to the female. Sasha is her daddy's daughter, and has every single one of her dad's personality traits. Sometimes I wonder if cats can be reincarnated, and if so, then Jiji is probably still here.
To this day, my daughter will draw pictures of Jiji, or talk about how much she misses him. She prays and asks for Jiji to be taken care of. Recently, she asked my husband if we could get a memorial stone with his name and picture to put in our garden. I think we'll probably do it. In the meantime, she is busy bonding with both Sasha and Arwen, and letting her heart mend. As for us, we will never be able to replace Jiji, but we know we did the right thing.

[razzle]

So sorry for your loss. Jiji was beautiful. I like the second picture. So cute.

Kathy

[cooncatbob]

It's a terrible thing to say good-bye to a beloved pet.
I lost my Samantha in May and still get teary eyed when I read of someone losing a beloved pet.

[Ted]

What a beautiful cat Jiji was. Bright-eyed, healthy shiny coat. It's clear she was very much loved.

You have my sympathy.

[christinaja]

Thank you. My daughter took the loss the hardest, but I think she has healed. We still talk about him frequently, but it isn't as hard as it used to be.

razzle...that was the day my daughter decided he needed a crown like a pharaoh! He had that silly crown on for almost an hour.