Isabel. Oh, little Izzy. In this house of boys, she was my girly little girl. A tiny cat with a huge heart and not a single mean bone on her body. Izzy loved everything and if she didn't love it, she simply hid from it. She was neurotic. And odd. And lovey. And cuddly. And had the sweetest little meow.
Izzy joined our family not long after the hubs and I moved in together. I had Cat#1 when we moved in together and he was my boy. The hubs, feeling left out of the pet love, convinced me we needed another cat.
We took a trip to the pound and were told, "Sorry, it isn't really kitten season but feel free to look at what we have." The hubs spotted a tiny cat hiding in a litter box and looking scared of the world. She had been abandoned with her brother and left with a note that simply said, "Please take care of these cats." We instantly fell in love.
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| The early days, hiding in a closet and covering our clothes in fur. |
We brought our tiny kitty home and she became part of our family. Izzy brought many trials to our apartment. She hid in the walls and in the floor. She crawled inside the giant heater and almost became a fireball. She curled up under covers and mostly kept to herself but was always a furry ball of love.
Soon after bringing Izzy home, we realized she was "special". Special like, not so smart special. Cats can't really be trained to start with but Izzy took that to a new level. Basically, she had to be protected from herself and her own absentmindedness. The up side of that was that she was a little too dopey to be mean. She just didn't know how. Izzy never really figured out that she had claws so there was no need to declaw her. She never really whined for food like Cat#1 because she trusted that her loving pet parents would feed her when she needed to eat. Even though she was spade, Izzy made nests like a girl cat about to give birth (again, not so smart). She built homes inside couches and box springs, under dressers and in the crawl space. Girl could always find a good place to hide.
Unlike Cat#1 who rolls with things, Izzy was a prissy girl about her litter box. She peed on more piles of clothes and blankets than I even know. But damn that cute little face, we could never get mad.
When we moved 600 miles away, the pets came along for the ride. Izzy arrived at our new home with a new social personality. She became friendly and hid less but was always a little skiddish. We moved back home a year later and again Izzy switched to being an even more amazing cat. With every new adventure (moving to a house, getting Dog, bringing Little Bear home), Izzy brought out a bit more of her lovely personality.
The change of me becoming a SAHM suited the little kitty wonderfully. Izzy no longer needed to spend her days hiding, Mom was home! She would chirp while I was busy in the kitchen and roam the garden or chase Dog in the grass while I did yard work. She was my baby girl. Always ready with a cuddle. Instead of scurrying away from Little Bear when he wanted to snuggle, like Cat#1, Izzy would go limp and let him curl up on her. When Little Bear was a baby I spent many night nursings with a fluffy cat curled up on my lap along side him.
The house is not the same today. It's a little quieter. A little less fuzzy. There is only one food dish to be filled. There's nobody at the patio door chirping at birds. Nobody to bring Cat#1 out of his bad ass shell and give him a cute little bath. No little bell jingling into the kitchen for a cuddle or running after Dog for a game of chase.
I miss my kitty.
Izzy had a wonderful life. She was part of our brood. When Cat#1 was being a crab ass and Dog was being a beast, there was always Izzy around to keep things lovey.
She helped to make our family whole and we will always miss her love.
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I'll miss Izzy!
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