Memorial for a Princess
- Cat Calhoun
- Dec 31, 2019
- 7 min read
The Early Years
In May of 2005 I was cruising through the Austin Craigslist pages looking for furniture to put in my new apartment. A post came up in the furniture about a cat that needed a home. The adoptive 'parent' had discovered 2 months in that she was highly allergic and had to take said kitty back to the shelter. She was asking for someone to adopt her and even provided all the starter kit one would need to adopt a cat.
I thought "Cute, but I need furniture." I flagged the post as being in the wrong area and it disappeared. The following day it was back, so I flagged it again. And it happened the next day too. Finally, curiosity peaked, I went to visit the cat at the shelter.
"She doesn't like anyone, but you can try," the shelter worker said. I was led to a visiting room and this kitty, then named Bunny, was brought in. I held out my hand palm down. She waltzed up to me and "petted" the palm of my hand. We hung out together for a while and I said I'd think on it and left.
That night I dreamt about her. Her message in the dream was clear: "Get your ass over here and get me." I did. And I never once regretted it.
She's always been talkative. Here she is chatting with me while sitting on my living room futon the first night we were together. She wasn't too sure about me at first.
But I won her over with good play sessions and tasty food. Soon she was doing figure 8's through my feet and claiming my bedding.
She was a great companion. Not terribly affectionate and never a lap cat, but she liked to be around me, sitting in the guest chair when I worked at my desk, sleeping on the corner of the bed, sitting next to me on the couch when I watched TV.
The shelter had called her April and her foster mom called her Bunny (because she was just that soft). She was such a sweet kitty that I started saying she was as sweet as a peach (my favorite fruit). And so eventually she became Princess Peach Pie. . . and that was shortened to just Pie. And sometimes FuzzButt. . . Kitty McGee. . . Princessa. . . Poot. . . and Little Love Bunny.
DeLora and her dogs moved in with us in June of 2005. We were nervous about the interaction of the dogs and cat, so we put up a baby gate to separate them. That lasted a couple of hours before Pie decided she wanted to get to know Kina, the German shepherd. They became best of friends.
It was rare to see Kina without Pie and Pie without Kina.
Moving to Dripping Springs
We moved out of my small apartment and into a cute house in the country near Dripping Springs to get some space and some quiet that fall of 2005. We got a yard, more space to spread out in, and lots of comfortable furniture for everyone.
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We moved my futon into the room we used for an office in our Dripping Springs house. She loved it and claimed it for her own.
The views from every room were spectacular. So many birds to watch, deer, squirrels, and an occasional coyote that ran past down by the creek.
As if the views weren't cool enough, DeLora is a green-thumb-having, plant-growing woman. When the weather got too cold we had to drag the plants in. Pie was delighted.
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She also fell in love with DeLora because DeLora would allow her supervised outside visits. She either hung out with Kina in the yard or would just follow us as we walked up and down the road to our house.
The red flannel throw series.
Pie's Christmas present - a new house. She likes things she can get in - this house. . .
. . . grocery bags, boxes, rolled up rugs, cabinets, my pants when I drop them on the floor. . .
Another of Pie's favorite things was her feather toy. We quickly realized that every time we said "feather" she got ridiculously excited. We shortened it to "Feh" - so here she is with her Feh.
Pie assisting DeLora in shelf installation. She's so helpful.
Lounging in the sunshine.
We bought Pie a house!
DeLora's mom moved in with us, needed a lot of medical care, and help with daily living tasks. Our small cabin in Dripping Springs just wasn't big enough. It was also built in stages and none of the floors were at the same levels. That was challenging to an older woman on a walker, so we started looking for a house. We found a big place in South Austin at a price we could afford. We moved in December of 2007. Pie thought we did it for her, so we just let her think it. :)
The views were even more spectacular. Our house was built on a hill so that you walk in on the 2nd floor, but by the time you get to the living room you are up in the trees. So many birds and squirrels to look at it was exhausting! And "Pie's dogs" (they were only posing as our dogs for social acceptability) got a big fenced yard!
Life continued as normal for a long while. Pie begged for food every morning by standing on us with her lead feet (I swear that 8lb cat could put 30 pounds of linear pressure on those tiny feet!) and yelling at the top of her lungs. Kina continued to obsess over her. Pie continued her fascination with bags, boxes, and all small dark places and she continued to look adorable, so I took about a billion portraits of her in various places and poses.
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More of Pie's favorite pastimes included playing with her purple string (aka, my shoelace) and sitting in front of the fire.
In 2013 Merry Margaret, a tortie cat, showed up on the deck in our backyard. To keep it short, and because this is Pie's story, Merry Margaret came to live with us. . . and neither of them were friendly with the other, though there was a detente of sorts.
Watching the PBS Special on cats. Both Pie and Merry Margaret were enraptured by the whole show. I've never seen them like that. Super cool.
See that pretty wooden floor? We had that installed so we could sell the house and move to Mexico. Pie took full advantage of it, moving with the sun all day long, recharging her 'solar panels.'
Moving to Mexico
We moved to Mexico in early 2018, selling off most of what we owned and buying a Subaru that would accommodate the few remaining possessions we have and the cats. Here we are pulling out of Austin and heading south.
We worried about the move and the cats' health and wellbeing. What about the food? Pie is diabetic and needs certain kinds. What about veterinary care? Is that a good thing in Mexico? We researched all we could, but online information is spotty in Mexico. It's more reliable to talk with people and learn what you can, but we didn't know that at the time. We stepped out on faith.
I won't lie. The drive was kind of horrible and the cats didn't love it. But we did find two good hotels that were cool with the cats and they did eventually kind of settle into the new normal.
There was no need to worry. As soon as we landed and got the cats into the apartment we rented they explored and settled in.
As you can see, Pie didn't suffer from living in Mexico. She had comfortable places to sleep, continued her love of sitting inside bags and napping with DeLora.
DeLora grew a terrace full of flowers and food plants. Pie lost no time in conquering the sunny terrace and napping in the Kale and Brussel sprouts. This made her extremely happy!
Pie's final move
Pie was diagnosed with diabetes in the States more than a year before we left for Mexico. I worried that we wouldn't be able to find decent food here, but indeed we found diabetic friendly foods for her that she liked.
While we were living in San Miguel, Pie had a health crisis and we took her to the vet. She was diagnosed with a new condition, mid-stage chronic kidney disease (CKD). The vet there said she would probably have 6-9 months more with treatment. We started the treatment and when she was stable we moved to Morelia, Michoacán.
This is Pie, exhausted after a big day of moving and lifting boxes, napping on a blue bin in our new house in Morelia.
Pie's health declined after a couple of months of living here. This is her 18th year on this planet and her body was starting to give out. Sometime around Thanksgiving she got very feeble and was diagnosed with a bad bladder infection that was driven by the kidney's failure to filter properly. We started further treatments which included medication, assisted hydration and feeding, and the administration of subcutaneous fluids at home to keep her body hydrated and to keep the toxins her kidneys weren't catching from concentrating in her blood.
Princess Peach Pie did fair for about 6 weeks, having some good days, some bad. On Saturday evening, Dec 28, 2019, we took her to the vet as she was in crisis again. They tried to stabilize her and help her through the crisis, but her body was too weak. She passed from her body into the Universe about 7:15pm on December 29th.
Though we are glad she is released from her discomfort and is running free in the fields with her friend Kina, we will miss her terribly. Travel well, little Princess. We will see you again.
Such a beautiful tribute so full of love. Your loss is deeply felt. It had me sad, in a good way, for every cat (Pooh and Pumpkin) and dog (Rascal) I have ever loved and lost. Thank you.