The wonderfully beautiful life of a cat

I had to help put down our family cat today. His name was Hsiao-Hsiao, loosely translated from Chinese as "little, little one". When we got him, the name was very appropriate. and we thought he was part Siamese, part Patio kitty. What we've come to understand is that he was a Tonkingese, related to Siamese.

He was "the coolest cat" according to many people who met him. He was completely comfortable being buds with all the neighbors in the various places we lived. He joined my life shortly before I married. He was the family pet from then on with only a few pocket animals and a turtle to have shared space with. He stayed with me after I became single for a year or so, then returned to live with his mother since Christmas 2006.

He inspired grumpy cat voices, a very ornery French kitty persona, countless squeaks, oohs, and ahhs. He was adept at playing paddle ball as long as the ball was a cat toy. He was finicky about his catnip. He graced us with his presence when we walked to the mailbox around the corner by assuming a jungle kitty stance with deft nonchalance. He would wake a neighbor at 2a to let him in. He was quite comfortable chilling in the neighbors living room when he wanted. He was very patient. He liked his butt scratched and patted.

He's been on a managed diet for a while now, but recent tests showed his liver capacity at 25% that of normal. His tests also showed such elevated levels that he'd been living with the low functioning for a while, something that would have been pretty uncomfortable.

When he passed, he was in the company of his mom, his dad, his sister Sarah, and his grandmother Judy. We stayed with him as he lay down peacefully. He is laying next to other family pets -- Moe and Crackers. He left this plane at noon today, September 1, 2007.

To me, his life with us represented love.

More pictures are at Flickr.