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Dear Spidercat

NaBloPoMo November 2012 Prompt
Thursday, November 15, 2012:

Tell us about your favourite pet.

A timely prompt…

POD 12/365/2009 - Spidercat

Spider came into this world on June 28, 1992 in Victoria, BC and was adopted ten weeks later by two of my good friends. I’m not sure what her name might have been when she left the SPCA, but when one of them placed the tiny black kitten on the back of their other cat – an enormous white creature – and jokingly commented that she looked like a little spider… well, the name stuck.

I first met Spider when I went to their place for dinner one evening. Though I did have cats in my life when I was a child, as an adult I had always professed to be “NOT a cat person” – however, Spider challenged everything I thought I knew about cats and won me over immediately with her sweet and affectionate nature. She was small but very long-legged, and didn’t hesitate to jump up into my lap to be stroked at any opportunity. It was love at first sight, and I always looked forward to visiting their home and getting to know Spider a little better each time.

My friends had their first child around a year later. While their big white cat was fairly independent, they knew that with her personality Spider would suffer from the lessened attention that was inevitable with a new baby in the house, so they asked me if I’d like to adopt her. I was shocked – despite my growing affection for Spider, I think I still believed I wasn’t a cat person! – but very quickly agreed to make her a part of my home, and never once regretted that decision.

In fact, that decision changed my life.

Spider had a luxurious silky coat that looked black but was actually a deep chocolate brown (which you really noticed when she basked in the sunlight), and beautiful sea-green eyes with little flecks of golden brown. She was a mixed breed, but her vet at the time thought she might be part Burmese, and suggested that as this is a fairly long-lived breed, Spider could live to be 22 or 23 (which of course delighted me!).

Spidercat sleeping

I’m not normally one for superlatives, but to me, Spider was the sweetest, dearest, most loving cat that ever walked the face of the earth. She gently nudged her way into my heart, taught me to show tenderness, and softened a few of my rough edges. She was by my side through good times and bad, gracefully adjusted to new environments after four moves, welcomed my husband (his cat less so!) into our little family, and bravely traveled across the country in the cargo holds of three different airplanes to join us in our new home. She was a beloved member of my family… a defining part of my life… an integral part of me.

It was a heart-shattering day just over two weeks ago when, after gracing my life with her presence for more than 20 years, serious health complications forced the difficult decision to let my darling go.

Spider was a treasure, a once-in-a-lifetime blessing. Other pets may become part of my life in future days, but none could ever fill my sweet girl’s place in my heart.

Goodbye, my little love.

Spider
June 28, 1992 – October 29, 2012

Spidercat

Tell me about your favourite pet.

Laurel Storey, CZT – Certified Zentangle Teacher. Writer, reader, tangler, iPhoneographer, cat herder, learner of French and Italian, crocheter, needle felter, on-and-off politics junkie, 80s music trivia freak, ongoing work in progress.