In December 2010, shortly after we moved into our current house, on the coldest bitterest day of the year so far, my wife looked out the front window and said, "There's a cat on the porch, yelling at the door." That cat turned out to be CeCe, a small tabby mix with a lot of white fur, spayed female, a couple years old, no chip or collar- but she was cold and hungry and wanted love and attention and warmth and food and she wanted them NOW, thank you. She walked right in, of course, once we opened the door, and we gave her food and warmth and cuddled her- and she stayed. No answer to any inquiries about who she might've belonged to, we can only assume she was dumped or abandoned on a very cold day- she was perfectly healthy and a TOTAL sweetheart.
She had grey tabby markings on her body and face and shoulders but a lot of white as well, soft beautiful fur, and a little half-moustache marking right over her upper lip that was really cute- and she was NOTHING but joy and love to all of us. She just loved people, especially us, and was totally grateful for attention and pets and cuddles and everything she got- and she repaid it all at least double by being such great company.

CeCe became largely MY cat- she wanted me to pick her up so she could hug me with paws around my neck, she wanted to be in my lap when I was on the computer, she wanted attention when I walked by the kitchen island where she liked to hang out- she never caused any problems with the other cats or the dogs, she was nothing but joy and love. She couldn't have been sweeter. I called her my 'foundling waif' because she'd shown up alone and desperate on a frigid cold day needing shelter and food, and she was completely grateful for everything she got- and she gave back all the love she got.

A year ago, her annual showed kidney values climbing, as often happens in older cats- the vet recommended some sub-cu fluids if possible but she wasn't ready for that just yet, so we adjusted diet and hoped. For a long time she was fine- then she started to decline a bit. She got some meds and we tried the fluids again, and lo and behold, NOW she was ready and she was a model patient. stretching out on my legs and getting chin scratches while she got her warmed fluids, every other day at first, later daily. She was no problem at all, and perked up a lot when she got the fluids- she knew it helped her. But things kept declining- she was getting a little dehydrated and not eating as much- we gave more fluids and kidney treatments and special food but the decline continued. Recently she absolutely refused to eat, which was VERY rare for her- we got an appetite stimulant and some potassium supplement for her muscles (she'd started missing jumps to the island or cat trees)- those things helped but not enough- she still didn't eat, so we gave her some dilute food and some broths via syringe (which she really didn't like), and went to twice a day fluids- but it wasn't enough. One day she had a bad seizure- lasted a while and was pretty bad- and we resigned ourselves that it might be time- but when the vet came in the room, she asked if we were sure and CeCe immediately climbed up my chest to put her paws around my neck and hug me- the vet said, "Okay. NO, not yet- she wants to stay a while longer with you"- we upped the meds and supplements, and we had a wonderful long weekend with her- she was pretty much her old self, interacting and hugging and purring and curling up in laps and being sweet- but she still didn't eat and the syringe wasn't doing it for her- on Monday, she had three small seizures in a 7-8 hour period and we knew it was time. She slept with us, curled up between us in bed in case another seizure happened, but she was fine overnight- but by morning she was mostly unresponsive and we took her in.

Even when fully prepared, saying goodbye to a good friend is tough- and when that friend has been 13 years of nothing but love and joy, it's even worse. At the vets she still made eye contact with me and used her paws to sort of 'biscuit' on my arm as I held her- she passed from this life peacefully and quietly. She'll never be forgotten- and I pray we see each other again at Rainbow Bridge.

Play hard at the Bridge my beautiful little foundling waif- we REALLY miss you- send purrs and I pray we see you again one day- you were a complete joy to be with your whole life with us- THANK YOU little CeCe-

bowlkat