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Tribute to Emma
Emma
was a very different cat from any other cats that I owned.
When she was rescued, she was outdoors, pregnant, and being
tormented by some teen-aged boys.
After she had an unusually small litter of two kittens, I adopted
her from Pacific Animal Foundation.
My veterinarian thought her age was 1 to 1 ½ years, although
another vet said that she may have been as old as six.
Emma
was so frightened of people (especially males) that my husband and I did
not see her for the first two weeks that she lived with us.
I placed her litter box and food in a room where she was hiding
under the cedar chest. I
began to slowly move her food dishes a few feet toward the kitchen each
day until they were in an ideal spot for her to come out and eat her
meals. Emma warmed up to me
fairly quickly and became very affectionate, but she never wanted me to
pick her up or hold her.
She did not want to be near Ron, but she loved his slippers.
She would smell inside them, roll on them, and throw them in the
air! She
learned to recognize several words and phrases.
She knew the meaning of:
Lie down
Roll over (especially when being brushed)
Scratch-a-back/Rub-a-tummy
Are you hungry?
Do you want supper/a treat/a bedtime snack?
Time to go nighty-night
Do you want to rest? (afternoon nap with me)
Let’s play ball/Here it comes/Are you ready?
Up-up (going up the stairs/jumping up on a bed)
Do you want to go outside?
Look at the sunshine.
Do you want a brusha-brusha? Many
times when I went into a room where Emma was resting, I would greet her
with a two tone “Hel-lo.”
One day she greatly surprised me when she walked into a room where I was
dusting furniture, and she made the sound, “Eh-woh!”
She began doing this regularly, using the “word” correctly, as a
greeting. Sometimes she was
so loud that she startled me.
Occasionally she would look at me and try to catch my eye.
When it was obvious that I had glanced at her, Emma would “fly”
down the stairs or into a back room.
When
Emma realized that I was lying on the bedroom floor doing exercises, she
joined in on the “fun.” She
would lie on her side near my head and put her nose in my hair, sniffing
it and occasionally trying to lick it.
At that point she was shooed away! When
Emma wanted breakfast, she pulled on the sheet and blankets, trying to
“dig” me out from under the covers.
She also tapped my face with her paw and watched closely for my
eyes to open. I delayed
that as long as possible!
Every day after her breakfast, Emma went downstairs for a drink from the
fountain in the foyer. She
preferred drinking moving water.
I think she knew how the fountain was operated, because on one
day when it had not yet been turned on, I saw Emma touch the switch with
her paw!
Emma
began having gum infections.
After nine months of numerous injections, antibiotics, and
applications of ointment, the decision was made to extract all of her
teeth. She suffered for a
few days and ate only soft food but was eventually able to chew kibble
on her hardened gums.
Throughout her years with us, Emma developed several illnesses and by
the time she was twelve years old, she was struggling with feline herpes
(a respiratory condition), asthma, and pancreatitis.
For a few months she was doing well but then began vomiting and
coughing regularly. Her
balance began to waver a bit, and she often hesitated before attempting
to jump up on a bed or couch.
When I noticed two lumps and a sore on her lower abdomen, the vet
suggested the possibility of mammary tumors.
This information added to her other problems helped us make the
decision to euthanize Emma before she showed signs of suffering.
We wanted her to have a peaceful death.
During the last fourteen months of her life, Emma was my constant
companion and comfort while I was recuperating from hip and knee
replacements. As she
went to sleep for the last time, I stroked her fur and said, “You’re a
good girl, Emma.
Nighty-night.”
September 2010 |