Ana

Sadly, our cat Ana had to be put to sleep last week. She was 18 years old and suffering from kidney failure. She had lived with us for all but the first 6 weeks of her life, so of course, she was definitely part of the family.

Those who know such things say that her equivalent age in human terms would be around 90 years old, so she had definitely had a good long life. Laura had actually picked her out of a litter from our friends who lived in the country and had some more or less wild cats. Little did we know when we got her that just a few years later we would be moving to just a mile down the road from where she was born. I wonder if it felt like going back home to her when we moved in? Do cats have that kind of homing sense? She never did jump up and say, “Oh boy, I’m home!” Not that she had much of a choice to go anywhere else. She was stuck with us, no matter where we lived.

Cats are funny animals, although they are nicely suited to be house pets. Both of our cats have been inside pets, well trained to the litter box so that they don’t have to go outside. And with Ana, even if we had left the door standing wide open, I don’t think she would have gone outside. It just didn’t suit her.

So although I complained sometimes about some of her habits in more recent years, it really does seem strange not to have her around anymore. She was a good one.