Emma - A friend is gone

My sweet 20 year old cat died Tuesday, May 24, 2016. Emma had a terrible abscess in her mouth which had affected her jaw. After discussing it with the vet, we agreed it would be best if she was put down. She was obviously in pain and I didn’t want to put her through that any further. Emma was always a small cat at 3 pounds. You could mistake her for a kitten. 

She loved to sit on my lap and purred loudly when she was patted or brushed.

​People say cats are difficult to introduce into a new home. Not Emma. She was moved into probably 20 different places. Upon entering each new home, I set up her stuff and put her in her litter box so she knew where it was. Then she would tour the new place checking out everything. When done, she would curl up somewhere and sleep. She never required more of an adjustment.

I adopted Emma from the Huntsville SPCA (rescue/pound). The shelter had put some cats in cages outside so they could get some fresh air and sun. I saw Emma immediately and knew she was the one for me. She was tiny and ever so sweet at 6 months of age. She was full of energy and cuddled with me.

In 1995, I was living in an apartment in Toronto and I wanted a pet. I couldn’t look after a dog in such a setting so settled on a cat. My apartment was on the 5th floor of a building at St. George and Bloor, downtown Toronto. I had a balcony and Emma liked going out there.

But one day she fell off. I found myself looking for her and she wasn’t in the apartment. I looked over the balcony and I could see people pointing to something. I ran downstairs and found Emma on the window ledge. She had fallen 5 stories but she wasn’t too bad off. She had trouble jumping up for a while but she survived the fall. I was so happy.

When I got Kira, I felt so bad for Emma. She was terrified her and stayed under the bed for 3 months. Then it took another 3 months for her to leave the bedroom. Must have taken 3 years before she would walk across the living room floor. But then Kira and Emma became the best of friends and Emma had no further fear of Kira. Emma would walk right by Kira’s nose. Sometimes Emma would be on my lap and Kira would jump up on me too. That was fun.

But now Emma is dead. It feels so weird not to have her in the house. I’m not getting another cat so donating all her stuff to the Hamilton SPCA. I’m so glad I never have to clean another litter box. So tired of that. And there are other small benefits. I can leave my backdoor open all day so Kira can go in and out, but I would close it around 9 pm so Emma didn’t get out and then be outside when I wanted to go to bed. Now that Emma is no longer here, I leave the door open until I go to bed.

I will never forget Emma. She was a great pet and she had a good life.

Hug your pets for me,
Patty