The Cat

July 15, 2018 – I have been babysitting my sister and niece’s cat, Marv, for 6 1/2 months. Marv used to be my cat. I lived with my sister and niece and, when I was getting ready to move out, I asked them if they wanted to keep her. I don’t just abandon or give up my pets. It had been a rough year for my niece and she was really attached to Marv. I thought long and hard about it and thought she didn’t need to lose her favourite auntie and her favourite cat at the same time. So they kept her.

Life has been kind to Marv. She’s now 17 years old and in great health – other than very mild kidney disease. How do I know? I took her to the vet for a check-up and the vet kept saying, “I can’t believe she’s 16!”

Back to the story.

Over the past few months, I’ve texted my niece to see how things were going and if they were planning on coming out. She leads a very busy life. She had been very upfront in December saying that her schedule for all of 2018 was pretty hectic. But we’d try to figure it out.

A couple of times I contacted her out of frustration. I wanted her gone. Sometimes it was because my mom was upset with her being there and sometimes it was because Marv was just being very vocal and very annoying. Mom says we were spoiled by Spike. My niece felt bad. She left her cat with us because she saw how my mom got along with her. She thought it was good company. She was doing something good – or so she thought.

After one particular bad experience – mom frustrated because Marv puked on her bed. I went to the vet for a certificate and I was going to send her via cargo. I know, I know. There are a lot of risks and a lot of horror stories out there. The vet was very clear, it was risky for a cat of Marv’s advanced age and he recommended against it. He gave me the certificate anyway – in case I decided I was going to take the risk. I explained all of the risks to my niece and then we agreed – it just wasn’t the right thing to do. She would get out here somehow.

Sadly our “predicament” also became a topic for discussion at every family gathering. It always started with “Have you heard from them?” and then it would morph into teasing about “being stuck with the cat”. Lots of laughter and jokes. “Ha! Ha! They stuck you with their cat!” In the beginning it was funny. After a while, it became a bit tiresome and the jokes became less good-natured. It saddened me to think that they all thought so little of my sister and niece to the point where they thought they would abandon their family pet.

I have told them – all of them – on multiple occasions that I don’t understand how somebody doing something kind for me and my mom should become such a topic. At one brunch, I actually said that I didn’t expect to get shit upon for it.

Last week, my brother suggested that if they didn’t claim her, I should wait until she dies and then have her stuffed and ship her back to them. He prefaced his comment by saying I might find it a bit morbid. Yes, I did. And I told him so.

So I texted my niece and asked her what her plans were. We started texting back and forth about airfare and dates. Then she called me, rather apologetically, and explained that she couldn’t afford to fly out here. She was going back to university to get her masters. She had a leave of absence from work and was selling her condo to pay for it.

You could hear the happiness and excitement in her voice. This was a bucket list item for her and she was going to mark it off of her list before she turned 30. And….she was going to be doing all of this in the south of France! How could anybody shit on that? So I said I would fly there with Marv.

The topic came up this morning at a family brunch. As I explained that my niece was leaving the country, I heard “Ha! Ha! They finally stuck you for good!” I lost it (a little). “Why is this cat such a fascination for all of you? Just let it go. She’s going back at the end of August. End of story.” Silence and a few puzzled looks.

Even though we nicknamed Marv the whiney bitch, I will miss her. I will miss hearing my mom talk to her every night while she’s on the computer – little conversations. I will miss her climbing up on to my lap for a scratch under her chin. I will miss her random, sudden sprints up and down the hallway. They were a constant source of amusement for mom and I. I will miss looking into that sweet face and hearing her purr.

I have been fortunate to get to spend some time with her – time that I wouldn’t have had because I live across the country. Her arrival coincided with the passing of my Spike. She helped get me through the grieving process. Who could ever, ever complain about that?