Pets

Beloved Misha
14th May, 2020

Beloved Olive
19th May, 2020

Thursday 14th May

At ten past two in the afternoon, little Misha passed away, peacefully, in our presence.

We cradled her head as her limbs galloped across the rainbow bridge. We were about to get ready to head to the vets for a 3pm appointment. We couldn’t picture her anywhere else but in our home. We were wondering how it would look to see her in another building, another environment, and if she’d cope with the stress of it.

We knew Misha for fourteen or so years. She appeared in the back garden not long after our dog George died. Misha would visit in the mornings with another kitten and they’d play together beneath the olive tree. If you went near the back door, they’d scarper. Eventually, she just stayed, and slowly, she began to trust us more. She’d been desexed, and when her owners moved house, they left her behind.

For years we tried to coax her inside, but she loved her garden courtyard. It was only after our recent foster cat, Chocolate, left, that she decided she would like to live out her remaining days in the laundry, by the back door. Warmer, cared for, but still with a sense of freedom.

We will miss her company, her head boops, her loud bellow for food, her youthful days spent scratching at the window for a third, fourth, fifth breakfast. We will miss her gentle nature with other animals. Her wild closeness. She was a special soul. We are relieved she is no longer in pain, and comforted by having been able to be there for her in the end. She knew what she wanted; she wasn’t, isn’t going anywhere else. Now she rests beneath a forest of the Chinese lucky jade she liked to sip her water from as she neared the end of her days. We left two candles burning in the garden, to light her way. Their warm flicker, in the dark.... Travel well, little Mishi. We miss you.

(The image of her sleeping in the garden on the old kitchen shelving earlier in the year is how we choose to remember her.)

Tuesday 19th May

We said goodbye to our dear sweet Olive at 9.30am.

We met her fourteen years ago, at the Cat Protection Society of Victoria in Greensborough. She was a timid little boobook owl hiding at the back of the cage on adoption day. Slightly older than the other kittens mewing and pawing at the door, with her big headlight eyes, we knew gentle Olive was the one for us. She was a beautiful, pearly soul, cautious to the end.

She was fond of chin ‘scritches’ and nuzzles, and kneading woolly rugs and jumpers with her pink-bean paw pads. She’d bubble away, when especially happy, and loved to deliver her toy IKEA mouse to you as a conquest. She loved to be near you, and always kept one of us within trilling distance.

It’s hard to believe that within a week, we’ve had to say goodbye to our two grand old dames; to Misha last Thursday afternoon, and Olive today, on Tuesday morning. They both arrived in our life at the same time, one hot February. And they both left at the same time. Perhaps it is not so hard to believe after all. Perhaps it is fitting. Though neither was demonstratively fond of the other, they were linked. Misha ruled and protected the back garden, and Olive the front of the house. In the window, on the working table, was her favourite spot. And late at night, with her head resting on the warm hum of the laptop.

Olive’s health had been declining for three years. Towards the end, unless sleeping, she was increasingly frantic for food, and yet would often walk away from it or not be able to keep down what she did eat. She was on thyroid medication for several years, and her kidneys were deteriorating. In the last couple of weeks, she became incontinent, and uncomfortable. She made sad howling noises and became distressed.

For her last night with us, we left the laptop on so she could rest her chin on the trackpad until morning. We dimmed the screen, but kept it whirring, as per her wishes. She looked so peaceful. Travel well, beautiful Ollie, free of pain. We miss you. We love you.

Olive and Misha are sheltered in their resting places.

Thank-you.

Thank-you for all your messages of support, love, and kindness about dear sweet Olive, and dear sweet Misha. They have been returned to the earth. Misha to the back garden that was her domain, and Olive to the front garden, curled near to the crepe myrtle. We buried her beside Omar, who she adored more than all others, and since he passed, she was never really the same. We buried her favourite IKEA mouse with her, and a watercolour of the sun to keep her warm. She looked as though she was sleeping, but in lifting her, you could feel she’d already gone. We let the other pets sniff her beforehand to help them understand what had happened, but they probably already knew this. Though we did the same things in the morning of the appointment, nothing was the same. Everyone seemed more aware, or perhaps, we humans could just see what was always there; we truly joined their wavelength for a spell.

Thank-you, dear friends and family.

XO

Amidst this, we created 24 wonky portraits for RSPCA Victoria’s Poorly Drawn Pet Portraits fundraiser. It was both a balm and a privelige. It was also very fun to sit and draw these quick sketches.

Head to their RSPCA’s post to see all of the many, many pets and their charmed, skewed, and sweet portraits drawn by a raft of volunteers.

Please meet Tasha, Chip and Altai, Dot, Foxy, and Mao.
Please meet Sniffs, Barney, Goose and Kelly, Sydney, Archie and friends.
Please meet Cheeky, Mars, Gizmo (with bandages), three-legged Sala, Maggie, and a trinket of a Trinket.
Please meet Natty, Audrey, Freya, Duggee, Dusty Springfield, and Lilah.

Thank-you for the opportunity to draw your pets, a couple of which were in memoriam. We hope you like them, and thanks for having us, RSPCA Victoria.

Image credit: Gracia Haby & Louise Jennison