Pearly Naff

We inherited Pearly from my mother when she passed away in 1992. Pearly was about two years old then...Mother had taken her in as a kitten, a stray. We figure Pearly's mom was a Siamese and her father was a "travelin' man"...or some combination thereof. She was named for the color of her coat.

When she was less than a year old, she was injured when some roofing shingles were dropped on her by workers repairing Mother's roof. Her hip was broken and she couldn't move. The vet suggested putting her down, but Mother refused and, instead, took Pearly into her own bed and slowly nursed her back to health. I say this to indicate that Pearly was never a "normal" cat...she didn't have a "normal" kittenhood...didn't know too much about how to play or be very "cuddly"...never was what you could call "sociable". Pearly would bite you if you displeased her!

When my wife and I stopped by the vets office to pick up Pearly's records on our way home with her (howling loudly in her carrier), the first thing we noticed in her folder was the the vet's description of our new charge as "Fractious"...and, yes, it was capitalized and underlined several times!

Over the next 15 years or so, Pearly condesended to accept us as her new caretakers, allowed us to join her in our bed each night and made our home hers. She never changed very much...that was left for us to accomplish. And changed we were, in our hearts, in our habits, in ways both subtle and profound. This imperious, queenly, funny, needy, fractious, and, underlying it all, frightened creature blessed our lives and our home in more ways than I could possibly enumerate were I to write a thousand blogs!

We lost our "Pearl beyond price" in June of 2007 to CRF (chronic renal failure). She was 17. The disease was too far along by the time we realized there was a problem and the treatment options were too few and much too draconian to subject her to. With the help of our wonderful veternarian, we made her as comfortable as possible and she passed away in her own home, in her favorite spot, in her favorite chair. Linda and I were touching her when she breathed her last. Her remains rest in the shade of large old elm tree in our back yard.

I write this blog, not to eulogize our beloved Pearly, but to share what my wife and I learned about dealing with the grief that follows such a loss. Oh...it hurts! Make no mistake about that...it's gonna hurt...bad! We cried...and cried some more. We were depressed. We missed her (we still miss her). Days went by...weeks...months. We adopted a rescue cat, a four-year-old Calico (Bella). We took in a neighborhood stray (Clyde). We are glad to have these additions to our home...but, still...we grieved! Then...just under a year after Pearly...our 20-year-old male, Booger, died. Booger had been with us for nearly 15 years and we loved him dearly. We knew we were in for a really rough time.

Here's the lesson we learned: Adopt a kitten! A kitten! As young as possible...as soon as it's weaned. That's what we did (Lucy) and, I've got to tell you, it worked wonders for us. Oh, for sure, we still grieve for Pearly and Booger, feel their loss and miss them terribly....but, and here's the pay-off, the kitten kept us so entertained with it's antics and engrossed in it's care, that the pain of our grief was eased! What a wonderful creature God created to bless our lives with when He gave us Cats!

So...what do you do if faced with a similar situation? Take my advice...you're a Cat Person...get a Cat!


Tom Naff
www.naffs-kingdom-cat-shop.com

Hello Cat People

When my wife and I were considering an E-Commerce venture to help fund our retirement, we were advised to pick out something we had a real passion for. Since we couldn't figure out a way to market our passion for each other... (aren't there laws about that?)... or for our children and grandchildren... (I think they're covered, too)...we decided to focus on our passion for our cats!

We'll be discussing these crazy, wonderful, frustrating, aloof, mysterious, funny and completely precious beings...these "Angels in Kitty-Cat Clothes" who bless our lives in so many ways in future posts.

We'll tell you all about our cats and hope you'll tell us about yours. Got pictures? We love pictures...post 'em by the dozens!

We've been "Cat-people" for lots of years...so, if you've got a question...it's entirely possible that we've "been there-done that". Just let us know and we'll do our best to give you the right answers.

Gotta run...Lucy's scratching at the back door..wanting in....time for her afternoon nap!

See ya later.

Tom Naff
www.Naffs-Kingdom-Cat-Shop.com