A story of cats in a family

Eighteen years ago or so, my wife has got a cat from her colleague person at the office she was working those days. This cat, named Aichan which stood for "Lovely", was one of the kittens an ownerless cat had given birth in the colleague's garden. She had been trained for toiletting etc there. She was told to have been most friendly to people. That was the reason she was named as it was.

 

Aichan was a smart cat. She won't be easily accoustomed with her new environment here as if she had been taught not to be by her mother. In the begininng, she won't come in our home. It was a week or so later when she came into the living room. An even more tiny kitten was following her. Of course, it was not her baby. Aichan was only a few months old at that time. That kitten was tiger patterned with grey brownish hue. It was so small as a sparrow. It was a male kitten and was named Suzume at first, which meant sparrow in Japanese. Later, being afraid people around us might be confused to hear us call him as Suzume, we have shortened the name as Suzu. He was a real astray cat descendent and has been educated by Aichan for some time. Aichan was a mother substitute for Suzu for a year or two. They have been good company throughout their lives. Suzu has been a real pet for our daughter.

 

Aichan in 2008. She always loved being in a narrow space like this box.

 

 

 

Aichan in 2007. A smart cat that was very good at grasping what was going on around her. She was loved by everyone very much.

 

Aichan and Suzu in 2010. They were son and mother, family members and good company throughout their lives.

One day in 2007 or so, we have made a regular evening walk around here. We have come across with a kitten on a street. Crying badly, she was limping. At first, she came closer to us. When embracing her with arm, she cried even worse. She seemed to have been injured, which later turned out to be a pelvic bone fracture, possibly due to a traffic accident. When I placed her on the ground, she was slowly leaving us somewhere. In a second, she turned back to us again as if she had made up her mind to be with us. It was the moment when we decided to add her to our family. She was named as Mitchan.

In 2007, Mitchan on a chair. She grew to be a fatty cat later. But her voice has been charming throughout the years she was with us.  Our son has loved her so much. She was like a dog in character. Whenever we did something in the garden, she was always around us in a radius of 1 meter. She would never go out of the property to the street. Seemingly, she could not forget having had the bad injury on a street.

They have lived with us over ten years. Really good family members. Parting with them has come for the past 4 years. At first, Aichan, suffering from some kind of respiratory tract problem, has gone somewhere at the moment she got quite ill. I first knew a cat would disappear from us when she/he knew it was the time of passing for her/him. She would not stay home by any means. We let her go out. It was the time of farewell with her. Mitchan was curious at anything narrow or closed. She disappeared from us abruptly one day. It was when a man of transport industry visited our home on a truck. We later suspected she might jump on it when we were not aware of that. It is our hope she is still spending happy life somewhere being loved by some family. This summer, Suzu has passed away. He was 18 years old and has gradually lost weight. He has vomitted if he took as much food as the other cats ate for years. Later, he got some kidney dysfunction as well. It seemed he learned it was the time to say good by to us.

Without them, our home is really empty. It could be kept clean. But something has been lost since they went away. They have been with us watching what went on in the family. Children have grown up and got out of the home. My parents have got old and ill. In an interval, both of them have passed away. Both I and my wife have been left. I would thank those lovely creatures having been with us for that period.

Since a new cat would live longer than ourselves, we decided not to keep anyone any longer. We still miss these three cats so much.

Three of them have made our lives more pleasant and even meaningful. Farewell to our beloved beings until we meet again!