Friends

This is DTE's cat, Kitty, and Miss Sadie Rose. Sadie is kind of DTE's dog, kind of my dog, but in a lot of ways really seemed to be Kitty's dog. When Kitty first came to our house, almost eight years ago, Sadie was afraid of cats. That was because DTY's cat had always let her know that she, Jodi Cat, was in charge. In charge of the stairs, of the hall, of the food dish, pretty much everything. ("Stop. Who would cross the Cat of Death must [get an escort], ere the other side he see," MPSHG.)Yep, in charge to the point of getting up from her sleep to go park on the stairs when it was time for Sadie to go up or down them for bed or food. Sadie would have to whine for an escort to rescue her from Jodi, so another cat in her life was not really what she needed. Not only was another cat what she got, but it was a cat that she had to (gasp!) share with HER girl! Do you realize how close you have to get to a cat to get a belly rub while the cat gets an ear scratch? (The answer would be, "Scary close.") Kitty had no problems with dogs, anybody could be her friend because everybody could give her attention, even dogs four times bigger that her. Over time the two of them got to be pretty much best friends and would take turns washing each others ears, sleeping together, etc. When Sadie and Kitty would be on the porch, Sadie would always tell me when Kitty got off and then get really stressed when she got out of her sight. (Sadie is a much better baby sitter than one might have expected from a Basset, she also used to tell us when Mr. Simon would leave the yard. Him, he's just useless.)
Two weeks ago Kitty was diagnosed with advanced cancer and she died this morning. Sadie snuffled her body in the box gently and looked confused, then she followed me to the deck when I carried the box there. At that point she parked herself next to the box and wouldn't leave it until we carried it out to the yard for the burial. I am grateful for the life Kitty and DTE had together for all these years and that they had time together after she got home from Greece. DTE will miss Kitty most of all, the rest of the family will miss her too. And Miss Sadie? Who really knows for sure, but I think Sadie will miss her too.