Goodbye, Cleo

We had to say goodbye to our sweet cat, Cleo, today. She had been drooling for a little while and her tongue seemed perpetually stuck in her mouth (although she could move it). It turns out that she had a sizeable tumor in her mouth that was unremovable. She was in little pain and was still somewhat playful at home, although very much slowed down. I keep thinking of the last 13 years with her and wanted to keep a list to scrapbook some time when the tears stop.

• I got Cleo from the SPCA as a tiny kitten, right before Johnny and I got married. I brought her to my parent's house the weekend before the wedding. She loved my wedding train and would jump on it, much to our horror. Now it's one of my favorite memories of her.
  
  
• She is a runt. I always loved her petite size and her fluffy tail.
  
  
• She is all black, but never gave anyone bad luck.
  
  
• She loved water and would balance precariously on the toilet, trying to reach the low-pressure water level.
  
  
• She also would jump into the shower after I was done to lick the floor and walls.
  
  
• She was my laundry buddy. She would lay across the clothes and then attach each one as I lifted it up.
  
  
• She loved strings and up until the day before she died, would play with any dangled before her. Yesterday I was wearing a brown sweater vest with a tied string belt and she loved to play with that string.
  
  
• She never yowled or complained. I haven't heard her cry in a long time, until today when I put her in the car to go to the vet.
  
  
• She never got over her hatred for our other cat, Caesar. She daily...for 13 years...hissed and clawed at him if he got too near. She really didn't like many other people at all, come to think of it.
  
  
• Cleo loved me unconditionally. The past two years have been so wonderful with her. I haven't been pregnant (when I avoid the cats due to fear of toxoplasmosis) and I have been able to snuggle with her each night. She has curled by my feet or head every night for the past two years. Much of that time she has been purring...loudly.