Nov. 1998 ——- July 18 1999
Kitten
Last year during spring I noticed a kitten in our backyard and
the garden of our neighbours. We think she was 6 months olds.
She wasn’t driven away by our other cats :
1 male “Gust” (6 years old) 1 female “Xia” (2 years old) and
an orphan male found a 4 weeks “Sloeber” (1,5 years old).
So we decided to lure her into our home by giving food next to
our house and started looking if some one missed her.
She was not given up as being missed and when my husband
found her a few weeks later sleeping in our garden he came
back with her curled up in his arms.
We took her inside and fed her something really delicious.
My husband already had seen that she had no fleas but she
really looked very thin. We guess she hadn’t eaten in a long time.
We took her to the vet. He told us that her liver had to start
working again. Her fur wasn’t beautiful and shiny.
She had scratching wounds around her ears.
We thought it was ear mites but the vets said that she’s
allergic to fish. We scraped fish out of the menu and after a few
weeks her fur was really shiny and healthy again.
We named her Kira because she was such a strong survivor.
Kira was so happy that she finally found a good home with us.
She did not like to be alone. When she had the idea that she was
alone in the house she started meowing until she found one of us.
Kira really appreciated human company.
When the refrigerator opened or when we were cooking she
stood there hoping to get something special.
She only tried to steal meat once.
It was too spicy and cold and she never did it again.
She was a quick learner of manners well raised in only a few
weeks time. She liked to stay indoors the first weeks and
became close friends with Sloeber.
During her first weeks with us she loved waking up the kids
(our 5 year old son and 4 year old daughter) early in the morning.
They loved playing with her.
We wanted to keep her healthy for a long time.
She was ours to stay so we had her spayed and protected
against all cat diseases on 1 June 1999.
She had a routine of going to our daughter’s bed around 9 and
10 o’clock in the evening. She stayed there until she woke up in
the morning and tried to wake us by purring while she curled
up on my pillow. Then on Sunday 18 July 1999 between 23
and 02 hours our neighbour came to tell us that a cat was driven
over by a car. Our neighbours heard a car trying to stop and
just saw a sportscar drive away really fast when they
came to their window. Our neighbour asked if it could be one of our cats.
So we both went to see if it was one of ours. I prayed that it wouldn’t be
Kira the most kind and sweetest of all but it was her that we found in
the middle of the street in front of our house.
Our daughter said when she saw me crying that she misses Kira to.
I blame myself for not closing the back door much sooner in the
evening of a warm summer day. I wonder why she went out at that
exact time and place to be killed by presumably a cat-hater.
She looked so much like our first cat Lisa even in character
she looked like Lisa except that she was a bit cranky sometimes.
We had to put Lisa, a very social cat that liked sleeping on your lap
to sleep because she was to ill at the age of 4 years.
I considered Kira a gift from heaven, perhaps a reincarnation of Lisa.
Now I feel like I did not only lose Kira, but also Lisa for a second time.
The first months I missed Kira constantly hoped to see her and
remembered her on our daughters bed under the dishwasher
in the sun under a chair, in front of our backdoor sleeping on
the mat and waiting for us to come home chasing a butterfly.
Our house is filled with memories of Kira.
She was our cat and brought happiness into our lives.
Sloeber missed you to; he had not seen you dead and looked
for you everywhere for two days.
The first weeks after the accident he liked to avoid us as
much as possible. Sloeber blamed us thought that we took you
away and not brought you back. Gust was very fast to consolidate
me with my loss and Xia saw you just after the accident.
Xia was worried and came meowing really loud and
complaining something she normally doesn’t do.
Your loss has effected us all deeply.
O Kira it turned out you weren’t ours to stay.
We still miss you even if you were only a few months with us.
This is your in memoriam.
Our way to keep your memory alive and we hope that you
can run forever free in cat heaven over the Rainbow Bridge
remembering us with the same love as we
remember you with.
Your loving family
| Kira |