On The Naming of Cats

Cats the musical is one of my favorites. I've seen it seven times. I saw it twice in the same run. The first time I saw Cats was in 1989. It was another 12 years before I became a cat owner. In 2001 when my daughter was one we adopted our first cat. And naming her was easy. We named her Jennyanydots, after one of the cats in the musical. We called her Dot for short, because she had a white dot in the middle of her back.

Getting Dot home was itself an adventure. She was wild. It took three or four people to catch her. When my husband handed her to me she started squirming and scratching. I dropped her. She took off and the chase was on, again.

On the ride home my daughter threw-up in the car.

Dot didn't want anything to do with us for weeks. She mostly hid under my bed. Then, finally, a break through.

I had to have oral surgery, to have my wisdom teeth removed. I was home recuperating, laying in the bed, doped up on pain killers, sandwiched between two heating pads, when all of a sudden Dot's little face peered in. She was checking on me. I thought how sweet of her to do that.

And that was the beginning of a long, and wonderful relationship.

Dot may have been my daughter's cat, but I was clearly her favorite human. She slept with me. Watched TV with me. Read books with me. Got ready for work with me. On a cold night I could whisper her name and she would come lay on my chest and keep me warm. In fact, on a hot night she would come lay on my chest and keep me warm.

The downside to the love between Dot and I is that a couple of nights ago as I was heading out the door for work she naturally followed. It was cold out and apparently after I left she took refuge in the engine of the neighbors car. Well, I don't have to tell you what happened next. Dot was badly injured and we had to put her down. The worst part was that I had to do it without giving my kids the chance to say goodbye. Dot acted so brave. She wasn't crying at all. In fact she was alert, even purring at times. We had a nice visit while I waited for my husband to get to the hospital. I asked him to come be with her during the procedure. We had to have our dog, Snowball, put down a few months back, and I just couldn't go through that again but didn't want Dot to be alone. So he graciously relieved me of my post. It was strange. Almost as soon as he got there Dot got very relaxed and laid down, as if to say, "I'm ready now." We had our final goodbye and I left her in the capable hands of my husband and the veterinarian.

God Bless You Dot.

Thank you for bringing us so many years of joy.