Clancy, summer 2012
Sis came down from the North, and our plans were to have Christmas dinner with Mr. Wonderful's mom, sis and aunt. Sis brought Clancy home with her--Clancy is her 17 year old cat. Clancy was my mother's cat. Clancy was diagnosed in 2009 with signs of kidney failure, but because of a great vet and my sister's close care of him, he was doing fine. She would feed him chicken broth and cook entire chickens for him while the vet monitored him closely and managed his kidneys with various combinations of meds and vitamins.
Clancy looked pretty scraggly and boney as time went on, but he still ate, played, stole any and all food he could fine, traumatized my two cats with just a look and hiss, and best of all snuggled constantly with Sis.
His howling on Christmas morning woke me up from a dead sleep, and it was clear that he was in trouble. He wasn't able to use the litter box or curl himself up, and he looked so miserable. It changed so quickly!
It was pretty clear that it Clancy wasn't going to rebound from this--we've seen it before with other cats. We bundled him up and took him to the vet where I had taken McGinty a couple of years ago and had him put to sleep. It was so sad, and he managed to put up a little bit of a fight at the end. Part of what made it so sad is that Clancy was the last link to both of my parents. And as a lone cat living with Sis, his real personality came out. Apparently he never should have been put in a house with another cat--he only started to become himself after Darby was put to sleep. Clancy, who usually hissed and snarled at everything and everybody (except for my mom), became the biggest love muffin and snuggler extraordinaire with Sis. He would curl up on her and let her kiss his whiskers and play with his tail....amazing to watch considering how mean he had been in the past. He really was a unique cat.
Needless to say, the rest of Christmas wasn't exactly enjoyable. We were back home by 9am, minus Clancy, and I still had to get dinner ready for 6. I was pretty grumpy since this damn cat dredged up all kinds of negative emotions about so many things that I've managed to keep semi-stuffed for the past 7 years--loss of my parents, the infertility battle and inability to have kids, Sis' inability to have kids, the ongoing post-cancer battle to feel normal....Sigh. And now the cat has to be put down on Christmas morning?? He always was a diva....
The rest of day was fine and dinner turned out pretty well. I got some nice gifts from everyone. This was probably the most interesting one from Sis-in-Law:
The Zinger Head Massager!
It looks like a torture instrument, but oh my it feels soooooo good. Kind of like when you're at the hairdresser's getting your head washed and massaged. I don't know where she found it, but it's amazing.
Now I'm just vegetating my way through break--it's 12:19pm and I'm still in my pjs. Same as yesterday.
Sis gave me a great book that I finished last night--The Famine Plot by Tim Pat Coogan. Wow.
Coogan examines England's role in the Famine and makes a case for genocide according to the UN definition and by looking at documents that would support the idea that England knew exactly what was happening as she stopped relief efforts and said Providence was punishing the feckless Irish with the blight. He highlights the role and influence of Charles Trevelyan, Prime Ministers Peel and Russell, a few key lords and landlords and the role of the Quakers. The descriptions of the Irish are horrendous, and made me want to cry as he described West Cork and the West in general. Guess where my ancestors are from? The Famine continues to fascinate me, since I wouldn't be on this side of the Atlantic if it hadn't happened.
And now to plot the rest of my week....dinner tonight with a friend, Christmas party tomorrow night, snow, brunch on Sunday for Mr. W's office crew, and then? I'm getting caught up on hours of sleep since I haven't gotten my ass out of bed before 9am. Ahhhhhhhh.
No comments:
Post a Comment