Chloe Elizabeth Victoria: 1994 - 2010

Age 14

God gave me a wonderful blessing in feline form.  My Chloe was a sweetheart.  When I posted a brief note of her death, one of my Facebook friends commented that "losing animals is so very hard when we love them so much."  This is true.  It's also very hard when they love us so very much!

Chloe chose me as her person the first moment we were face to face.  Because I already had three cats and Chloe was 3 year old, I kept her in my bedroom for the first couple of days.  We bonded so tightly!  When she finally met the other cats, she was fearless.  This little bitty cat, who weighed about six pounds, would trot by the other, bigger cats without a worry.

Chloe almost always slept with me.  At night, she would curl up next to my pillow, or, later, she would curl up on top of me.  I'm a side sleeper, so that meant she slept on my side!  Over the years, as I put on weight, that just made it more comfortable for her.  Even for her naps, she would seek me out.  I was studying for my certification as an Employee Benefits Specialist during those first years with her and I would often be deep into my heavy tomes of knowledge with Chloe curled up on my lap.  She rarely sprawled when she slept.  She almost always curled into a little ball.

She was very agile, even for a cat.  Somewhere, I have  picture of her jumping up to catch a feather toy.  She must be four feet off the ground.  It was like she had springs in her hind legs.  She was always amazing to watch at play.  When I find that picture, I will add it to this post.

Age 12

When I moved back to my parents' house, Chloe was the only one of my cats who would go downstairs.  As I said, she was fearless.  I would even take her outside with me when I worked in the yard.  She loved being outside!

Then, nearly five years ago, we got Tabitha.  For about a year, things were fine.  A little tension now and then as Tabitha grew and it became obvious she would be alpha cat.  Then one day, there was the worst caterwauling and screaming and hissing and growling!  I don't know what set it off, but it was Khai who was beating on Chloe, with Tabitha backing him up.  Chloe retreated upstairs and rarely went downstairs after that.  Chloe had gotten older and, with age, had grown a little fearful.

Since I had to be downstairs to take care of my mother, Chloe would take her lengthiest nap in the morning. If I was downstairs longer than 1:00 p.m. or so, she would make her way to the middle of the stairway and sit off to the side, waiting for me.  If I went downstairs in the evenings, she would be waiting on the staircase.

Chloe and Bebe waiting on the stairs for me.  I would call them Frick and Frack--the littlest and the biggest.

Chloe had the most beautiful green eyes.  The pictures here don't do her justice.  Even in the vet's waiting room, a lady told me "Your cat has such beautiful green eyes!"  Choking back my tears, I agreed.  And those eyes held such love for me and such trust!  Right up to the end, all she wanted was to be in my arms.

I won't go into the details of her demise.  I wish I had realized how much weight she had lost.  I wish I had taken her to the vet sooner.  Mostly, I wish I didn't feel like I let her down.  But, it doesn't matter now.  At least I know she's not hurting anymore.  One of my bf's told me that she believes we'll have our pets with us in heaven.  I fervently believe this is true.  Otherwise, it wouldn't be heaven for me!

This is the last picture taken of Chloe.  It was two days before she died.  You can tell by my eyes that I knew I wouldn't have her much longer.