Sunday, April 23, 2017

And then there were none


We had to have our one remaining cat – Jazz – put to sleep last weekend.

Our house has been home for 30 years now. This is the first time in all those years we have not shared it with at least one cat.

Not too long ago we had four cats roaming around the place. Two that were ours and two more that had moved in and become ours. Jazz was one of them. As far as I remember the children called her Jazz. She had been known in the area for some time although nobody seemed to know to whom she belonged, and all the children in the area called her Jazz. Of course it could have been Jas, short for Jasmine. But for us, once she became a fixture, it was always Jazz.

Jazz was a lady, a little aloof, never hurried. She never really made a sound. That was until she became the only cat in our house, and in the last couple of years she had become increasingly vocal. An easy purrer, she had also perfected a howl that sounded like a baby crying. She had become almost deaf in her final years we think and would howl if she thought she was on her own and wanted some attention.

During the last few months she had developed a tumour in her left ear which wasn’t very pleasant for her and we decided over the weekend that it was just no fun for her anymore.

When she moved in on us all those years ago we took her to the vet to see if she was chipped (she wasn’t). At the time the vet estimated her to be between 5 and 6 years old; based on that she had reached the ripe old age of 21, so she had a good life.

As we were driving to the vet last weekend Lonnie Liston Smith’s Expansions was playing on the radio. Not something you usually here on the radio and I can’t remember the last time I had heard it across the airwaves. So it seems appropriate to play it here. We like to think Jazz will be expanding her mind in cat heaven now.




RIP Jazz.

6 comments:

jazz cherry said...

I'm so sorry - losing a cat is devastating and you've been through it so many times in succession. I also have a 12 year old grey cat called Jazz, but we lost her brother 4 years ago. We adopted a new kitten and it helped us move on, although we still miss him every day.

I hope you go on to share your home with many more lucky cats - you sound like amazing cat parents.

drew said...

So sorry Darcy. Know how you feel when we had Baxter put to sleep a couple of years ago now it had been the first time that I had been without a cat since I was five. Strangely we were out for lunch today for my birthday and the boys were on about cats again and both L and I agreed that after the summer holiday we would get two kittens

C said...

So sorry - sounds like Jazz was a lovely cat and an integral part of the family. Also sounds like she did right to find a home with you!
As in the comments above, I can empathise - no longer have a cat but my last one was with me for 19 years from childhood to adulthood (mine, as well as hers!) so was a sad loss when we had to make that same decision.
RIP Jazz.

Swiss Adam said...

Sorry about Jazz. I was gutted when Husker died, a grand 17 years old. We'd had him since before the kids. They do get under your skin.

Darcy said...

Thanks for the comments everybody, and sorry for your losses. We are undoubtedly a nation of cat lovers.

It does seem so quiet around the house, and that is in part because we have realised how much we talked to Jazz when she was around (and our others when they were alive).

I somehow think we will one day have another cat or two, but probably not for a few years.

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