Good-Bye Sweet Kitty (Baby)

Baby was the last piece of my gramps and writing this post and reminiscing how we adopted her, has brought back so many emotions.

Baby’s original name was Sophie (when we rescued her) but once the dementia took over my grandfather’s brain, he could never remember her name so he “renamed” her Baby 🤷‍♀️.

I’ll never forget my grandmother for weeks correcting him saying, “Fred! Her name is Sophie!” 😂

I remember the day like it was yesterday, almost 10 years ago, taking my grandfather to Pet Smart to look at the cats that needed homes.

He had recently lost his other cat (Friday below) to old age and swore he would never get another cat.

Well, on our way home from his weekly doctor’s apt., I suggested we stop and just “look” at the cats.

The “stop” went well and he smiled and seemed enthusiastic but still said, “I’m never getting another cat.”

The next day, he said, “Jessie, I think I want another cat!” 😂

I knew he would change his mind!

I reached out to the local animal shelter and they pointed us in the direction of cats that needed homes, that were currently being fostered at a local house nearby.

We visited the home and out of the 20+ cats, my grandfather wanted the oldest, fattest and meanest cat they had. haha.

You see, Baby (aka Sophie), was approximately 10 -11 years old and had been living in a large crate for 3 years as nobody wanted an older cat who wasn’t very friendly.

For whatever reason, baby came out and sat on my grandfather’s lap and purred. The foster mom said, she was not a very friendly cat but that was mostly because she didn’t have a lot of human interaction we think.

Long story short, my grandfather said, “I want that one (baby)” and off we went.

She was the fattest cat on the planet and it took almost a year for her to warm up to people without trying to bite them.

She LOVED my grandfather though and slept with him every single night for the 5 years they had together.

Towards the end of my grandfather’s life, the Dementia and Alzheimer’s took over his life and before he became completely out of it in the disease, his one wish was to make sure Baby always stayed in our family.

We kept that promise for the following 6 years until she died naturally in our home last week.

Oddly enough, she died on the day I met Jim 5 years ago, June 28th! Strange right?

Over the years, she finally made friends with Bentley (Jim’s dog) and needless to say, it wasn’t until recently, she finally accepting him! 😂

She had been going down hill for the last 3 months but was still eating, never had any accidents and strolled around the house with ease until the last week or so before she passed away.

She started sleeping more and one night last week, she went under the kitchen table, took a couple deep breaths and peacefully passed.

Both my mom and dad were with her and while I am really sad I wasn’t with her, I am thankful we rescued her way back when and she ultimately lived like a queen for the last 10 years of her life.

This was the last picture below, that I took of my grandfather in December of 2017 with baby while he was home visiting one afternoon from the nursing home.

At this stage of his life, we would bring him home weekly to see his cat and spend time with us.

My gramp died in March 2019.

I know she is with my grandfather purring up a storm and I’m sure he is super excited to have her back. Knowing my grandfather, he probably said, “what took you so long Baby!” ❤️