"Bebe" - April 2000 - August 2020

This is our oldest cat "Bebe," who is 20 years old.  She has a sister who was called "Sweet Pea."  Sweet Pea died about five years ago.  Yesterday we had to take Bebe to the vet to be euthanized.  She has been getting weaker and thinner, but she is a trooper and has been hanging in there for a long time now.  But she started bleeding yesterday afternoon on the floor and the rugs, and we realized that her time had come.  It is SO difficult to have to say goodbye to a pet we have loved for so long.  Bebe was such a warm and friendly cat and loved to curl up with us, or lie on us. 

 

 What is funny is that when we got our two newer cats, Grace and Sam, they immediately recognized her as the boss of the house!  They always deferred to her, especially at the food bowls!  So many times we would see Grace, the black and white cat, curled up next to Bebe, and she would be grooming her by licking her.  It was a wonderful thing to see.  It was always amazing to see that Sam, who is a big cat and walks round as if he owns the place, yield to her as they passed each other on the stairs.  

And here is BeBe in her favorite place!

When we brought Bebe's body home from the vets, she was wrapped in an old towel, and we carried her home in this special box, brightly decorated with cute cats.  We opened the top of the box in the living room and both Grace and Sam came over to the open box and sniffed around,  and Grace put her paws on the open box and looked in and sniffed.  Our sense was that both cats realized that Bebe had died.  After dinner we put the box by the back door, so that in the morning I could take her out and bury her.  Imagine our surprise when we looked into the back room some time later and saw Grace just sitting next to Bebe in the box.  We were really touched...