Saturday, October 22, 2022

Jezebel (2013-2022)

I have never had a pet who loved me as much as Jezebel loved me. We saw her at the Humane Society when we were there looking for Mr. Grumpy, who had disappeared a week earlier. She was about a year old and had a deformed bottom jaw. She was an unlikely candidate for adoption because of her jaw, but she was obviously sweet and affectionate. 

We brought her home the day before Mr. Grumpy showed up from his week-long hiatus. Along with Prancer, we then had three cats. They got along well with Prancer recognized as the elder and Jezebel acting as a benevolent guardian, a role fitted to her because of how large she was. Grumpy never challenged either of them, accepting his role as the clumsy little brother.

When my lady friend and I split up, I convinced her to let Jez stay with me until she could get settled some place that would let her have a cat. She never came back to get her. I was fine with that. She had been our cat for about four years by then. She was not the pawn that my ex wanted her to be. She was a member of my family, and I loved her.

I've had pets that I called "puppy cats" before. They follow you around just to hang out. Jezebel went way beyond that. She would greet people when they arrived, and she would touch her nose to my nose as if giving me a kitty kiss when I got home. She would climb onto my lap or keyboard when she was ready to get some affection. She didn't really care how I felt about it, but I was usually fine with it. At some point she passed being my best friend who was a cat and became my best friend ever who was an animal! 

I was hers. She would protect me from the dogs if she thought they were getting too close to me. She did not like it when Samdog took rides with me in my MG Midget. 

She shared me with Charlie for the time we stayed there. He was the only cat that I saw her be submissive to, but he was definitely an alpha!

She loved the place we called home. There are acres of tall grass for her to hunt in. There are a lot of mice and such, which also attracts predators like hawks and owls plus the coyotes. 

I do not know her fate. I remember looking out the window on August 4th and seeing her lying on the warm rock pathway you see behind her in the first picture. She seemed fine. However, it was the last time I ever saw her.

She had a beautiful coat that she always kept clean. Nothing leading up to August 4th led me to believe that her health had taken a turn for the worse. I don't know whether it is more comforting to think that she wandered off to die or was killed by an animal. We have never found her to know what happened. 

She will always be my best friend who was an animal! She earned that title by never giving me a reason to doubt her love for me, and which I believe did not die with her!

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