The End of an Era (and beginning of another)

Today we ended an era at our house. For the first time in at least 24 years, we do not have a pet. It has been so long that we are essentially beginning another era, the petless era. We plan to stay petless for at least a few years so that we can travel without the inconvenience of a pet sitter. I don't foresee another pet until sometime in the distant future unless someone special like Dugan suddenly needs a home. On the other hand, I have learned "never say never" because life is full of surprises.

'Ui'ana'iki (Her Hawaiian name means "a little squeak" because she never had much of a voice) was a different sort of cat than our other 3 cats. She was the poster kitten for "scaredy cat" and for most of her life she lived in fear of something that we never did understand. Within a few months of the passing of cat number 3, 'Ui began to come out of her shell, revealing a sweet, affectionate, sometimes whacky personality and we came to realize that 'Ui was meant to be an only cat.

In the past year she had really warmed up- keeping us company every evening and spending her nights curled up on the foot of the bed (see "Open letter to a cat" posted Nov.2007), joining me in the recliner whenever I sat still long enough for her to notice, going with me to the door when the doorbell rang and even tolerating the "soft" touches and attention of Jeremiah Jr. every Monday and Tuesday. She played daily games of chase-and-race through the bedroom and hallway and was frequently engaged in earnest battles with the rug at the back door. Lately she had taken to quietly creeping farther up the bed to sleep between us each night once she thought we were asleep.

We knew she was meant to be a Seaver cat when Dad finally got his long-awaited MacBook Pro. She was immediately drawn to it, rubbing her face against the edges of the open laptop with such ardor and intensity that soon a trickle of kitty drool ran down the brand new screen. For the rest of her life, she was an ardent fan of Apple laptops, bestowing her affection each night as we checked our email and read the family blogs.

'Ui'ana'iki was never a tenacious mouser, territorial protector of the yard or even a melodic meower and didn't like to be picked up or handled, but she also didn't need insulin injections, annual shaving, special food or accommodations for the visually impaired.

Shy, quiet and a little reclusive to the end, she was nevertheless interesting and pleasant company and she will be missed.