Bella died today....

Bella was an alpha female. She was very sweet but wanted to be my only kitty. When I first got her I had 2 other cats besides her brother. After living here a year, she chased away my little female because that cat was my kitty. Little Cat was chased next door to live with my friend, Mary. It will be interesting now that Bella is gone to see if Little Cat comes to visit more often.

Bella was a hunter from a very early age. At one point, we were getting so many gifts that Frank made me go get a collar with a bell so that it would give her prey warning. It did cut down on her "gifts." Bella was only interested in the hunt, she was very patient and could be seen sitting out for hours stalking her prey. She enjoyed bringing them in, but lost interest after they were dead. That's where Jazz came in--he likes to eat things...enough of that.

Being an alpha she felt it her duty to patrol the yard and ensure that the raccoons did not come into the house. She guarded the cat door and the food. I would come down at night and put the cat food in the garage so she could be relieved from her duty as sentinel. I will always remember her for this.

Bella was a kitty who liked to sit close to me. She was the type that when you hugged her to you she held on and didn't want to be let go. She used to sleep with me too. When she was young, she would come to wherever I was at 10:00 like clockwork and meow to tell me it was time to go to bed. If I did not come she would go without me and I would find her there waiting later. Lately, she would wait till I got settled and then she'd come in and find a place near my hands so that she could cozy up to them and so we could sleep touching.

Her fur was very soft and she barely weighed anything she was so small. This summer she was injured probably from being stepped on. Her spinal column was off a bit at the last vertebrae. It effected her walking but she did not give up. She still got out there and from what I was told and saw did not live in pain.

This month, I had taken her to the vet to see if anything could be done for her. He gave her a high dose anti-inflamatory injection. It worked well as she began walking almost correctly on her back paws. This past friday, I got a perscription for pills that were a lower dosage to be taken for the next couple weeks. I was following the directions to a letter and watching her closely. Sunday, I came home to find that she had thrown up her breakfast and there were additional spots that looked like bile. This happened all day. I got her to drink water but she continued to throw up. She sat with me in the evening for a while and then went into the bedroom and layed on the floor. I picked her up when I went to bed but she immediately jumped off. In the morning, she was very week and breathing a bit hard. She also was moist on her head. I sat with her while she drank water and then she just laid her little head on the rim of the little bowl. It just broke my heart. She got up and moved away from the bowl while I was out of the room.

Before going to work, I asked my friend, Mary, to check in on her. I called and talked to the vet once at work, but he wasn't in yet. I explained all the symptoms and they said it sounded like a reaction to the drug and that she should get better. The vet never called. I called again at 10:30 and they had not talked to him yet. Mary called me sometime around 12:30 and told me that she was gone.

This is the second cat that I have lost on March 1st. The first one got killed in the road. I buried her at the spot that she used to like to sit and watch birds.

I will miss your sweet loving personality and friendship.

I will miss the feeling I felt when I heard your little bell ringing as you came in search of me.

I will miss how you cozied up to my hand and arm to sleep at night.

I loved you, Bella.