Sparkles

I bet when you read the title you thought I was going to write about the stuff you put on your face and hair.

Wrong.

When I was five years old our neighbor's cat had some kittens. I got to go over and see the brand new kittens as they made the cutest little squeeks, just all huddled in a little clump. It was so cute, I wanted one instantly! I ran back over to my house, begged my parents for one and a few weeks later when they were ready to be away from their mom, I picked out my very first pet.

And so five-year old Marlisa named her first kitty...Sparkles.

I remember when I named her that and I honestly can't tell you why but I do know I was thinking more along the lines of sparklers instead of the makeup kind of sparkles. Maybe I was super excited for 4th of July, who knows.

Whatever the case may be, I LOVED my kitty. We dressed her up, when we could catch her and only until she took it off with her paws. We pushed her around in the baby stroller until she jumped out and we would chase down our baby and put her back. Once we got smart and buckled her up...she didn't play ever again.

I slept with her almost every night with her mostly sitting at the bottom of my bed keeping my feet warm. When she did sleep with you, you had to be sure to not move your feet or she would pounce. Also dragging a piece a string all over the house and moving something under the door were her favorite games. We only got her to fall for the laser trick once, she's way too smart. It was funny while it lasted though.

She did the weirdest things..slept in the sink, only drank water from the sink (hated the water in her bowl), she even went through a phase where she would climb up inside the vent in the ceiling in our unfinished basement. Weird.

We got back from a weekend away and noticed that she was skinnier than ever and was super out of it. She had always been a skinny cat but you could literally feel every bone in her body. She wasn't eating. She refused to eat anything and everything we put in front of her. After 17 years of keeping every type of meat off the counter and shooing her away from our dinners, she wouldn't eat those very things as we willingly gave it to her. It ripped my heart out. She couldn't take more than 5 steps without having to lay down, her meow was painful, I cried every single day.

After a couple days knowing she was probably going to die, we took her into the vet just to be sure. I was doing pretty good, I kept my emotions in check for quite a while. Until the vet told us she had kidney failure and handed me a piece of paper that told me how much the first day of treatment would cost..$500..that's just the first day, she said. 

I lost it.

We took her home and I had to swallow the fact that anyday she was going to be gone. My best friend for 17 years, the one who snuggled with me when I was sent to my room, the one who was always there when I got home, my cat. 

 For the next couple days I did everything I could to take care of her. Tried to choke back sobs and cuddled a lot. I lost so much sleep and got close to no homework done..so worth it.

On friday I could just tell that she was going to leave us that day. She didn't move, just layed down and let me give her a bath (she hates baths). We put her in a blanket and set her in a comfy spot. I stayed as long as I could until I had to get to work. When I left I thought she was going to be gone when I got home. To my suprise she was barely there when I got home. I know she waited for me.

About 15 minutes later Sparkles died in my arms. It was the hardest thing to go through. I can't even describe how hard it was.

I'm grateful that

1) she didn't go away to die like most animals do, that would've killed me.

2) I knew it was coming and got to spend time with her

3) that I got to have her for 17 years

4) that my family was around when it happened, we all go to be there to bury her

5) that I had an understanding family, friends, and boyfriend who were so great to me. 

I know it may seem a little funny or weird that I had such a hard time with a cat dying, most of you probably aren't cat people, but she was mine. 

3 days later I'm still emotional about it. I hate coming home to find no meow coming from the couch or chair, seeing an open tuna can sitting on the counter....untouched, but I love that I got to have her. I love that God gave us animals because they truly are the most amazing things in our lives. They teach us loyalty, unconditional love, and are the ultimate best friend.

Mine was Sparkles.