An Unexpected Loss
Mourning my cat.
This morning, my 7-year-old cat Midna unexpectedly died.
Every morning, she would appear at my side, as soon as I woke up, demanding a treat. Today was no different. I was in the bathroom, putting in a single contact lens and covering my wonky eye with an eye patch. She followed me into the bathroom.
Suddenly, she fell to her side. She howled, and her body jerked a few times. I could tell that she couldn't get up. I knelt down beside her and she looked at me, but she clearly couldn't move. Within a few seconds, I could tell that she was dead.
I rushed to find Ger. He was in our sunroom. I told him what had happened. Theo was the only kid awake and overheard me. Ger and I went back upstairs, just to confirm, and saw her still body lying on the bathroom floor. I think it must have been a heart attack or something similar.
I told Theo what had happened. They went to their room, and I found them a little later sobbing. Theo told me that of our three cats, Midna was their favorite. I let the other two kids wake up of their own accord and told them.
Our regular vet was closed for the weekend, so I called a different veterinary practice when it opened at 8:00 am. They told me that we could bring her body at 9:00. I wrapped her in a towel and put her body in a box. She looked like she was sleeping.
We had a bit of time before Ger had to leave for the vet, so he went to pick up doughnuts for us to eat in her memory.
The kids all wanted to say goodbye, so we gingerly lifted the towel. I couldn't look at her again though.
After Ger dropped her body off at the vet, he took me to Costco to buy a new bathmat. The bathroom feels very weird to me after witnessing what happened. Plus, her body was halfway on our existing bathmat. I threw it in the laundry immediately, but I don't think I'll be able to look at it again. We also picked up some flowers, at Theo's request.
We adopted Midna during Labor Day weekend of 2019. We had gone to visit the tree in Wisconsin where Nelle's ashes were scattered. I also saw my Grandma that weekend - the last time I saw her alive. Just six months later, COVID hit and her nursing home went into lockdown. I didn't see her again before she passed away in December 2020.
That was four years after we lost Nelle, and her birthday (September 4) was always so hard. We had one cat at home (Libby) who was 12. I started to worry about what would happen when Libby died and I had NO cat at home. So after the emotion of the weekend, I decided to go to the shelter and bring home a cat.
Midna was a year old. She'd been surrendered because her owner had died. I spent time with her, and an 8-month-old cat. The other cat was super energetic, but Midna crawled into my lap and sat. So I knew she was the one to bring home.
Midna had an intense amount of attitude (also known as "tortietude" since she had tortoiseshell markings). She was a very vocal cat and let you know if she was mad. She also had some unusual markings on her face that made it look like she was always angry or glaring. I said she had permanent resting bitch face.
She hated it when we adopted Luna – another tortie. But then we adopted Phoebe and Luna, and Midna bonded together in their shared hatred of the small, cute, long-haired black and white newcomer.
I'm in absolute shock that Midna died this morning. I haven't even had a proper cry, because my left eye is still wonky after surgery and doesn't produce tears normally.
I'm glad that her death was quick. Libby died slowly and was probably in pain for weeks before we put her down. But still. Midna was only 7 years old, so I certainly thought we had a lot more time together.
Tomorrow morning, when she's not there demanding her treat first thing in the morning, is going to be tough.
Anna Burgess Yang