Bye Bye Hoppy

We said goodbye to our dear cat, Hoppy today. She was 18 years old, and the last of her family that was brought into our lives by their mother many years ago.

She was an adorable cat. She would accept rubs and loving ear scratches for as long as you’d do them. She only ever tried to bite me once and that was a couple of weeks ago when she suffered a seizure outside my home office. I have learned since that you should keep your hands away from a cat when that happens as they’re scared of what’s happening.

The last of her family: Mommy Cat, Patches Senior, Patches, Sooty and Hoppy. I can’t believe we cared for 5 cats at one time. Apart from the mother, they all had the same gentle nature.

I don’t think anyone besides my immediate family have ever rubbed Hoppy. She was wary of strangers and ran a mile when anyone called to the house. That’s the thing with cats. Unless you’re calling to someone’s home you may not even know they have cats!

When Hoppy’s family first joined us we already had a dog, Oscar. They got on ok. She *loved* to rub up against him and sometimes slept on the same bed as him.

She’s been through many changes in our home, due to renovations and upgrades. When work men were about, she’d disappear into the ditch behind the house.

There was further upheavel in her life when Diego appeared. I remember Mommy Cat and Hoppy hissed and arched their backs at this tiny puppy I had on a lead. Diego is excitable, but for the most part they got on ok. He accepted her and Mommy cat as part of the household. Just yesterday evening I went out in the back garden with Diego and Hoppy followed us out too. Diego just walked back in past her without a look. He’s not so accepting of any other cat, unfortunately.

She went downhill a lot in the last year. It was a few months ago when I realised I hadn’t heard her meow while she waited for me to feed her in the morning. She seemed to have lost her voice, but the vet had observed she was short of breath and gasping all the time. It didn’t stop her purring, and that was lovely.

This morning she hopped slowly from her kennel outside to the kitchen door. She wasn’t that interested in food, looking down at the mashed sardines I put in her bowl for a while. She ate, but she appeared listless to me. She didn’t drink water either which was most unlike her.

I’m also sad because Hoppy was this one connection we had to her family and to Oscar and Diego. Such a long life. She was well cared for.

Tomorrow will be the first time in almost 2 decades that I come down to the kitchen in the morning and there won’t be a cat to feed. It’s a head wrecker.

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