Last year, we had to put down our sweet kitty, Mina, on this day. She came to us serendipitously. Good friends had gone to Oregon to visit friends. Two pregnant cats had been dumped on their farm and they had 17 kitties. We told them to pick out a kitten. We were ready to have a cat again after mourning the loss of our first cat a year earlier.

G got the call. They had found the perfect cat. But she had a little sister that she protected. They were a pair. Would we take two? G said “Yes!”

We went to their house to pick them up. Cassie came out like a bull dog – proud and beautiful. But behind her was a waif. She was half the size with large mouse ears and had a deformed crooked half tail. This was Mina. She was the runt of the litter – pushed aside but now given a chance for a life.

She was so smart. She was the first to learn how to jump up on the window sill. She was constantly catching birds. She didn’t bring them – she ate them. A survivor. Scrappy.

Unknown to us – not only did she have a deformed tail but she was probably born with only one kidney. As she grew, the other kidney struggled and eventually gave out. We didn’t understand the signs, urinating outside her litter box, drinking water from outside – until too late. She had chronic renal failure but we were able to nurse her back with the help of a wonderful veterinarian assistant. We learned how to give her fluids. But she resisted and struggled. We were able to maintain a good quality of life for another year. But then it was time.

Mina – we miss you.