Farewell, Chloe Cat (2006-2023)

Chloe was a remarkable cat, but that statement is clearly redundant because every cat is a remarkable cat. As a feral kitten who had been dragged in from the outside, she avoided contact with humans. Eventually she became more trusting and, when the last of her feline friends died, she decided I was an acceptable cat substitute even if I wasn’t feral or a cat. That didn’t stop her from looking at me disapprovingly, though.

Chloe Cat (Jan 2023)

I have lived with cats since around 1960 when my mother rescued some feral cats. Chloe may have been the final cat of many I have known since then.

A Kitty in the Bushes

Elder daughter Elizabeth found three kittens under a bush outside her apartment. She was able to place two orange kittens in homes, but kept the loud, screechy one with her three cats. When Elizabeth was staying where she couldn’t have pets, her four cats came to live with Phyllis and me temporarily. The period turned out to be longer than any of us expected and when it was time for her cats to go home, we decided not to move them again. So Phyllis and I had seven cats, but Chloe chose to live in the basement for two years, screeching almost continuously, until Phyllis used catnip to entice her to come out.

The Semi-Hidden Cat

She ventured upstairs to the bed, but mainly continued to be invisible.

Chloe Comes Out

Still largely untouchable, she mastered the ability to request catnip or the red dot.

One-Time Events (1)

Chloe sometimes experimented with places to sit. She asked to sit in this drawer a few times, but then decided this was not her preferred place.

One-Time Events (2)

She also tried the WOSU tote bag a time or two, but quickly tired of it.

Kitty on the Chair

One of her favorite locations was on the back of a chair in the living room, or under the chair, or by the HVAC register adjacent to the chair.

Best Friend

Although she got along with the other six cats, Percy was definitely her favorite.

Percy loved her, too, sometimes using her as an arm rest.

Chloe seemed to think that Percy was a fine pillow.

They were always together and Percy taught her how to request food from the humans.

Finding a Successor for Percy

When Percy died, only one other cat remained in the house. Chloe adopted Scampi.

They learned how to share catnip, but then Scampi died.

A Successor for Scampi

We tried giving her a stuffed cat toy. Chloe was unimpressed.

She decided that I might be able to serve as an honorary cat.

I was not quite as good as Scampi and definitely not up to Percy’s standards, but she seemed to think I was a serviceable companion.

Of course, she never let me forget who had the sharp claws and who was therefore in charge.

An Amusing and Amazing Little Cat

Chloe discovered Kitty TV and watched every morning for months.

I even let her use the tablet computer.

For a while, Kitty TV was something she wanted every day — right side up or upside down. But she eventually found it to be boring.

When I read a book on a tablet, she wondered what I found so interesting.

She had a way of looking directly at the camera and tilting her head so that she appeared to be unimpressed or even disapproving. I had a lot of fun with this misconception on Facebook. In reality, Chloe was a sweet little cat who (once all her feline friends died) loved to sit with me.

Sometimes she was Krazy Kitty. This is one of my all-time favorite pictures of Chloe.

And sometimes she just wanted to help me work.

She posed a lot.

Although Chloe wasn’t a big fan of boxes, she did occasionally sit in one.

The Night Cat

This may explain why Chloe Cat spent much of the day sleeping on a chair. It’s a 10-minute edited time-lapse video that spans eight and a half hours of “sleeping” time.

The time-lapse effect makes us both look like we’re breathing crazy fast (we’re not) and that we move like characters in an ancient Charlie Chaplin movie (we don’t). This is a silent movie.

Chloe Was Sad When I Was Missing for Two Months

When I came home after being away for 70 days of spinal surgery, treatment for blood clots, physical therapy, and a short stay at an assisted living facility, Chloe interrogated me and then offered a paw of friendship.

Perhaps Chloe’s favorite activity was having her chin scratched. In the final few years, she worked out how to request chin scratches and regularly did so between three and four in the morning. She climbed onto my chest and tapped my chin with slightly extended claws. It took only a time or two for me to figure out what she wanted.

After coming home, I slept with lights on for a few months so I could see where I was going at night; then I pulled the covers over my head. Chloe knew how to expose my chin so she could tap it to request a chin scratch or a head scratch. One morning, I grabbed the phone and did a selfie video.

She once found and dispatched a mouse in the basement.

She was a dedicated watch cat by day ...

... and also by night.

She liked to have her tail petted. Most cats forbid tail touching, but when she walked by and I reached down to pet her head, Chloe kept walking, formed her body into a U shape so I couldn’t touch her back, and then stopped when my hand was on the tail.

Always Posing

Despite her humble beginnings, Chloe was an attractive cat and she seemed to know it.

And although I was an honorary cat, there always seemed to be a certain judgmental expression when she looked at me.

Cancer

In January 2023, I noticed a large lump on her abdomen. Doctor Meredith Weller (The Cat Doctor) removed the lump, but it was cancerous and the cancer had already started spreading.

Most cats are stoic. Chloe didn’t complain about her surgery or the stitches, but she did want out of the Elizabethan collar. After being home for a day, she had chewed and ripped halfway through the plastic collar, so I cut it off. Before the surgery, Doctor Weller tried to have her wear a onesie to see if that would work after surgery. Chloe wasn’t having it: By the time we got her home, she had removed it.

Chloe had what Dr Weller called a particularly aggressive form of cancer. On 9 January, her life expectancy was 4 to 6 months. On 9 May, she was still with us. She was still here on 9 June, 9 July, 9 August, 9 September, and 9 October. We thought she was done the second week of October, but Chloe bounced back and stayed with us for a while longer.

Chloe spent more time with me—leaning on my feet many nights, asking for chin scratches in the middle of the night, or suggesting vehemently that I lie in the bed and read during the day.

Chloe’s morning routine during her final year involved making sure I was awake each morning by 5:30, visiting with Phyllis each morning, and warning us both, at high volume, of the dangers of getting wet in the shower.

In March 2023, Google created this one-minute “Pet Friends Over the Years” video, but included only Chloe Cat.

By late March, Chloe was showing both her age and her illness, but she liked to sit with me and sometimes spent the entire night on the bed, alternating between leaning on my ankles and sitting on my chest.

By July, she had exceeded all expectations and still engaged in occasional zoomies and parkour sessions. She continued to eat normally and to watch me with various expressions of concern, disapproval, and disappointment.

Possibly thinking of a new career as a dentist, she developed a process that involved standing on my chest, pushing my chin to open my mouth, and then seeming to examine my teeth. Sometimes this was painful because claws were partially deployed and she snagged my upper lip more than a few times.

In October, she slept in the sunshine and waited patiently (sometimes) for me on the bed.

During what were clearly her final days, Chloe sat with me occasionally, not complaining but just waiting, or so it seemed. She ate virtually nothing, just an occasional bite of wet food or a couple of kitty treats. She ate nothing at all between Friday, 3 November, and Tuesday, 7 November. It was time to let her go. She left us at 6:35 on Tuesday, 7 November 2023, peacefully and without pain.

Farewell, Kitty

Thank you for all the fun times and wonderful memories.

I rarely called her by name and Chloe accepted that her name was Kitty. More than 17 years—not bad for a little feral cat who came inside and made herself an important part of the family. This image is from 18 April 2023. I was lying on the bed, reading an ebook, and Chloe needed a chin scratch.