Last Saturday my sweet Kibeau crossed the rainbow bridge. He had declined rapidly - I'm still shocked about how quickly; one day he was jumping a six foot fence, two days later he couldn't walk ten feet without resting. Granted, he was a very old cat - 18 years, which translates to 85+ human years. But that didn't make it any easier. Renee, Kibeau's "legal" owner, eventually found a vet who would come to our home. It was very peaceful, I stayed with Kibeau until the very end. I had been his person for the last six years and there was no way I wouldn't be at his side for his last journey.
I admit, I haven't cried that much in a long time than I did the last few days.
Here I wrote how he became my cat. The following photo is the very first picture I took of him when he turned up in my garden in the fall of 2018.
Back then I was already fascinated by his paws.
He had the cutest paws - big and chubby, and ready to extend those claws!
Like all cats, he was a master snoozer.
In 2020 he began staying in our garden full-time, no going home anymore and Renee asked us if we could feed him. Of course we could. I have to give it to her, she took it very gracefully that Kibeau wouldn't go home to her anymore. I guess there were too many other cats in his home plus a dog - and he really hated dogs. When I thought about the timing later, I realized that he decided to stay here shortly after Kaefer had left for Germany.
He adored Kaefer!
Because of the Geek's severe allergies, Kibeau couldn't come into the house, so he became the most spoiled and pampered outdoor cat in the neighborhood. I got him a cat house, friends of ours gave us a heating pad that their little dog didn't like (and Kibeau loved) and it's emparrassing to admit how many blankets he had so that he would stay warm in those cold winter nights.
He was there when I put the laundry on the line, sat with me while I was knitting or just snozzed in the flower beds.
One day we hadn't closed the screen door completely and suddenly he turned up in our bedroom.
Of course he took his sweet time checking out everything and being cute.
Sometimes I let him in my studio where he enjoyed sitting at the window. looking out. While I was trying to follow along a creative writing course on Zoom, he thought it was appropriate to take a nap on top of my notebook.
He was such a rascal!
But in the last few days he reached his ultimate goal - our couch. The Geek, my allergic husband, took dozens of pictures of Kibeau sleeping on our couch. He is such a softie.
Kibeau had worked his way into our hearts and he has a special place there. I will always remember him very fondly.
And today, Kibeau is my star for Nicole's Friday Face Off.
