Gone to that great catnip cloud

I am a long-time cat owner. Last weekend, one of our two cats, Mocha, stopped eating and became extremely lethargic. I took her to the vet yesterday and they pushed fluids. She came home last night feeling better.

I took her back to the vet today for more treatment, and she began to fail. She is 16 years old and has never been sick before. The vet called to tell me she was not doing well and they thought she might have a tumor. I told him to keep her comfortable until I could get there after work. Around 2 pm she had a heart attack and died.

Let me tell you about Mocha. We had two cats when we adopted our daughters. Squeak was obviously Ravenhub's cat and Fruitbat shunned everyone but me. So we took the kids to the local shelter and they each picked out a kitten.

Mocha was a black short-haired cat with touches of white. She had a plaintive voice that we immediately translated as "Oh, me or my!"

Her favorite thing was to climb to the top of the cat tower and call us over to play. We would throw a cat toy up to her. A catnip mouse or a plastic ball with a bell inside. She would allow the toy to land next to her. Then she would take it in her paw and fling it back at us. Whereupon we would toss it straight back to her. She taught us to fetch.

My daughters grew up and moved away, but left the cats with us. Squeak died at 17 years old and my dear Fruitbat died at the ripe old age of 21. For the last few years, it's been the two younger cats keeping us old fogies company and making demands.

Mocha would plop herself down next to me on the couch and demand I pet her. She loved to have her head and ears roughed up. She would bury her face in my hand to force me to rub her ears. During the last five or six years she divided her time between hiding under furniture and sitting beside me demanding to be petted.

We called her Mocha the May cat and she lived a good life. I hope her spirit is rolling in catnip heaven.