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It’s always a shock when someone you care about or love passes. It is no different if that someone is a beloved pet. So, I write this blog as a tribute—an honoring of a trusted friendship—companionship and the end of another turn on the cycle of Life. And, the Wheel continues to turn.

P.J. came to my house the end of 2011—beginning of 2012. Ultimately, she was supposed to belong to a housemate—however in the end—I saved her from a shelter—which in my mind meant—she would be euthanized. P.J. became mine. 

As with all pets, they speak to us without words.  P.J. opened doors and went where she pleased. She was verbal and insistent. She would stare at me in the kitchen until I acquiesced and poured her a little cup of half n’half. Once, sitting on my living room rug, she looked me right in the eyes, extended two front paws and proceeded to scratch the rug. Yep, we had our differences. Yet, she happily became an indoor-outdoor cat. Enjoying the sun—sleeping in the warm shade outside the sliding glass doors which surrounded my bedroom. There was something special about this damn cat. One of my nicknames for her was “Fire Tiger.”

One evening—a cool evening in Florida, I awoke to hear a crunch, crunch, crunch—sitting up in my bed, the moon light reflecting through the sliding glass doors, I saw an opossum contently eating PJ’s food. P.J. was sitting on the bed next to me. I looked over and said to her, “You opened the screen door and let the opossum in our room?” She stared blankly at me, turned, jumped off the bed walking past the cat-food eating opossum and right out the door, in a sense saying—“It’s your problem now”. “Thanks,” I thought to myself. Now what? That actually happened twice. I pulled off my comforter the second time and slept on the living room couch. In the morning—I blocked the screen door to keep her from opening it with her paw. After all, she never learned to close the door behind her. Priorities.

She enjoyed curling up beside me almost every night. She slept in the curve of my bent knees—thighs—and lower leg. At least until—three or four in the morning when she liked to go outside. I saw her again for breakfast—on the outside of the sliding glass door—meowing—and we started the routine over again. In and out. In and out. In and out. A cat’s life. As my good friend likes to remind me, “Dogs have owners, cats have staff.” They have a way of training everyone in the household. They are very persuasive. Meow.

Other things about cats—and P.J. was no acceptation, is they ALWAYS find the one person in the room who doesn’t particularly have a fondness for the feline species. Nothing personal. Guess who they head to first? Yep. Everytime! 

We moved about two years ago to a new neighborhood. She became friends with the neighbor—and she even had her own food bowl separate from the others. I was out of town, and he told me she would be waiting for him on his patio chair when he came outside to enjoy his morning coffee. Okay, it’s Florida remember and winter is the best time to enjoy coffee outside. He had 6 cats that he fed each morning. All were his except PJ. But, she made friends with them all and enjoyed sleeping in a cat shed that was safe and warm and organized for their comfort. Often times PJ disappeared for a night or two. Sleep over at Mikes! I had plenty of high quality food for her, but sometimes—she liked to eat “Burger King” as I called it, the mass marketed grocery store variety.

Towards the end, I gave her medication. She responded. I thought, we’re going to make it past this bump in the road. I cooked her wild caught salmon. I tracked down raw cows’ milk. I put Cat-Cal on her paw. It was a cat product full of minerals and nutrients. She began to jump up on the bed. I found her sleeping on my desk chair one day when I got back to the house. That made me smile and feel good. 

And then one day about a week later—she stopped eating. She went back to her hiding places—both under the bed and a small table that was dark and quiet, drinking only water. She kept wanting to go back outside. I finally agreed. She rested and slept in her favorite places outside my door—both in the sun and camouflaged in the garden. The last day she went to visit the neighbor. I looked for her—and Mike said, “She’s here”. She was on the grass and we picked her up. Placed her in the shed—in a place that was comfortable and warm. I spoke to her a bit more. She listened. Mike and I traded phone numbers. Thirty minutes later I got a call. She was gone. Mike said he would bury her right next to his young cat, “Little Red”, that had been hit by a passing car about a week before. I cried.

I know she will be back when the time is right. Sparky came back to Joy. Barney came back as Sasha. PJ will be back, too. In the meantime, I feel like she has let me know she is fine. I saw two curious things reading the news this past week. One said: PJMedia. The other, PJ liked your comment . . . Life is so much grander than we can imagine. 

I ask myself, “Is this the Universe getting me ready for What’s Next?” Time will tell. In the meantime, I say good-bye to a cat that made a big impact on me and all who knew her. I used to look right in her eyes and ask, “Who are you really? I know you’re not really a cat.” LOL 

And, so it is. Until we meet again. ❤️

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