Grandma Henke

Let me introduce you to FiFi, our ten year old Persian mix.       

Friday night late (after hours of course) she broke off her incisor tooth at the gum line and it has started to abscess.     I took her in today but they can’t pull her tooth until Thursday because she is a now a “senior” and had to have blood work done first so they know if her organs are functioning properly.     She’s never been sick a day in her life but I guess it is like me and my colonoscopy … ya gotta do it if you are a senior.    Her blood profile and the visit today and her antibiotic came to $222.00.    Thursday when we take her back in for the surgery it will cost at least that much more.   (They are also going to clean her teeth while she is out.)     I was thinking it would be cheaper for me to have my own tooth pulled.   I went online to see about cats and their teeth and was horrified to know that I should have been brushing her teeth all these years.    I thought cats that ate dry cat food didn’t need teeth care … sadly that is very wrong and now FiFi is suffering because I didn’t do my job.   

We got FiFi almost ten years ago, during one of those years of stress that happen in families now and then.   We saw an ad in the newspaper for Persian kittens and since I’d always wanted one, Lynn decided to get me one for Christmas.   When we went to pick her up, however, I saw FiFi playing with her cousins and fell in love with her instead.   Her mother was a pure bred Persian who had a rendezvous  one night with a hustler passing through and was obviously not one of the elite.    The  beautiful, white kitten I had gone to pick up stuck her nose up at me and walked off, while FiFi, on the other hand, attacked … and I knew she was just what I needed.   And she did wonders at lifting our spirits.

She was the most curious kitten I had ever met and never seemed to learn from experience that you should not take a running leap over the edge of the bath tub.      I’ll never forget the time she walked into the dining room, wet hair plastered to her body and covered in suds and kitty litter.    I had stopped the washing machine mid cycle and FiFi had gone exploring and must have fallen into the sudsy water.    As she leaped out she lost her balance and fell off the washer into her liter box … I have wished for the last 9 1/2 years that I had taken a picture.    

A few years ago she got outside and was missing for about three days.   One night in the rain we got a call that our neighbor had seen her along the side of the road.   She had been run over by a car.   Her body had been there a while and was hardly recognizable and was crawling with maggots.    Oh how we cried as we scooped her into a box, brought her home, and gave her a proper funeral … at midnight in the rain.   The next morning I went to check and make sure her little grave hadn’t been disturbed and imagine my surprise when there she was, sitting right on top of it … clean, dry …  and as alive as could be.       I’ve heard of the nine life thing but this was more than I expected!     All I know is that somebody’s cat had a very royal send off.

She still likes to hide and scare us … gives the best massages … listens to our troubles … and makes us laugh.  So for all she’s given us over the last ten years, it’s well worth the cost of having her teeth fixed.   That’s the least you can do for a friend.