Regular readers of this blogpost, may recall the name, “Kudu,” the feline housemate of “Gelato,” (Blog # 936, “TIME OUT FOR GELATO”) the larger, furrier, older of the two, and a fellow member in good standing of the feline subspecies, “Devon Rex.” Four tragic days ago, our much beloved, Kudu was diagnosed with liver cancer and was put to her final sleep by the Vet. Kudu is the third, in a tragic line, of our heartbreaking roster of deceased housecats, namely, “Cicero.” and “Anchovy. ”each of which met with similar fates due to serious illness occurring late in life.
The origin of her name dates back many years to an eternally memorable sight, while on safari in South Africa, of a large, dazzlingly, beautiful, elk-like animal, called a “Kudu” (or possibly “Koo doo”), viewed at dusk and dramatically, backlighted, atop a low hill.
Those readers, who are or have been, at some time in their lives, owners of a domestic cat know that such pets, far more demonstrably than pet dogs, evince singular, consistent, and nuanced acts of habitual behavior (personality?). While, physically, the late Kudu, as common to all legitimate members of the species, “felis domesticus,” can be described, as possessing the definitional feline traits, four legs, short, pointy ears, a tail, whiskers (or some indication of the same), bodily fur, of various textures and thicknesses, the athletic skill to leap, gracefully, the irresistible inclination to daytime, slumber, an insatiable, inquisitive nature and, being bereft of lexicon, the common and exclusively limited expression of the ubiquitous word, “meow;” [ N.B. the exception to such uniformity: Devon Rex manifest the absence of the usual layer of “dander,” beneath the fur, and, consequently, the absence of an irritant causing many allergic reactions]. Nevertheless, despite the experience of being an owner of one or more housecat(s) would, inarguably, confirm the empirical, accuracy of such common traits, there are, as stated, nuanced actions and unique predilections of individual cats, which, will empirically, vary with each pussycat. Admittedly, as a matter of reality, a general impediment to the pet cat’s objective, and, accurate description, is the human’s inexorable, practice of anthropomorphism regarding domestic cats.
Remembering, with much anguish, our beloved, Kudu, such nuanced and memorable traits, typically, included an occasional, haughtiness and personal reserve, when one of her adult pet owners attempted to affectionately pet or embrace her, the reluctance to drink water from a bowl preferring to loudly announce by a demanding, series of loud, imperious, meows, her demand to drink from a dripping faucet, the seeking-out of remote and impenetrable, hiding places, the selection of glass windows, below which she could establish her proprietary sunny spots for luxuriating her preference for human cuisine, regularly expressed by her daily, aggressive appearance and behavior atop the dinner table, and her inimitable, style of expression, to the younger friskier, Gelato of her occasional, disinclination to play.
The most impactful loss, as is the case with any such tragedy, human or animal, is the abrupt, unforeseen and permanent cessation of the decedent’s daily appearance, a part of the “given,” in the geometric theorem of the household. We will sorely miss Kudu. While, life experience, clearly and empirically, enlightens and warns us of the inevitability of pain, inherent in the (vulnerable) love of human or animal; the panacea for such, inevitable suffering is, decidedly worse than the ultimately, predictable and excruciating, pain of loss.
-p.
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