The happiest cat I’ve ever known
Misty sleeping in her own unique way.
Last week we had one of those heart-wrenching experiences that no one should ever have. When we woke up on Friday morning we could not find our youngest cat, Misty, anywhere. We searched the house, the yard, checked under and in the shed, walked the grounds around the fenced area endlessly, even walked along a nearby wash.
Misty was nowhere. We immediately passed out notices to all our neighbors as well as listed her as missing on a number of websites that specialize in listing unidentified found pets. All to no avail. As of today there is still no evidence of her anywhere. We have mostly decided that a predator of some kind, a coyote or large bird, somehow got into the yard (protected by a very high fence) and snatched her.
She was only two and a half years old. Her loss is quite painful.
What makes it worse is that she was undoubtedly the happiest cat I have ever known. We originally got her as a kitten in 2022 to be a companion for our other cat, Molly, as well as for ourselves. We had adopted Molly and Emma together in 2013, but Emma had died prematurely in 2021 from kidney failure. We found Molly pining for companionship, and thus went out to find her a kitten.
Misty was part of a litter of six that a woman who lived near us was fostering. We struggled to pick one, but it was Diane who made the decision. “Let’s get the tabby.” Diane then named her Misty.
Misty “squashing” Molly
What we ended up getting a cat that was an amazingly affectionate creature that was endlessly enthused about everything. Even as a kitten when it came time to feed her she would zoom across the house with wild abandon to beat me to her bowl. Since we kept her bowl in a high place (away from fat and lazy Molly would eat anything nailed down if she could get at it), Misty would leap over and onto the furniture to get there. As an adult she would never simply go out the dog door to the back yard. She would zoom though, over, and between furniture in all directions before zooming outside.
And sometimes she would zoom about, just for the thrill of doing so.
As a cat she was astonishingly friendly. For Molly she was a perfect companion, because she felt it necessary to squeeze in or on top of Molly in the pet bed to nuzzle her. They would then groom each other and then sleep this way for hours.
Misty was also a very very skilled mouser. Each evening she would go outside, catch a mouse, and bring it back into the house to play with it before killing it. As a kitten she would dispose of these nightly catches herself. As an adult she mostly brought them in for Molly to catch and eat.
Misty being goofy
For Diane, Misty became the first cat she could call her own. Diane had always been a dog person and had thus kept a relatively distant relationship with the cats I have owned. Misty however wasn’t going to take that for an answer, and made it a point to make Diane her friend. As a result, Diane was the one who fed Misty her tube treats each night, as well as petting her endlessly. And Misty always swooned in pleasure and joy at the attention.
Some cats can be timid. Some can be bossy. Some can be hostile. Some cats, like Molly, are contented and nice, always willing to hang out near us but not be very creative or active, with eating, sleeping, and getting brushed her only real interests.
Misty however was always happy, and eager to tell everyone that’s how she felt. For almost three years she brought this joy to us, as well as to herself. For that we are grateful.
It is tragic beyond words that she could not do so for many more years.
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Am very sorry to read this. We have a neighbor who is a dentist. Her cat Big Boy would visit us each weekday. Big Boy went to cat heaven four years ago and we still miss him.
So sorry for your loss. I still miss our two cats, Oreo, and Chip.
There was a very friendly cat a work….a rare, loving cat. She met her end under a fork lift.
This planet is cruel.
stinks how pets are so transitory.. but they do bring a lot of pleasure into your life while they’re around… sorry for your loss.
Sorry to hear that Bob. Your Misty looked like our cat Reina.
Our condolences.
Very sorry for your loss. Some cats are just special. Misty was one of those.
Condolences for your loss.
We used to have a highly overweight cat, eventually a medicine ball with legs. Her name morphed over the years into Fat Cat. Toward the end, she got really skinny and the most loving cat you can imagine. Sadly, she also lost control of both ends of the alimentary canal. We spent a year or two chasing down events from the top end. When they migrated to both ends, and she looked so unhappy, we put her down.
That’s when I discovered how people see ghosts, for I saw Fat Cat ghosts 6 – 12 months after she was gone. I’d hear a small noise, look at that general direction, see something escape that was never there, which was the regular routine cleaning up the aftermath. We know the brane only processes about 10% of whatever comes in from the senses. And when that input disappears, the brane continues to construct output consistent with whatever is similar to what it used get coming in from the senses, in this case hearing and seeing. After a while, the ghostly apparitions stopped visiting, but I understand why we see ghosts, I think. Cheers –
I’m sorry to hear about this. It sounds like Misty was a wonderful pet and companion. I’ll hold out hope that one day soon she’ll return to you.
Very sorry.
We had a cat that got into the wall of our house and couldn’t get out. By the time we found her, she was in kidney failure.
Living in the Colorado foothills, we keep the cats indoors at all times because our neighborhood has bobcats, hawks and coyotes.
Don’t want to offer false hope, but I’m wishing Misty scaled the fence and went on a walkabout, and that you will see her again.
Sorry for the loss, but hope the condolences are premature. Always sad to hear about a missing cat. Years ago I had one open the screen door one night and disappear. Showed up at the back door four days later acting half feral. Got him into the house where he hid under a bed and growled / hissed at / attacked anyone who got near for the next 12 hours. After that he calmed down, demanded to be held, and never again went anywhere near the door outside.
Bob, indeed sorry if she is lost. But, as TL points out, maybe all is not lost. We’ve had cats go walkabout for as much as two weeks the.n show up at the back door looking for breakfast.
I am left with this hope as well. Maybe it is not likely, but it is not *impossible*…
When I moved to my new house in South Florida, the property was a 4.25 acre lot, over half of which was, well, still swamp/scrub, because the developer only graded and landscaped the part near the house, and of course no one had informed the local wildlife that they were living in a single family zoned subdivision now. On just the first day I was there, I eyeballed at least a half dozen species on the ground (cougar, alligator, python, 2 species of hawk and a bald eagle) that were easily capable and willing to make a snack out of a housecat, and made note of this to exercise extra caution with my own all-too-curious but strictly indoor tabby. Alas, the day came when somehow, she managed to dart out of a slightly ajar front door in a nanosecond of my hesitation. She was off into the brush on the treeline in a flash, and I figured, “That’s it.”
The next morning, however, there she was on the front porch, shaking and petrified when I opened the front door. Heaven only knows what she ran into over those 24 hours, but somehow, amazingly, she avoided becoming someone’s dinner.
Diane and I thank everyone for their condolences, as well as their hope that all is not yet lost. However, I suspect none of those hopes are coming from anyone who knows anything about the Tucson desert in the summer. It is brutally hot and dry, and there are no natural water sources anywhere near us. This reality cannot be ignored.
I give my condolences as well.
I would also like to suggest taking comfort in the fact that you gave her a good life, and that was one of the reasons she was such a happy cat.
Sorry to hear about Misty. Me and my family were guinea pig people for a long time and though it has been some years since our last little fuzzy buddy left us, we still speak of them every day. Do the same for Misty. It will help.
I’ll offer my condolences as well. If they’re premature then all of your readers will be happy for you and Diane.
I’ll also second what “F” has noted. You took in a cat, gave her a cat-companion, love, affection, and care. That’s the best possible thing that can happen to a cat, to be pampered relentlessly.
I know you won’t find a “replacement” for her, but Molly is certainly going to need some extra fussing and cuddling before you get your next one as her companion (and maybe the next one will bring home presents for her, too).