Posts tagged "caterack"

How does one cope with the death of a beloved pet who's been a constant companion for 30 years? "I have made myself stay real busy to adapt to it," Alisa Morris, the owner of Caterack, a 30 year-old cat who died last Thursday, told Paw Nation. "It's been hard and I miss her terribly. I've had several animals in my life, but Caterack was the icing on the cake."

In 1979, Morris adopted a 5-week-old feral kitten found near her mother's house in Texas. Morris's mother claimed that there was "something special" about the kitten that was blind in the left eye, and begged Morris to adopt it. Morris agreed, and named the kitty Caterack.

Sadly, as Caterack got older she developed kidney problems, then arthritis. Morris started feeding Caterack wet food because it was the only thing the elderly cat could keep down, reports PEOPLEPets.com. In Caterack's final days, "she wasn't doing good," Morris said. "She wasn't bathing herself or keeping herself clean and she laid down real slow."

"It was time," Morris recalled, her voice trembling. Last Thursday, October 22, Morris drove with Caterack to the veterinary clinic. As the veterinarian euthanized Caterack, Morris cried and laid her head on the table next to her beloved cat of 30 years. "I kissed her goodbye," said Morris. "I feel better now that I know she's not hurting."

Adjusting to life without Caterack has been difficult. "I keep thinking I see her out of the corner of my eye," said Morris, who was unable to bring herself to launder Caterack's blankets until today. Chloe, the kitten, has also been acting strange and not adapting well. "Chloe didn't really hang around Caterack when she was alive, but in her last few days, Chloe stuck real close to her," said Morris. "She knew something was going on." With the older cat gone, Chloe has been inconsolable. "She's been walking around crying, looking for Caterack," says Morris.

Morris decided to have Caterack cremated and awaits her ashes, which will be arriving this week. "I feel like I'll see Caterack again," said Morris. "I feel like she's with my mom in heaven."

Way back in 1979, Alisa Morris adopted a 5-week-old feral kitten born near her mother's house. Thirty years later, Caterack the cat is still kicking, reports People Pets.

When Caterack was born, Jimmy Carter was president and the Village People's "YMCA" had just debuted on the charts. Five presidents and loads of bad songs later, the 30-year-old indoor cat -- that's 137 in cat years -- is starting to show her age. She doesn't hear so well these days, and she's been blind in her left eye her entire life. But she still gets around. Caterack likes to dance to loud music on the stereo and comes running whenever the vacuum cleaner is on, Morris tells People Pets.

There must be something about the Lone Star state that breeds long-lived kitties. Caterack lives with Morris and her husband in Midlothian, Texas. The oldest cat ever recorded, according to the Guinness World Records, was Creme Puff, who hailed from Austin, Texas. Creme Puff died in 2005, three days after her 38th birthday.

Caterack has a few years to go before she can challenge Creme Puff's title and she's got competition -- including Tizzie, of Lancashire County, England, who is purported to be 36. (Although there's evidence that Tizzie may not be as old as her owner claims.)

Records aside, Morris says she counts her blessings that she's had her beloved cat so long. "I've tried getting myself ready for when it's her time and I even given [sic] my okay to her if it's that time now," she told People Pets. "I told her it's okay, I'll be okay."

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