Peaches – A Tale of a Lost Love
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Many of you have seen pictures of Peaches, the wine-drinking, shrimp gobbling Abyssinian cat but here’s her story from beginning to end.
Little Peach was found in a feral colony in the Silverlake district of Los Angeles in 2002 when she was about seven months old. She was a pure-bred Ruddy Abyssinian and was spayed. Someone lost their little love to the outside world. She was terribly dirty and had a few scratches and a nick out of one ear but was otherwise healthy and the vet who examined her estimated she had been on the street for about two months.
The plan was to foster her until a good home could be found but Mango and Peaches got along really well. Almost immediately they were chasing and playing. Bubbles, on the other hand, hissed and growled herself hoarse. At one point, she hissed at Mango and he held out his paw to her so she would know who he was and stop hissing at him. It worked.
Peaches was a character. She loved food – any type of food. Pasta, escargot, sausage, (all stolen from the table!) and got really excited over cooked, shelled shrimp. We always suspected our little Bubba Gump would have loved to live out her life on a shrimp boat. Clean up after dinner included Peaches licking the plates. She also loved wine. Not just any wine either. She preferred sweeter wines like a Gewürztraminer or a Riesling but would tolerate a Chardonnay. The latter she would lap up a little and move on but the first two you’d have to take the glass away to stop her. Red wines were too tart for her. One or two tastes were enough for her. Her vet said that wine – in moderation – was okay but she didn’t really understand that moderation part.
She was always tiny. She weighed in at 6 pounds (2.7 kg). A new vet who saw her three years ago thought she was still a kitten. I’d awake to find her catloafed on my chest and she’d start purring as soon as I opened my eyes. I’d pet her and she would reach out and gently touch my cheek. She was always a little sweetheart.
Eight months ago Peaches got suddenly ill. Her vet determined that our little Peachie was in the early stages of kidney disease. While this kind of failure is common with cats that ingested antifreeze, Peaches had not been outside since her feral colony days. Worse yet, the disease advanced rapidly but with a lot of maintenance and fluids every day, she survived and lived a comfortable life playing, cuddling and shrimping. She tolerated the fluid infusion knowing well she would get some shrimp as a reward so she’d dash from the bathroom (aka "treatment room") to the kitchen waiting for her treat.
She had a few down days, three in October when she had a bladder infection and an undefined illness in January but these were manageable and each time she bounced back as strong as ever. The decision was to wait until she told us it was time for her to go and that time came two weeks ago when she became listless, a little wobbly and didn’t want her all-time favorite shrimp. Over the preceding week she had lost weight and had taken on that elderly cat look from not maintaining her coat. Within a day that bright-eyed look became so dull. Her vet and her vet tech offered to come to her home to care for her rather than having to bring her in to the animal hospital. Her vet became attached to that cute little girl and wanted to say goodbye too.
Late on Monday night, March 16, Peaches died.
Some past posts of crazy little Peaches:
Shrimp Feast
Peaches' Shrimp Frenzy (videos)
An evening with Mango, Peaches & Bubbles...
Gini's Dinner with Mango & Peaches
