Y.Lee is the cat that started an avalanche of cats. See, from 1983 when I was married to 1994 when I met Y.Lee, we had 4 cats. No more, no less. Then one day Y.Lee came to work with a coworker. He had just lost his home at a children’s shelter due to a “no pets” regulation. He was big and orange with a smudgie looking face and holding him was like holding a big warm stuffed animal. This coworker seemed SURE that I would take him home. I am not sure why, I had not taken in another cat in years. How could this one be so convincing? But those big soulful eyes and perfect contentment just to lay in my arms DID convince me.
Now to say Y.Lee was loveable would have been an understament. He had true empathy. He could sense your sadness and would come running from wherever he was to comfort you with his big paw tapping on your face until you could not help to smile. And then came the love bites. A gentle placing of his teeth on either your nose or your chin. (He preferred the nose, I preferred the chin). They were very gentle and he’d always start by rubbing your face a few times with his face them brace for the bite. But surprisingly, they never hurt.
Y.Lee was layed back and playful at the same time. Most of his movements were slow and deliberate, emphasis on slow, but he could really get up to speed when he was wound up. He adored being held in your arms, not an easy task at 17 pounds. He got heavy pretty fast but as soon as you’d put him on the floor he’d be asking to get picked up again. Now not verbally, he was very quiet, no, he’d stand up and paw at you or at the door if you were looking out and he wanted to also. And then he’d “dig” until you could not stand it any more and you picked him up again.
He was the perfect alarm clock. Always settling in to bed at exactly 10 minutes before I needed to get out of bed. He was also the perfect baby sitter. As I mentioned, more cats came after Y.Lee and he took each one in stride by allowing them to play with his ever wagging tail and never getting angry.
When Y.Lee was diagnosed with diabetes I knew that treating at home would not be a problem. He let me do anything. What I did not know at the time was that he’d come to be the vet’s worst nightmare. He needed to go in to the vet quite often for blood tests and he’d stay all day. Well, many was the time that I got the phone call to please come get Y.Lee out of his cage for us. I could reach right in without even the slightest hesitation but I saw my pleasant little boy become Cujo right before my eyes towards the vet techs. 6 months after his diagnosis when his diabetes had still not become regulated and more time at the vet’s seemed inevitable, I made the hardest decision in my life. I did not want him to suffer, and he would have with treatment after treatment, I had him gently put to sleep. I held him tight and I kissed his head and he still hissed at the vet one last time as the needle went in. I miss him SO much!! I loved that little smudgie face.
Thank you for listening