I thought I'd re-run a post I did in March a year ago. It was when we thought we were going to lose our Nicky. Well, we lost our Nicky this week. Kidney disease finally got the best of him. What I wrote then still holds now: "Beautiful day at the farmette. Cold, crisp, snow-covered and clear. But I’m feeling off today because we’ve had a bit of a week with our cat Nicky.
Poor thing has been going through some really odd ailments as we keep trying to help him on his journey with this rotten kidney disease. We had two emergency visits to the vet this week. Dr. Melanie is a saint. Today, Nick’s walking around with his head tucked way under - we think he might have had a stroke.
Instead of going into details about how his health is failing, I want to write about why he’s such a great cat.
He’s so handsome. From the time we adopted him more than 13 years ago, NIcky has added class to the Harris-Wilson-Wilson-Harris household. Just having him walking around in his permanent tuxedo brings a certain elegance to the farmette.
He’s been a no-fuss cat to now. When the others were pukey or poopy or needed vet care for respiratory problems, Nicky was always very healthy - strong of teeth and clear of eye. Until recently, he has floated through life with nary a care.
He’s a snuggle puss. When I get ready to go to sleep, Nick is there, waiting to be hugged and fussed over. He actually runs if he’s somewhere else in the house, and I call out “Going to bed, Nick.” He purrs and flops and stands up and curls around for a good five minutes before tucking into my tummy and settling his head on my outstretched arm. It’s a bit of a production, but I love it.
He has always been ours. Rob and I got Nick at our old vet clinic in Guelph where they routinely housed Humane Society cats in display cages to get them adopted out. Nicky was a kitten with three black and white brothers - he was the only one with the white-tipped tail. Rob swears that he sat in the middle of the countertop, looked at him, and said with a meow - “so when are you taking me home?”
He’s Nora’s counterpart. We got Nora as a kitten on the same day we got Nick. We named the two of them after the main characters in the “Thin Man” film series from the ’30s. Nick’s tuxedo gave him away as William Powell’s Nick Charles, and Nora’s delicate but fiesty demeanour was definitely Myrna Loy’s Nora. The furry Nick and Nora have been a couple from the get-go, and still curl up around each other once in a while.
So there you have it. I wanted to give Nick his due while he’s still with us. I hope he hangs in for a long time yet, but even if he doesn’t, he’s given us way more than he’s taken over the years. Gotta go and hug him now."
Well, I can't go and give him a real hug, and Nora's been gone for more than a year - as I said earlier this week, it's the end of an era. I'll just have to make do and hug the living daylights out of Lily (she'll hate it), Bea (she'll love it) and Hobbes (he'll be looking for food).
