Esoterik Girl

This entry was written on 6-15-08 in another blog program. I am transferring it over here to try to consolidate my writing into one place.

 
Artemis was a most unique cat. She began as my adult son's pet - weaned early from her mother and offered up as a young kitten. My son wasn't always there for himself, much less for her, and so she was often abandoned and left alone and lonely.

She overcame many early-life challenges and developed strong survival techniques that involved intense selectivity, aggression, and periods of difficult testing for establishing trust. She seemed to possess a certain wisdom and intelligence that I have never noticed in other pets, almost as though she consciously studied and considered aspects about the few humans with whom she bonded.

I must have become her favorite and most trusted person at some point (though our lives together were very difficult at the beginning). She also became my favorite non-human - probably for the same reasons.  I identified with her. I wanted to offer her safety and nurturance. I wanted her to trust me, and she eventually did - following me to every room, climbing into my arms. She was like my child.

Recently Artemis developed a mysterious condition that led to a rapid onset of frightening seizures.  After a weekend of trips to the emergency veterinary clinic and realizations that we could not afford further expensive tests and heroic methods to save her, we decided we had no choice but to have her put to sleep. That decision was heartbreaking. I cannot see any other animal/pet ever filling the space that is left from her. I realize that her need for nurturing and my desire to give that to her was uniquely special. 

What a difference a day makes.