Nala Part 2
For the past few weeks Nala hadn't been eating as much as she usually did. I didn't notice it at first, but then I saw that she was only eating about half of her treats she got when Pumba got his sof-foo-foo. At first she'd just leave a couple, then it got to be half, then I noticed the Thursday or so before she died that she wasn't eating her treats at all. I went to work on Friday the 10th and told the boss that I thought Nala was on her way out, she wasn't eating (cuz not only was she not eating her treats, but she wasn't eating any food, and I couldn't tempt her with Pumba's sof-foo-foo, nothing), and she wasn't drinking very much, either. On Friday she took to laying in the bathtub, something she never, ever did before. So we went to a wedding on Saturday and came home Sunday. Ma came down with the boys, and she couldn't get her to eat, either. So when we got home on Sunday Nala looked like she aged ten years in two days, and I decided that Monday morning I would have to call the vet. So I called first thing Monday, but I couldn't get her in til 6:20 that evening, so it was a long, rough, day. I cried all evening Sunday and all day Monday. I stayed with her, just like I did with Simba, she couldn't die with strangers. I had also noticed that she had blood in her pee, and she was starting to get stinky, so the vet figured she was having kidney failure and possibly could have had kidney cancer.
So Nala came home today. The vet had called yesterday, but I didn't get the voicemail til after they were closed. So I went and picked her up this morning. Her urn is really different from her brother's. I expected a white ceramic earn like Simba's, but instead hers is an actual rock that has the bottom cut off so it can stand, then it was hollowed out, and the top cut off to form a lid which is sealed on. Really heavy compared to Simba's.
This was Nala and Simba's biological mother, Poopa, when they were four days old. You can see Nala on top of the other kittens in the picture, she was the only calico of the five. She and Simba were the only two bobtails of the litter, the rest had normal tails, and they all looked like Simba. (The mother had like a half-normal length tail.) My friend who I got them from said of all the kittens Poopa ever had none of them ever came out looking like Nala except for Nala, so I guess she was truly unique, lol.
The next pictures aren't so good, I don't have a scanner any more, so I just used my camera to take pictures of pictures and cropped in on them after uploading them to the computer. These were all taken in the house I owned before buying the one we are in now. We lived there from December 1997 until August 2001. This is Nala in the cupboard that was above the fridge.
This one turned out crappy, but it was cute. Pumba when he was a baby (so probably November 1998) on top of the coffee table and Nala underneath. She never really did take to him very much, he was always an outcast, but in looking through my albums I was surprised at how many pictures I had of them together. Guess he just pushed his way in and thrust his presence upon her, lol. He DID get many a smack upside the head, though. Her tolerance of him became better once Simba was gone, but she was still Ruler of the Roost right up til the end.
Christmas 1998 - Guess this must have had catnip or something in it they liked with all of them all over it.
Nala used to growl and go on really badly at first when Pumba tried to eat the same time she did. You can't see it in this picture, but I had three bowls so they each had one, but of course whatever one she was eating out of he wanted to eat out of, too! Even though the dishes all had the same food.
Pumba and Nala.
This was from July 2001, Nala curled up in the Oldest One's infant car seat.
And these two are probably the last pictures I took of her. Snooping in Momma's purse, she was always rooting in my purse. Don't know what she was looking for, but she was always quite insistent!
She's a big miss for sure, after being with me for almost 16-and-a-half years. There's lots to get used to, like being able to close the basement door now. I keep seeing it closed and think, "Oops, open that door ajar so she can get to her litter box!" (Once Pumba became diabetic she refused to use the same litter box as him and would only use the one in the basement.) I brought the kids home some of the candy from the wedding reception that was wrapped in bags and tied with curling ribbon. I forgot to give it to them til Wednesday or so, and first thing I nearly said was, "Put the ribbon in the garbage so Nala doesn't eat it!" She used to like to lay on the basement steps, three or four down, so I keep looking for her when I go down the stairs so I don't step on her. It's getting better now that a week has passed, but I sure miss her!
Love you forever, Nala! XOXOXO
posted by lexa at
12:05 AM
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