The Unfortunate but Likely Demise of Camie.

She's beautiful. The most beautiful cat I've ever owned. She's the sweetest, most tolerant animal my children have ever played with. Camie is loved. She's also missing.

Camie came to us nearly three years ago in New Mexico. We'd been trying to adopt a companion cat for our older domestic short hair, Stephie. Stephie was getting depressed, fat, and honery. We'd signed up to be a foster family at the local humane society. As a foster family, we helped take care of the baby kitties in our home. In the process, we hoped to find a well suited personality in one of the kittens for our family. They were soooooo cute! We had such fun taking care of them. Unfortunately, they all died. At the time our humane society had a respiratory virus running rampant among the cats. The little kittens had no chance. It didn't stop us from loving them. I cried each time I had to call the emergency line at the vet. I cried each time they informed me that after doing all they could do, the kittens had died. Eventually, the vet took pity on us. She suggested that she may be able to help us find a healthy cat from a distant area she frequently visited. At this other facility, testing for a new form of spay that avoids surgery. The tests were finished and the cats were in need of a home. She felt she could pick out one from the control group (one that had no experimental meds injected) for us. I said sure!

I didn't really know what to expect. I'd never adopted a "lab cat" before. She could be stressed from living in a cage and being handled and poked by sterile vet types all day. It was a huge gamble. I also had no idea what she'd look like. A few days or weeks (can't remember) later, our vet clinic called to inform us a cat was at their facility waiting for us. They'd updated all her shots and she'd already been spayed (in the traditional way). I could pick her up any time. I rushed down there, still not knowing what to expect. Our older cat, Stephie, was already peeved at us for the parade of little fur balls we'd brought in lately. I had no idea how this slightly older cat would interact with her. Since she was a bit larger, I was less concerned for either cat's safety. I picked her up and was surprised by her coloring. She's a calico. Her pattern of black, white and orange with white belie and feet was beautiful! Her nose was symmetrical. Half black, half orange. Her face was rounder than Stephie's face. She seemed calm.

When we got home, I placed her kennel in the middle of the room and let Stephie circle and sniff. After a bit, I opened the kennel door. Camie (we hadn't named her yet) jumped out and bounded up to Stephie and smacked her on the nose with her paw! It was hilarious. Stephie was so offended. Camie seemed to be saying "Hey, girl!" in a punk teen kind of way. I kept them apart for a few more days and eventually they tolerated each other. Stephie refused to play with Camie for a long time. They'd chase and wrestle but if any people were involved using cat fishing toys, etc., Stephie would snub the whole affair. The net result was that Stephie was too busy with surveillance to be depressed and too busy chasing and wrestling to stay fat. It was perfect. Eventually we had Camie de-clawed on her front paws as she developed the nasty habit of scratching wall and furniture corners. The whole family was in love with Camie.

Before moving from New Mexico, we added little Chica to the family. Chica is an all black domestic short hair cat we adopted from a vet in Texas while on a vacation. Chica had been raised by the vet since she'd been separated from her mom. She was a sweet little thing but showed the personality quirks of a cat who'd not been taught etiquette from her mother. Camie adopted her immediately. It was beautiful to see this other side of Camie. She was so nurturing! She'd bathe Chica, snuggle Chica, play with Chica. Stephie had finally made friends with Camie but was completely annoyed with Chica. Stephie had no patience for Chica. Only a few rare times have we seen Stephie allow Chica to sleep near her or share a small space with her. It was common to find Camie and Chica together in a ball hugging each other and bathing each other in a very motherly sort of way. It made us love Camie even more.

We'd move two times with our three cats. The changes in environment was tolerated as much as could be expected. Together they could manage. We'd leave them at home and go on vacations without them. Friends could check on them and all was well each time. We could predict their behavior. Stephie followed all our rules, snuggled us on her own terms and kept to herself with occasional romping fun with Camie or Chica, never with both. Camie would steel oatmeal right out of the bowl on the table if we didn't monitor the situation. Other foods she'd not be so bold about. She loved to climb and we'd often find her in the top bunk with either James or Melanie. Camie would let our toddler Laura practically lay on top of her. She was always patient and loved all of us. Chica was our sassy Latina personality. She followed no rules, did exactly what she wanted and didn't care what we wanted. She'd insist on being in our lap if she had to ignore 25 snubs on our part! We had a working relationship with all of them.

In our newest home, we started a remodel project. This project would turn our small garage (the cat domain) into a four room, very functional living space for us. In the process, the cats had to be moved outside. This in something they'd never experienced before. They'd all wanted to be outside at one time or another but we'd never allowed it. Due to my outdoor allergies, I didn't want the coming and going. It was all inside or all outside. We'd chosen to keep them inside where they were the safest. During remodeling, that was impossible. There wasn't room for all their stuff until the remodel was done. They hated it at first, all but Camie. The summer heat was too much for Stephie and Chica. It took them a while to adapt. Eventually, they'd all grow to love their new, open and natural digs. They'd love it to the point of refusing to come in when we wanted them in. They roamed the neighborhood (something that annoyed and worried me). We'd check on them daily and they were always fine. I looked forward to driving up to my house and seeing one or two of them in the front yard enjoying the shade. Usually Camie would be on the front porch lounging like the queen of Sheba.

As the remodel was wrapping up, we were considering bringing them back in full time. We'd let them come and go a little but by winter time, they'd be indoor full time again. The cats weren't too happy with this. Well, mostly Stephie was distressed by this. She hates change so much! Chica would come in for a bit but always wanted back out soon after. Camie liked it fine. She seemed to feel in control of the situation. She was completely confident that she could have it however she wanted. If she wanted in, she'd scratch the door. If she wanted out, she'd scratch the door. So smart!

I took for granted that it would always be this way. Cats live a long time, I was confident we'd have them around practically forever. Last week, midway through, we realized we hadn't seen Camie for a few days. She wanders so it wasn't unusual to have her disappear for a day or so. We called her and waited another day. After no sign of her, we called the local list of places you call when you loose a pet. No leads were generated. No one had reported a found cat. No one had taken a new stray into the vet. No phone calls were generated by the radio announcement. On Sunday, the door to door hunt was undertaken. Fliers were handed out. Every house in our block was targeted. Surely one of them had our sweet Camie in their home. There's only two possible reasons why she wouldn't come home to us. One, if a person prevented it (she could be in a shelter waiting for us to pick her up or in someones house) or if she were hurt or dead. We sincerely hoped it would be a person.

One neighbor gave us two possible leads. He'd seen two big dogs in our front yard up to some sort of mischief. He'd chased them off with a bee bee gun. Perhaps these dogs were looking for a fight or some cat lunch. The other lead, his daughter had seen a dead cat on the corner with similar coloring as Camie. No way to know for sure if it really was her.

Today, I plan to call whoever is in charge of collecting carcases and find out if they found her collar (it has our old address and phone number). I would like some kind of confirmation either way.

It's horrible. I look for her every day. I imagine I can see her in the distance, coming home to me. I miss her sweet personality. I miss her scratch at the door. The other cats are stressed out. Camie was the glue in their relationship. They don't come to the front yard any more. The kids are sad. Laura uses her signs to share a gruesome tale of Camie's demise by car. I feel so guilty. It is unreal that we'll never see Camie anymore. It's not possible for her to just disappear from the face of the earth! I pray that wherever she is, she's happy. I pray that she knows how much we love her. I believe there is a special place a beloved pet goes when they die. I'm sure I'll see Camie again someday. I don't think I'll ever get used to not having her around. I hope there's a miracle for our family and she'll just walk up to us again someday like nothing ever happened. If not. . . goodbye Camie. You were wonderful!