I post pictures of Maggie and refer to her often. Some of you knew her personally, but most
did not. Maggie aka The Beautiful Maggie aka My Beloved Maggie turned my world upside down when she came into my life in May 2004. Of course, I didn’t know that at the time. I just thought I was trying to save a litter of kittens in my yard – her kittens.
At the insistence of a local rescue, I was persuaded to “steal” her babies from her for their own good. After I had them, the local rescue declined to take them because the rescue was full. I was a freaked-out “dog person” with four baby kittens, one of whom was really sick and I had absolutely no idea what I was doing.
Somehow, we all survived. And – as only a person who had never had a kitten would ever do – I kept all four of them. They were dubbed “The Hoodlums” by their vet, although many hoodlum kittens followed so they became known as The Originals aka the founding members of The Pile.
Meanwhile, Maggie went on to replace that litter with another…and three more after that one. I managed to catch all of her twenty kittens and twelve grandkittens over the next two years, but not Maggie. She was wily and refused to go into a trap no matter what I tried. Eventually she “surrendered” herself by allowing me to close the door when she was inside the house. This was exactly two years – minus one day - after I met her. She hissed at me for a few days and then jumped up on the bed to snuggle and became my heart cat.
Maggie was reunited with The Originals and there was no mistaking the fact they all remembered each other, even though they’d been separated at 5 weeks of age and two years had elapsed since they’d seen each other. She loved all her babies…but this first batch was special. Maggie was tiny but she was the mom and she set the tone. Every rescue cat who – after clearing quarantine – temporarily joined the group was welcomed warmly by her, and thus by everyone else. I never her saw her even neutral about another cat, let alone hostile. She comforted many a hospice/dying cat as well as teaching manners to many orphan bottle baby kittens.
She was in my life for 13 years, 11 of them as a tame and loving housecat. Our world changed in late March 2015 when I noticed a small swelling in her cheek below her eye. I took her immediately to the vet and my worst fears were confirmed. She had cancer, specifically oral squamous cell carcinoma. Relentless, fast moving and “laughs at everything we throw at it” to quote her oncologist. All we could offer her was “comfort care” as it moved quickly. The only good thing about it, if you can call it good, it is not painful. On April 28, 2015 we had to say goodbye. Those thirteen years had been quite a ride and I was broken-hearted at losing her. But I cannot imagine what my life would have been like had I never met her.
She made me a “cat person.” She was directly responsible for my return to the horse world after decades away. She introduced me to animal rescue – specifically special needs rescue – a place where I feel the most “me” that I’ve ever felt in my life.
She changed my life and I will never forget her.
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