Catpone Cerberus

I was just informed that Miuku, our oldest cat has passed. 

20 years ago, my parents found a lone, malnourished kitten surviving in the yard of my father's childhood home; she was old enough to eat solid food, so they gave her tuna. Later, as a family, we went there, trapped her with Tuna, and took her home. She was scared and very hostile, a wild cat, in every way. I was 6 years old. 

We were supposed to only keep her until she could be given to a home, but her stay became permanent. Slowly but surely, she learned to trust us, I was the first one she fell asleep on the lap of. She had many children until spayed, spreading joy to homes they were given to, Including Mäykky, who we kept, and passed away couple years ago. My current cat is a grandchild of Miuku, and a beacon of light in this dark world. 

To say she had an impact on my life, is an understatement, I am 26 years old, and for 20 years from that, most of my life, Miuku was there. A family member, the igniter of my love and care for cats, a source of happiness, she has molded me as a person, and future without her will be that little bit tougher. 

She was a tough lady, an outside cat most of her life, she was never sick, never injured; she single-handedly kept our neighborhood free of mice, and guarded her territory from wild-cats with iron-paw. Even in her last years, while age did take its toll, taking her hearing and energy, she was proud and dignified. But as tough she was, she too had her limit, and she had to be taken to a vet for the final nap to save her from pain. The vet apparently said that she was the oldest cat that they ever had done it to, which in my opinion is a testament to her resilience.

Born to the wild, you were faced with the worst the world had to offer. That determination never left you, you were a tough and dangerous, yet under the shell hardened by hardship, was a loving, friendly creature, that could bring light in the darkest of times. We grew up together, and while we may have not seen each other as often later in life, I never forgot you. 

Rest in peace little one, you for sure have deserved it, we will miss you, and we will never forget you.