Thursday 5 March 2015

R.I.P. Banshee



Sadly, we had to have wee Banshee p.t.s. today.  She had been with us 14 years, and for the last year or so had failing eyesight (cataracts and possibly high blood pressure).

It seems so long ago when I was driving up our beautiful valley and what I thought was a baby polecat ran across the lane in front of me.  I stopped the car, to find a tiny stripey kitten regarding me from the grass verge.  She was totally unafraid, and when I picked her up, spent the rest of the journey climbing all over me, through the steering wheel, round my neck, and across the dashboard. You can imagine the expression on my childrens' faces when I walked in the room and said "Look what I've found" and deposited tiny Banshee on Gabby's lap.  She was so small she fitted in the palm of your hand and obviously hadn't had a good start in life.  She never grew beyond half grown kitten size.

She got her name from her loud imperious voice.  She was a Princess Cat.  She liked to sleep in the strangest places, especially if they were high up (the top of the fridge freezer was her preferred winter choice for several years).  She liked to be warm.  She liked cheese, and would demand it at the top of her voice (which could be very annoying, and she soon had us fully trained.)  She refused point blank to use the cat flap, never EVER.  That was for Common cats.  So were litter trays.  Filthy places.  She would only ever deign to use one if she was sufficiently desperate and if it was absolutely clean and untainted by Other Cats having Used It.  Equally fussy about drinking water she took to coming upstairs to our bedroom and drinking out of my husband's bedside glass of water.  One day he had drank some at breakfast time so she went off in high dudgeon as he had obviously polluted it!

We would regularly lose her and she would turn up in boxes, shopping bags, dangling over a warm radiator or - a favourite one with her - amongst the tinsel bag of the Christmas decorations.

In the summer she would take herself off to the little field opposite to hunt, and would only come back home when hunting had been bad and she was hungry, and then off she would go again, unless it was raining.  She didn't like that.

She will leave a huge gap in our lives.  I have been crying all day and my eyes are so sore now.  I know it was the right thing to do - the vet said she might have only just been able to see shadows in the end - but it doesn't make it any easier.


20 comments:

  1. So sorry BB. The trouble with having pets is that their lives are shorter than ours and we have to make these awful decisions. Think of how lucky she was to find you and what a lovely life she has had.

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  2. She sounded like a bundle of fun she chose you and you gave her a wonderful life in return she has left you with wonderful memories, sorry to hear of your loss

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  3. I am so, so sorry. You know how I feel about this. I send blessings flung far across the sea to you. May Banshee meet all of mine and everyone at the Rainbow Bridge.
    Hugs to you.

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  4. I'm so sorry my dear. Xx

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  5. Hugs BB its never easy what a beauty

    xx

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  6. So sorry.
    That is the hard part, they come into our life with much joy
    and then they leave us in tears.

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  7. Thank you all so much for your kind comments. I think I was already on an emotional high because of my friends' illnesses, and this was the final blow. When an animal has come to the end of its life, when they aren't eating etc, then this decision is so much easier. Ban enjoyed her food still, and snuggling up to the radiator, but was running into other cats and getting lost in the hall (we had put some odds and sods there which she wasn't expecting). It's about quality of life too and this past week that had deteriorated.

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  8. I think I shall echo Pat, you gave her a marvellous life, and she repaid you with her quirky ways. The sad part is the losing of our pets, maybe she will go hunting in a cat's paradise who knows...

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  9. I am so very sorry to hear the sad news :( Its a lovely tribute to her and you gave her a wonderful life.

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  10. So hard to lose a beloved pet, scares us from replacing them, but you should. You know there's a kitty out there who needs your love.

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  11. sorry jennie, i know how hard this is,

    leanne x

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  12. I hope you don`t mind this blast from the past commenting but I did so much want to say how sorry I am to read about little Banshee. What a wonderful life she had with you though. Such a hard decision to make but the kindest and most dignified. Huge hugs to you Jennie.

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  13. Thank you all so much for your kind words. polly - fancy seeing you here. Thank you for posting and getting in touch again.

    Leanne - I hope that Merlin will make a full recovery soon.

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  14. I'm so sorry to read your bad news, having experienced it too many times myself, I know how heartbreaking a feeling it is. She sounded like a wonderful quirky cat and had a fantastic life with you. I hope your poor eyes are not so bad today.

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  15. Such a heartwarming story BB. Little Ban was so fortunate to find you all those years ago.
    A pretty little cat and one who knew exactly what she wanted from life! What a good life she had too.

    Thinking of you.xx

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  16. Holding you close as you process this loss. It is one of life's hardest times when we lose those we love so much. She sounded like a good kitty and tons of fun to have around. Bless you for picking her up that evening and giving her a fab life.

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  17. Suzie - thank you. It never gets any easier. With a really old cat whose health has failed we can accept it so much better, but in every way apart from her eyesight, she was fine and still eating us out of house and home. My eyes took a couple of days to get de-puffed, but the tears are still never far away.

    SW - thank you. I know that you went through this with both your old boys recently, so the emotions will still be fresh with you. She was spoilt rotten, all the time, and happy with us. Now she's with Uncle Foggy and all the others who went before her, at Rainbow bridge.

    Lynda - thank you too. She was such fun and would practically climb in the fridge for cheese or ham! Missing her so.

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