We will never forget...

Picky-Picky...born, late summer of 1997-died, today, February 9, 2010, with her family around her after a long illness. She came to us feisty and so cute she was heart breaking, she left us just as full of life, love, and determined to beat the odds. We will miss her.

When we first found her living outside with the rest of the barn cats in the fall of 1997, she ran around only by the power of her front legs... we weren't sure if she was a cat, she moved so fast, tumbling off the porch and disappearing, we'd look at each other and ask..."What was that?"

When we finally captured her the day before Thanksgiving 1997 (as I recall, it was a very snowy and bitter cold autumn that year), she entered our home fighting, and certainly not wanting any part of people... our son caught her in the midst of the barn cat feeding frenzy on the porch that morning, handed her off to me, and I tucked her inside my coat, where she fought, hissed, clawed, and bit... I dropped her off inside the bathroom while my Fred was getting ready for work, the bathroom was warm and steamy from our showers, so she warmed up, and once she got a dish of food all to herself...she changed her mind about people rather quickly. Within a few hours of being inside where it was warm, her little hind legs began to work, and she toddled about, and found "lap" very acceptable.

Her first trip to the vet, she was declared to be a 'unique little kitty' and we were cautioned that she might not live much beyond her first year because of her various physical handicaps.

Just the tiniest of paws...

At her prime, she might've tipped the scales at 8lbs, she never got bigger than a 6 month old kitten. Her spine was severely curved with scoliosis, and her hind quarters were crippled, she crab-walked in an odd gait with her tail whipping around like a rudder keeping her going straight... watching her run was a sight to see, the little hind legs would swing wildly one way, the tail the other...
A Picky on my shoulder! My what big green eyes she had!

The last five years, she slowly went blind from glaucoma, and her hind quarters were becoming weak, she'd tumble over very often, and kept within a small territory of the kitchen and dining room area. A urinary tract infection and chronic constipation due to the weakness in her hind quarters became a quality of life issue that we could not overlook, we didn't want her to suffer, so today after treatment with antibiotics, our vet advised us that we should put her to sleep... it was the kindest thing to do. She lived a long life with lots of love, and she made us so happy. A unique little kitty.


Picky-Picky's first Christmas (sleeping in Gramma's lap)


Picky-Picky loved taking walks on her leash... how many cats do?

She loved finding the sunny places...


Picky-Picky was very often described as being shaped like a bowling pin...not usually a very good model for photographs, she was very busy...
This was the first photo...she was famous for moving at the last second...


A linocut from October of 1998...

She was always a treat to draw...I thought about a children's book at one time... a Halloween tale "Scare D. Cat", this was a preliminary pen and ink drawing... I didn't get very far with the story.


I cannot begin to tell you how much I will miss my little girl.