A tribute I didn't want to have to write

Pico developed her third UTI in just as many months over the past weekend. We treated the first two, each with a month long course of antibiotics and multiple flushes of her SUB (fake ureter, placed in 2022 when she had a stone block her ureter). But we decided not to put her through that again. Her quality of life wasn't bad while on the antibiotics, but it wasn't great. So at a month short of her ninth birthday, we euthanized her at home after a gourmet meal of bacon and tuna steak. 

She spent the last few days before developing the UTI at her favorite place on earth, the North Carolina house. There are slick floors to slide on, stairs to stampede up and down, and sometimes surprise bacon hidden not quite out of her reach. 

She truly was the best cat. I work a lot of swing shifts and so arrive home between midnight and three am to a quiet house. We had a ritual where I would get ready for bed and then lay on the couch while she laid on my chest, purring, helping me let go of the stress of the day. That's where I'll miss her the most.

But her absence is felt everywhere since she was "the omnipresent cat". We joked that she was Bob from the movie What About Bob, "you think he's gone? He's not gone! That's the whole point, he's never gone!" She was always in the same room as me. I started setting up a towel to attract her off the yoga mat during my workouts. It only sometimes worked, she still often insisted on lolling on her back square in the middle of the mat. I, of course, worked out around her. 

She was the most people oriented cat I've ever met. She was infinitely trainable. I clicker trained her to beg on her hind legs and to give high fives. Ryan, not a cat person in general, trained her to politely ask before inviting herself onto his lap. She tried out new sounds all the time, sorting out which coos and chirps were best at getting her humans' attention. She always announced when she jumped down from things, but shockingly never made a sound when she was jumping up to explore the counters. 

She assessed new visitors and insisted on rubbing her face on their hand before allowing them to pet her. After that introduction she pretty much insisted on being petted. She had the softest fur and would deliver world class purrs for some good ear scratches. She always assumed they would adore her, and they universally did. 

One of my favorite pictures- her and my mom, my mom intent on reading and Pico confused about her lack of attention

She was incredibly playful as well and trained humans to play her games. A favorite was "Kitty volleyball" where she sat on top of her cat tree and smacked the toy mouse down when a person tossed it up to her. There was also "fetch, human" and a chase game. She was happy to help teach you the rules, but also had that cat characteristic of looking at you like you were completely out of your mind if you didn't play properly. 

She didn't like other cats, but tolerated most dogs and did meet almost all our baby poultry. She was the softest cat ever- she caught a mouse twice but failed to deliver any kind of killing bite. She thought about biting me once when I was holding her poorly for an IM iron injection, but she settled for just making four tiny red dots with her canines in my bicep. 

She was such a trooper for her extensive hospitalizations, surgeries, and treatments over the past 2+ years. She made friends with her doctors, nurses, and students. If she hadn't tolerated everything so well we wouldn't have kept going for so long. But this time, well, it was time. Her last day was full of cuddles, naps, and good food. She passed peacefully at home with the two people who loved her most. May we all be so lucky.