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December 30, 2008

Philomena Has Passed Away

Some of you got this in personal email as well:

Most of you know Philomena Mariko, my 22 year old calico cat whom I've had since 1999. And most of you know that she's been ill recently. Today she passed away very peacefully at approximately 2:45 pm at the Chestnut Hill Cat Clinic. My mother and I were there holding her. She died of kidney and heart failure, but we are very blessed that while she became noticably ill on Christmas night, she suffered very little and was only in pain in the last twenty-four hours or so of her life. For the most part she just purred contentedly as we petted her, even as she was clearly fading away. She had battled kidney disease since 2004, and has been getting subcutaneous fluids since that time, but had done so well that the kidney disease was under control until just about two weeks ago. We're very grateful that she suffered almost none at all and was able to die quietly and at peace surrounded by the people who love her.

Philomena was already an older kitty when she came to live with me on July 3, 1999. We believe that she first lived with an elderly lady, as she was found at a vet's office in a paper bag stapled shut with a note that read, "This was Grandma's cat. We don't want her anymore." She was clearly raised by someone who loved her dearly, as she's always been extrarordinarily affectionate.

She then came to live with a friend of my friend Kate Mills, who loved her very much but had to give her up when she was evicted from her apartment. Then she came to be in Kate's care, and Kate was desperate to find her a good home because while Kate adored the kitty, Kate is deathly allergic to cats. She knew how much I loved my kitties so she asked me to take Philomena. So in July of 1999, two days after our election victory at Cooper Hospital in Camden, NJ, my friend Lisa, my mother and I drove up to Brooklyn to collect the kitty, then called Miss Peabody because she was so prim and proper, her owners said.

I wanted to give her a more graceful name than Miss Peabody, and I discussed the problem with two of our Cooper organizing committee members a few days before the vote. Their names were Philomena and Mariko, and I decided on the spot to name her after them. What better name for a stray cat survivor from Brooklyn than the names of two trauma ICU nurses from Camden? Though her name was Philomena, she was frequently still called Miss P or Philo.

For ten years she lived with me and was my great joy. She slept most nights on my pillow, purring with her little paw on my face. She loved to share my regular insomnia attacks with me, and we'd spend hours petting and purring in the night while I counted up votes on an election campaign in my head or planned strategy or just lay there being grateful for my sweet kitty.

She never did get along with Kieffer, my giant gray tabby, and they had to live separately. In recent years they've each owned their own floor of our house, leading to MR referring to them as "Upstairs Cat" and "Downstairs Cat" at times. She lived to to an incredibly old age, and while she took meds for kidney problems, thyroid disease and at the very end, anemia, she was happy and vigorous and loving right on through the very last days. She loved nothing more in life than to be petted, and would snuggle for hours on end. Her purr was so loud that friends could hear her loud and clear through the phone. She accompanied me to Vermont for eight months where I led the campaign at Fletcher Allen while she protected our little apartment from any intruder kitties who would dare to approach her screen door. While she never quite forgave MR for taking up so much space on her side of the bed, she was grateful for the consistency that his presence in our lives brought, with feeding anytime during the day and good care while I was away for long work days or out of town. He was especially kind during her last days, petting her and helping me give her fluids and holding me while I cried for what seemed like days on end as it was clear that the end was near. She loved pink salmon in a can and turkey, and had lots of those in her last months. She enjoyed our family Christmas turkey, and even had a few bites the morning that she died.

Philomena was a tremendous blessing, and will be terribly missed. I am so grateful that she was able to go in peace, with very little suffering. Would that we would all live such long and happy lives and die with so much grace.

I will be keeping a prayer vigil tonight in hopes that her spirit moves peacefully into the next life. I will also be making a donation to Big Cat Rescue in her honor.

I hope that you enjoy your New Year's celebrations, and please do raise a glass to little Miss Philomena.

thank you,
a

Posted by april at December 30, 2008 2:59 PM

Comments

Posted by: Dommi at December 30, 2008 3:39 PM

Posted by: Ali at December 30, 2008 3:41 PM

Posted by: Rachel at December 30, 2008 3:47 PM

Posted by: breagha at December 30, 2008 9:29 PM

Posted by: Amanda at December 31, 2008 11:05 AM

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