my 12-yr-old cat went to kitty heaven today. i got her when she was abandoned at a vet's office when she was probably only a week old. she recently got diabetes and also was getting a little arthritic in her hips. but just this morning she got way beat up by a neighbor cat in our own backyard. i took her to the vet but she couldn't recover from the trauma so i had her put down. i totally blame myself -- i let her become an outdoor cat. i'll never allow that to happen again. she deserved my protection and i let her down.

i had made a "shrine" on my mantel with a mini curled-up gray tabby with a tag that says "who she is" and next to it a little lion in a bed of tall grass with a tag that says "who she thinks she is." the backyard was her own serengetti.

i really miss her hanging around. she always laid on the carpet in the living room, and would get up and follow anyone who walked into the kitchen. and she always came when i whistled. always.

morris, you were such a cutie. are you prancing around in heaven with my dad and his dogs?