I’ve been far too long since posting, and, sadly, it’s another bad news post. In late 2016, my parents adopted two cats and named them Misti and Bella. When my dad passed away in September 2022, my mom decided she wasn’t up to caring for pets, so I brought the cats home with me in November and helped rehome the dog with a friend of mine in New York.

Shortly after settling into our home, Misti decided she wanted to live upstairs, and Bella haunted my desk, driving me crazy by pushing papers off and walking across my keyboard (I can’t tell you how many empty folders she created on my desktop!). Bella was also very clingy — something she hadn’t been in Wisconsin. She also had a tendency to bury her head in my arm in an odd position. I’ve since learned that likely meant she had a headache.

I got home late Wednesday evening to discover her wedged between a litter box and a crate wall, cool to the touch and a little stiff, but her tail was flicking, and she cried out when I picked her up. I wrapped her in a blanket and held her through the night, convinced she would not be here in the morning, but she was, and she was even alert, responded to her name, and was holding her head up. I had cats to take to the vet for surgical procedures, so I took Bella with me. She was examined and labs were drawn. He kept her for the day. He ruled out easy things, could find no obvious trauma or heart problems on the x-rays, and concluded she’d suffered a seizure or a stroke. Given her slow recovery, we decided it was likely a stroke. She had regained her ability to sit and stand, was eating and drinking, and used the litter box this morning. By 4:30 this afternoon, she was exhibiting symptoms similar to what I came home to on Wednesday evening. At 5:40, upon veterinarian’s advice, I gave her a baby aspirin. By a little after six, her breathing was slow and deep. By 8, her breathing had slowed more and she was otherwise unresponsive. By 9 pm, she had passed.

Bella was a gentle, affectionate cat, and I’d love to have her exasperate me by pushing papers off my desk again. Rest in peace, dear girl.