One of my best friends passed over to the other side today.

Friends can come in all shapes and sizes, and she was particularly beautiful.  A grey Egyptian Mau cat, with long legs and the cutest pointy mouse face when she got excited.  She was nearly 13, and had developed tumours in her belly and intestine.  She hadn’t been able to eat for days, and so we had to do the right thing by her, and not allow her to starve to death. The vet came over this morning and, as she was sleeping on her favouite chair in a sunbeam in the conservatory after many, many cuddles, he put her to sleep – she passed away within seconds.

It’s hard to see a loved one become ill, and harder to let them go.  There is a special bond, I find, with cats that no other relationship can compare.  I find that cats love us not out of need, but because they want to – they choose to.  I have known cats who left their homes and went elsewhere where they were better taken care of, or where they were able to love the people they lived with on their own terms.  Cats most definitely are independent and strong, but can also be the most loving and steadfast friends one can ever have.

Caia loved her cuddles, but she was also content to simply share space with me.  That feeling of companionship, where no words were needed, when it was simply enough to just sit on the sofa side by side and breathe.  We would go for a walk around the garden together and then sit down and watch the sunset.  She loved it when we went outside – she often greeted us and inspected our gardens with us, or supervising us when we were hard at work in them.

She was a fast cat – the grey streak we called her when that was all that we could see dashing across the lawn.  Luckily for the birds, frogs, mice and voles that she caught she didn’t have any teeth left, and so they were released back into the garden, albeit a little soggy.

She was the most beautiful cat I had ever seen. All our neighbours knew her and commented on her striking grey coat with black spots.  She would sit in our neighbour’s workshop at the bottom of his garden when he was doing his wordwork, sleeping on a chair by the door while he made the most wonderful things.  She liked to keep people company  – she often sat on their deck as well and hung out with them.

There is truly something special about  a relationship where there is no need, no want.  Yes, of course she needed a good home, food and shelter and love like we all do. But simply sitting with another being, whether that is cat, tree, mountain or husband, when no words are needed, when nothing is desired, when there is no grasping, no demands – that is where our souls can truly touch each other, in pure and perfect relationship.

Caia was a great friend and I was truly honoured to have shared in a good part of her life.  She will be sorely missed by my husband, myself and our other cat, Kiri.  She was a proud and regal boo, one moment gazing loftily at her garden domain, the other moment all kittenish and playing.  There was a special bond created between us that was not born out of need, but out of love.  Soul to soul we touched each other’s lives, and for that I am ever grateful.