my cat Storm passed away. i’m pretty heart broken, i loved her a lot.

Storm was already an adult cat when i adopted her from the animal shelter. my other cat Scratchy was so bored and miserable at home alone while i spent way too many hours at work so i wanted to get him a companion. like Scratchy when i adopted him, Storm was the cat at the shelter no one wanted. she was completely nuts but to me she was adorable.

her name at the shelter was Zephyr but i named her Storm after her disposition. i gave her her own room so she could take her time getting used to her new home, me, and Scratchy. she’d hiss and swipe at me every day when i brought her fresh food and water. i was expecting that and figured it would take a week or two for her to adjust to her new surroundings. it took a lot longer than that!

Scratchy was so happy to have another cat around and always wanted to play with her. Storm wanted nothing to do with him. she’d hiss at him when he came too close and sometimes chase him around the apartment. Scratchy never knew how to hiss until Storm taught him. i felt like this might have all been a bad idea with Scratchy now hissing and Storm being this insane gremlin that wouldn’t let either of us near her.

i think it took a few months for her to finally feel comfortable. she would come to me to be petted but only exactly how she wanted. if i pet too fast or too slow or with the wrong hand she’d freak out and bite! she didn’t like normal cat toys - only bottle caps. she looooved bottle caps. she also loved sleeping on weird rough things like book bags and paper bags. i imagined she must have been a stray and used to sleeping on gravel and playing with trash.

she would pick different random places to make her bed and territory. for some time it would be a particular chair or a random bag that was left on the floor or a tangle of computer cables on the desk. that time cracked me up actually. by then i worked at home and she had taken up residence behind my computer monitor. i’d be lost in code typing away and randomly out of nowhere a paw would fly out from under the monitor and claw my fingers or grab a pen or the mouse i was trying to use.

taking her to the vet was an absolute nightmare. she’d flip out and refuse to get in a carrier. at the vet they’d have to put her in a plastic box and gas her to sleep so they could give her shots. poor girl she was so crazy.

i don’t even know when it happened… i guess it was a very slow progression, but eventually she just became the sweetest, warmest, and most loving cat. while Scratchy kept busy watching animals out the windows, Storm was my work companion. on the desk, an extra chair next to mine, or directly on my lap, she spent the day watching me and being my coding buddy. she always needed to smell my beverages before i could drink them like some kind of personal food taster. 😊

every night i held Storm and told her what i got done that day and she’d listen attentively until she got mischievious and would paw at or lick my face and neck and turn her head upside down. if i went to bed without this nightly ritual she’d scream and yell until i came out and gave her the attention.

i’m going to miss my little gremlin so much. 😔