Thena

When I woke up at 13:00 or so today, Gail was sprawled beside me and Thena was in a loaf between my pillow and the edge of the bed. As per tradition, Foo raced me down the stairs and started asking for breakfast. I sat down at the computer to check e-mail while she purred and paced back and forth. Suddenly she stepped on the keyboard, which is very unusual for her, and then fell into my lap. Her legs were in a strange position and when I touched them I realized they were completely limp -- as if she had no bones at all. She growled two or three times and made some choking/hairball noises. I realized her whole body, not just her legs, was limp as I ran over toward our phone and the phone book. I laid her down in her bed and began looking for emergency veterinarians, and something made me look over. I realized that she hadn't moved at all, and I couldn't see her breathing. I went over and tried to see if she was, and only then I realized that she was probably dead instead of just suddenly paralyzed. I went back and called the first vet whose name I saw, and they said to bring her in if I thought they could save her. I called Andy to let him know what was going on, and he told me to hurry to the vet. They couldn't bring her back.

Update

Thanks to everyone who replied to my post from earlier today, and to those who called. I'm still stunned as to the suddenness of it all -- there was just absolutely no indication anything was wrong until she fell. I'm definitely somewhere in the shock and denial stages of grief, and I keep thinking I hear her getting ready to say something.

Andy and Mom are as devastated as I am. Mom took care of Thena while I was in college. She wrote e-mail saying how much she loved when Thena would sit on her book or play with her pen, which she always took as a sign that it was time to stop homework for the night. Pamela also called and mentioned what a good kitty Thena was -- she'd always joked around about Thena before, and I think this is the first time she ever called Thena good. Thena was everything we could hope for in a cat. All I can do is hope that somewhere in heaven she's eating chicken marinated in tuna juice, and dividing her time between curling up with Mandy and sitting in Grandpa's lap.

The furniture arrived today. It's extremely bittersweet, since my whole reason for wanting a couch so much was so that Thena could curl up in my lap properly. Although she did curl up in my lap in the computer chair on Sunday night, she rarely did so otherwise. On the other hand, when Andy used to play Final Fantasy and I'd sit and watch from the comfy chair or couch, she always played lap-kitty. Andy has to give his Siggraph talk tomorrow, so please think good thoughts or send prayers or whatever his way. Gail was her usual adorable self as she explored the entertainment center, and made me laugh several times today. We really got lucky with our two kitties -- I just wish I'd had longer than eleven years with Foo.