Gigi
1992-June 4, 2006
It's a sad day here at our house. My little gigi-girl passed away this morning around 5:30. Friday evening, we noticed that she wasn't feeling well, she wouldn't eat or drink and was a bit wobbly when she walked. She wouldn't stay in my lap, which is a sure sign of a problem. I stayed up with her all night and we got to the vet's office as soon as they opened the doors at 8:00 in the morning. We had to take her to an animal hospital where they hooked her up to IV's and poke and prodded and did every test possible. She was in diabetic shock. She was there all night, but we got the call this morning at 6:00 that she was gone.
Thirteen years ago, before I ever knew him, Mr. Lucy went to pick up his new cat, a retired tonkinese show cat named Dune. While he was at the breeder, he saw a little box with three tiny kittens. One was going to be put down because she had crossed eyes and funny bent legs and would probably need surgery to correct her eyes. Mr. Lucy asked if he could take her too. She was Dune's daughter and he named her Gigi.
Gigi was the most un-cat-like cat I ever knew. She was never arrogant or snobby or indifferent to the humans around her. She was shy and didn't like a lot of noise, so she would hide when the house was too full of people, but otherwise she was usually in the same room as one of us. She always came when I called her. Every night at bedtime I would ask "Where's Gigi?" and she would hop up on the bed. She liked to sleep in the crook of my arm. She loved to be warm. She was always finding her way into my lap, sometimes without my even realizing it. I'd be watching TV and knitting or just sitting and reading and look down and there she was. She would even sneak into the bathroom when she saw me heading in there. Just slip right through the door before I would get it shut. I guess she thought that if I was going to be sitting there, doing nothing, I might as well have a cat to keep me company.
Despite her crossed eyes, she was a good little hunter. Once, as I was getting out of the shower, I spotted a lizard in the bathroom (I still have no idea how he got in there!). I went and got Gigi and she chased him around the bathroom and just had a good old time. She'd do the same with spiders and any other little thing that moved. After the lizard incident, I caught her in the bathroom many times, creeping around the bathtub, still looking for that darn lizard.
She and Reggie were special friends. Every evening she would throw herself down on the floor in front of him for her nightly bath. He would lick and lick and lick her. She loved it, and rolled around so he could get her all clean. They played together too, and she let him herd her around the house.
One of her little quirks was her love of tape and paper and glue and boxes. When I tore off a sheet from the lint roller, she would come running so she could nibble on it. It was like Christmas to her when we'd bring home a box. Especially one with packing tape. It would keep her entertained for hours. We have a few books and magazines with little Gigi teeth marks where she chewed on the corners.
She had the prettiest little feet I ever saw
She walked like a little supermodel, putting one dainty paw in front of the other.
If I wasn't sure where she was, I just had to look for the sunny windowsill. She would follow the sunshine around the house.
We have a rose bush in our yard called 'Miss Gigi', we dug it up and put her little body deep underneath it.
There is a big hole in my heart that will never be filled again. She was my gigi-girl. I loved her.
