Sweet Juvy

Our precious joyous sweet happy loving girl Juvy

went to Heaven last Monday (January 6, 2020).

We've been grieving.

Today's post is all about Juvy.

Sorting through my photos and videos has been a nice way to mourn

and to honor our sweet and joyful girl.

I realize it's unlikely that anyone besides me will look

at this entire post or watch these videos, but it's important to me

that this post exists and that Juvy exists.

She was the boys' (Stephen and Allistair's) biological grandmother,

according to the neighborhood cat genealogist 

(thanks for keeping us updated, Tia!)

She loved to sit on our laps and PURR.

She didn't have a big meow, but she had a huge purr.

She wanted to be on my lap even if someone else was already there!

She loved to wrestle clean laundry.

When I was gone from the house,

Allistair took his whale, Wanda, wherever he wanted me to be,

and Juvy took numerous mousies.

Sometimes the mousie ended up in unexpected places!

(She often tossed them high up into the air!)

She would play with her mousie and make this funny croaking sound:

I loved having FOUR cats piled as close to me as possible,

Our bouncy, pouncy girl.

Wrestling with Dinosaur Doug:

Juvy was playful almost her entire life.

She took wonderful care of me when I was at my sickest

and when I injured my ankle 

(she's sitting right on my belly, keeping me safe and cozy).

She liked to be near when I was riding my exercise bike, too.

I was even lucky enough to sometimes have TWO kitties helping me exercise!

She helped me start to do yoga again after my injury, too!

One of the things that makes me happiest is to have cats around

while I'm doing stuff (especially relaxing in the evening with a book).

Greg's heart is hurting because of our loss, too.

He is a wonderful Daddy with a huge tender heart

and our babies LOOVE him.

Juvy had been a homeless cat for awhile (we don't know how long),

and even after she became an indoor cat, she enjoyed having a browse through the leaves

and a roll in the dirt.  We supervised her so she wouldn't get hurt or encounter any other creatures.  She would ask to go out multiple times per day.  I know it's part of grief to think about regrets; I regret not going out with her more.

Her Daddy went out with her often, too.

Here is her special spot to roll in the dirt.

As I mentioned, our cats love their Daddy.

Here are four (can you count them all?) waiting because

they heard his truck drive up.

There he is!!!

Everyone loves when the windows are open 

and when they can sniff through the screens.

Juvy was almost always a very happy girl full of playfulness and love.

She was very good at helping me pack when I was going on a trip!

She beautified every room with her presence and sweet spirit.

Juvy had a beautiful nosey and I loved to kiss it and press on it.

She had beautiful feet, too.

Very delicate and soft.

Even the inside of her mouth was decorated.

I took this picture when there was a thunderstorm going on outside.

Both Juvy and Allistair were clearly happy to be INSIDE, cozy and

warm and getting cuddles.

I was, too.

Over the past few months (actually, it's been about six, now that I think about it),

Juvy had a few bouts of a mysterious illness.  She would get less playful and not eat or drink much for a few days.  She would sleep a lot, I would feed her special food (like chunk chicken!),

and she would start to feel better again.  We brainstormed what could have caused these bouts (something toxic from outside? a virus? a chemical in the house?) but didn't come up with anything solid.  Last Friday she was wheezing.  I called the vet, but they didn't have any appointments available.  Saturday I took her to the emergency vet.  I waited 4+ hours and only found out that they thought she might have an upper respiratory infection.

They wanted to do x-rays and blood work, but I decided to take her home (it was 8 pm on a Saturday and I needed to be at church on Sunday morning early) and keep our Monday appointment with the regular vet.  I thought everything would be quicker and less expensive.

I was happy to be able to sit with her and to be able to take her home again.

She was very happy to get home.

By Monday morning, she was breathing with her mouth open and her cute little pink tongue poking out.  It was clear that she needed help sooner than my early afternoon appointment.  I called 5 different vets trying to get an appointment quickly, and I found one.  I probably should have just gone back to the emergency vet, but I still thought probably that she needed medicine and then would be all right.  The vet did the blood work (looked good) and the x-ray.  The x-ray showed a large mass in her trachea that was blocking her airway.  They referred me back to the emergency vet, where they could do more in-depth testing because they had better equipment.

It was clear very quickly that there was nothing else that could reasonably be done for our sweet girl.  The mass couldn't be removed without removing part of her trachea, as well, and they didn't know that they could even do surgery because it would have been difficult to get the breathing tube past the mass.  The vet and staff were wonderful and kind.  They kept Juvy on oxygen (can you imagine the cute little mask?!) the whole time I was waiting and until Greg could get there.

We cried together and remembered our fondest, happiest memories of Juvy.

When they brought her in to us, she was clearly happy to see us.

She sat on my lap looking pretty for 10 minutes or so.  

We put our hands on her and told her what a good girl she had been.

We thanked her for taking such good care of us and for bringing so much joy into our lives.

She tried to purr.

It was clear that she was having a lot of trouble breathing, so we called in the doctor.  They had already hooked up the IV, so the process was quick and painless for Juvy.  It was very painful for us.

We miss her every day.

I created a little shrine with one of my favorite photos, a whisker (taped to that white paper behind the frame), and a mousie.

Here are some loud Juvy purrs.



We miss you, sweet Juvy.
You were a gift.
You are precious and loved.
Thank you for finding us and loving us so well.
Thank you for leaving us with so many happy memories
and so much overwhelming love.

your Momma & Daddy


P.S.  For some more memories of Juvy, please take a peek at the very beginning of this blog, which started with the birth of Juvy's five beautiful kittens.
Start here.



I picked up her ashes today, along with a little foot print.