Ava Tribute

Ava

This morning, Tina's beloved cat Ava passed away.

We found her lying outside, barely breathing. We rushed her to the local vets, but she died during the journey. He examined her and said she'd probably been hit by a car. She struggled back home before she passed away.

Tina is devastated. She utterly adored Ava. As far as she was concerned, the only good thing about me dragging her back to America was to be back with her little cat.

Ava was her own character. We only reluctantly installed cat flaps to let her come in and out of the house because she utterly refused to be housebound. She was a very happy cat and brought us reluctant 'presents' every other morning, in varying states of alive-ness.

When we used to come home every day, we'd hear her meow "hello" as the key turned in the lock. And she'd already colonised the house, with toys in every room and the second bedroom designated 'Ava's room.'

So there is a massive hole in our lives now. I'm very sad about the little cat, but what I'm really sad about is how it has effected Tina. For such a small little animal, she was the recipient of an awful lot of love. Tina has always loved animals, but she's never had a pet quite like Ava and a little bit of Tina died when Ava did.

Obviously I should be grateful that we haven't lost any person we're close to. People lose children and parents every day. But the grieving process is still very real and watching what Tina's going through makes me very upset.

On a day to day basis, I'm your basic God-fearing person. But when you see somebody grieving you wonder what sense it makes in the great cosmic plan. It's cruel and it's unfair. Ava should have spent a long time with Tina. She was going to come along with us on our journey. It's simply unfair that she was taken away from Tina after only a month of them being together again.

Death seems deeply cruel. I find it very, very difficult to consolidate the pain and sadness it causes with the beliefs I have.

But these philosophical questions don't really matter. All that matters is that a little furry person came into our lives and made a real difference and now she's not here any more.

I wish there was some way I could make Tina feel better.

I wish that Ava could have stayed in this morning, instead of going out for her morning hunt.

I wish that this tiny little furry thing - that brought Tina big furry happiness - hadn't been taken away from her when she needed her the most.

Goodbye, Ava. You will be missed.

The Predator, the Savior and the Apathetic Onlooker

Currently, I'm keeping my ambitions modest and achievable. For Saturday, my project was simply to remain in bed past 7am. Unfortunately, I was thwarted in this ambition by plaintiff cries emerging from underneath the bed.

The cries were coming from a little wounded Robin, lodged firmly in Ava's jaws.

We deposited the crippled bird outside and Ava retired to her bed, licking her chops. Right now she's lying there, dreaming of more wildlife she can massacre.

Tina always does her best to help Ava's wounded prey. Unfortunately, catch-and-release doesn't really work once Ava's fangs have done their work. Tina wanted to help the little Robin, but I could tell the poor thing was a goner.

With squirrels, birds and groundhogs roaming happily in our yard, we'll have to get used to Ava's little gifts. We prefer mice to the birds, however. The birds are normally alive - albeit mangled. The mice arrive on our kitchen floor neatly missing their front halves and that eliminates the problem of catching them. And it makes clean up a lot easier.

Right now, whenever Ava prowls through the long grass, the birds have started screeching and the squirrels peer down angrily from the power lines. They've set up an early warning system that our little Bengal finds very frustrating.

This has led to Ava developing an observation platform in the spare room, where she can maintain a look out through the glass without alerting any of her potential victims. Then, as they frolic in the yard, she can stalk out and pounce on them.

A quick word with Mommy has led to Ava's bed being shifted into the spare room, so she can take a little cat nap between look-out shifts. Considering her bed is now the only item of furniture there, it looks like our spare room/office has now become Ava's room.

A cat with her own bedroom?

She's ridiculously spoilt.

Constant Companion

Things my wife has only started doing since she returned to America... Chapter One.

Taking the cat for 'walkies.'

Reunited With Kitty

After two years, Tina finally got to be with her Bengal Leopard Cat, Ava, again. She's a VERY eccentric little cat and ended up bitchslapping me the first time we met, knocking my specs across the room!