Shiva

While I was in Connecticut scoping out kindergartens for Lucy, I learned that my beloved companion of 13 + years was killed by some sort of wild creature in the neighborhood.

Shiva has been with me longer than anyone I know, - 13 years, minus the few he spent with my brother while I went to college. He was adopted by Todd, who loved him as much as I did.

I got him when he was a sickly but wily little orange kitten. He had a cold of some sort that lasted for so long that it scarred his tear ducts and was plagued his entire life with a drippy eye. It was because of this that I became interested in nutrition and supplements (for pets) which led to my general interest in nutrition and health, which in turn leads me to where I am today.

He slept on my pillow when he was tiny and gradually grew and grew until he took over the whole thing and I had to get one of my own. He slept next to me until Lucy was born at which point he took a hiatus from the screaming and then from the bouncing and general loudness of children. He recently began to join me in bed again each night even if just for a quick scratch and purrfest.

He wasn't too crazy about the new addition we got to the family last year, either. Stellaluna tamed him, and though he pretended to merely tolerate her, but I knew he secretly loved her.

Though he was a curmudgeon, he always knew when I was sad or sick and came to sit and cuddle with me. He killed MANY rats since moving in here and left them partially eaten or intact as lovely gifts. I joked that the rats had an uprising and ultimately got him back in the end. You never know...

He began to become more ornery of late, pissing on the oven when we were too slow in feeding him. Though impatient about food, he also became more affectionate as he grew older. Sitting with us on the couch to get scratched and to fart.

I miss him terribly. I loved him as a real member of my family and it is hard for me to come home without his warm greeting.