1998 – 2014
Beatrice, who was then named “Mooky” came to us when she was between the age of one and two. The friend who gave her to us had a house full of cats. “Mooky” curled-up on my lap and did not want to get off. Her then owner said; “Why don’t you take her? She really doesn’t do well with lots of other cats (like 15). She curls up and hides all day and rarely comes out to eat”, so we made arrangements to take her that next week. We had just brought Floris’ cat Maja, to our apartment a few months before and she was adjusting nicely. We brought “Mooky” home and there was an all out cat fight and she hid for 3 days. We had to literally pull her out from under the file cabinet. It took a while for her, but the 2 cats adjusted.
We named her “Beatrice” because she reminded me of Buffy’s doll, from the tv series “Family Affair”, who had that name. She had these two big round dark brown eyes and an elegant woman’s ere of sophistication in the way she sauntered around the house. When she’d lay, one front paw was perfectly crossed over the other with her head at rest on them in elegance. BeBe would soon be affectionately called our “Special” cat. She was not the “brightest” cat and we had to spend time teaching her not to be deathly afraid and skittish of everything! She didn’t know how to play at all! In those first few years, if you jiggled a toy, or gently rolled a ball, or even accidentally dropped a roll of toilet paper, she’d take off like “a bat out of hell”! One day she dove at the wall like for no reason! Then she did it again and again! It was like what the heck! I noticed it was sunny out and Floris had a wristwatch on. I noticed that the sun would reflect off the watch and hit the wall when Floris turned his arm just right, and BeBe would fiercely attack the wall. We decided if she were human, she had some form of autism. When we discovered this obsession with reflections, we hung shiny things that reflected the sun and let her chase them – we called the reflections “light birds”! This taught her to play with all kinds of toys, and she eventually wasn’t skittish at all!
BeBe was also a pacifist! She preferred to walk away rather than fight another cat. However, if she was backed into a corner with no way out, she only needed to place one good swat and that other cat would back off shaking his head like he didn’t know what just hit him. Then she would walk queen-like obliviously out of the corner and find a place to nap. Five years ago, when we got our youngest cat Abbey, we had to defend BeBe because Abbey would jump on BeBe’s body, hold her head down and chew on her ears (not biting, but just annoying), it was truly hysterical to watch – BeBe weighed 14 lbs at the time, and Abbey was 5 lbs, but love to taunt this big dough ball into doing anything but nap! Soon they became best buds we’d often find them rolled up sleeping belly to back together, or licking one another. I never knew if BeBe was truly keen on this or just gave-in to Abbey’s persistence!
BeBe would sleep mostly, and would only be loud when she wanted to eat, or be let out in the sunshine. We also referred to her as our “sunshine kitty” because she would wake us at the crack of dawn beginning the first warm day in spring, til the snow hit, to let her out in the morning sunshine! She preferred the morning sunshine. Also she loved tuna juice! Open a can of tuna, and I don’t know how that cat knew a tuna can opening from another can, but she’d be right there no matter where she was at in the house. She loved Floris! She’d sleep on him, nap with him, be on his lap when he was working on the computer. BeBe preferred Floris but befriended anyone who fed her!
BeBe was struggling with thyroid issues for some time. She went from 14 lbs to 5 lbs and medicine was not helping in spite of her ravenous appetite. One day she quit eating and we could not entice her to eat the next 3 days with any favorite food. She spent her last day in the sunshine. When BeBe was dying outside, Abbey led Floris to her and licked BeBe. BeBe lied comfortably in Floris lap for hours and died at peace in the wee hours of the morning.
2 Comments
Renee's Ramblings 
Bea had a natural elegance in her demeaner and her character. She was the most patient cat I ever knew. But her buddy Abbey knew no boundaries so now and again Bea would have to lay down the law, using only the force necessary for Abbey to “get it”.
Abbey imagined she was doing great damage to Bea but I cannot remember ever finding a puncture wound or a scratch on Bea. We called Bea Abbey’s chew toy.
Her death was as elegant as her life. We decided not to treat her hyperactive thyroid. She ate and ate but her thyroid spent all the energy, leaving her body to waste away. We decided to stop treating her when she stopped eating. She hated going to the vet and taking pills. We wanted a quiet death for her in her familiar surroundings, surrounded by those she loved and who loved her. That is exactly what she got. We buried her on the south side of the house where she used to sun bathe. A lovely lady has left us.
Renee,
I’m so glad BeBe was brought into your life! The way you speak of her, I can tell you really loved her and I’m sure she loved you as well. Thanks for sharing BeBe’s journey with me and the rest of the world.