Brody: Welcoming a new companion
Her kitten fur is like nothing I have ever touched.
All my life I’ve had cats and have thought them all beautiful. But there came along this little white girl. She not unlike any cat I’ve ever seen. Let me tell you about her.
My precious cat “P” passed from stomach cancer.
He broke me and I could not seem to pull out of it.
My apartment felt empty, devoid of life, and I sat in my chair and cried.
One day my daughter said, “What you need is another cat and I have found the perfect one for you.”
I answered, “Absolutely not. What a terrible thought to replace P. I don’t ever want another cat.”
But one Sunday I met the kitten she had found for me.
She needed a loving home, and besides, I’ve never seen a feline like her. She was 4 months old and weighed 2 pounds 6 ounces, the runt of a rare breed called Siberian forest cat.
When I reached to touch her fur there was no comparison. Soft doesn’t begin to tell you how she felt.
“Mom, she needs you,” my daughter said.
And because I’m such a sucker for animals and especially cats, I agreed to take her until we could find her a perfect new forever home.
That was close to a month ago and the two of us have thoroughly bonded.
Before I go any further, I will tell you she is nothing like P. She’s young, adventurous, playful and also a cuddler.
She is incredibly beautiful, and she thinks so too. She struts around here like she owns the place, which she does.
She is smart and can figure out most intricate toys.
You should see her jump. I mean, this little girl can circle this apartment and never touch the floor.
She’s intense. When she plays, she does so with every fiber of her body. Then, when she has spent all her energy and curiosity, she collapses and falls sound asleep on her four little feet.
I swear she can tell time. She knows when my breakfast tray is coming and she starts howling at me to share my breakfast.
She also knows when it is time to go to bed for the night. She starts going back and forth from the bed to my chair. Staying up late is out of the question now. The princess is done for the day.
Ahh, bedtime. This is when she uses her amazing yellow and dark rimmed huge eyes to tell me our day is coming to a close and she needs cuddling in our bed.
She gets in bed before I do, and when I turn out the light you can almost hear a sigh of contentment and relief. That’s when she scrunches as close to me as possible.
I’m happy about her name. When she came to me, people were calling her Tilly so I did too. But, another name kept coming to me.
My dad adored my mom and their whole marriage, for 63 years ,he called her “Sug” short for sugar.
That’s her name. She already recognizes the sound of it..
To compare her to P, well really you can’t.
P was a complete unconditional lover to all. Sug, on the other hand, is more selective to all and resorts to hiding under the bed if someone comes to see us she doesn’t feel safe with.
She’s not a replacement for P, but she is just what I needed to lighten up, laugh more, take care of, sleep with, and it worked.
Her exquisite white fur is slowly turning to a buff color. Oh, she’s so beautiful and so is my life now I’ve started a new adventure with Sug.
The view from the mountain is wondrous.
Jean Brody is a passionate animal lover and mother. She previously lived in Winchester, but now resides in Littleton, Colorado. Her column has appeared in the Sun for more than 25 years.