The White Tornado

My then-husband found Sheba at a rescue storefront in the late 1990s. They were eager to get rid of the beautiful white cat stalking the room and intimidating other cats. We soon found out why. Sheba was perhaps the most stubborn cat I have ever known, and she had a meow that could peel paint. We were not surprised when people misheard her name and thought we’d name her “Shiva,” after the god of destruction. Her hobby was shoving dishes and decorative objects off shelves.

2008—Celebrity! Sheba appeared on the I Can Haz Cheeseburger website…

July 27, 2009—Sheba, helping with the laundry

June 21, 2011—Summer is here, and Sheba is enjoying it:

March 23, 2012—”After work today took Sheba to the vet. They concluded that her recent odd behavior — scratching herself, shedding in clumps, looking haunted, and hiding in the laundry room — were because she had missed me while I was in Florida. Of course, as soon as I paid the bill and took her home, the cat began behaving normally.”

Nov. 1, 2014—”Cat, irate because her dinner was late, got up on the counter by the sink, (where she is not allowed) threw a large mug of hot tea onto the floor, and fled. I dashed in to the kitchen to find a flood of tea on the floor. The cat then raced back into the kitchen, but had not allowed for the way the tea had flowed across the floor. She hit the flood, skidded, and crashed into the refrigerator. Nobody is happy.”

April 26, 2014—Sheba enjoyed helping us select fabric for new front-seat covers for the Honda Fit. This involved letting us rub her with nine samples of upholstery material to see which material would be easiest to clean.

After removing the cat hair from the samples, I smeared the fabrics with chocolate and ice cream and put them out in the sun. Then I tried to clean the samples using only a wet sponge. After all this product testing, we were able select a fur-resistant, cleanable fabric (it was the microfiber ultra-suede). Never say that we don’t know how to have fun around here.

Feb. 28, 2015—The day started with Sheba nipping the neighbor who was helping me administer her sub-cutaneous fluids for her kidney issues. And then she purred. Don’t worry, the neighbor is getting the appropriate medical treatment and Sheba has had all her shots.

March 12, 2015—I spent last night on the living room sofa with Sheba and today we took her to the vet for her final shots. She went out like the big, tough gal that she is. What a beauty.

Sheba died the same day as our friend Terry Pratchett, author of the Discworld novels. Thus this obit on Facebook: