On a Sunday afternoon in May, 2004, my now-ex-husband arrived home from a hiking trip with Zoe and Kaylee in a shoebox. They’d been born in a barn in Monroe six weeks earlier, taken home from the barn by a young friend of ours, and her parents had decided the kittens would be better off with us.

They were so small that when he handed me the shoebox I thought it was empty! Here’s an early picture of the two of them:

2008: I forget who came up with the software to “iPod” your cats, but here it is:

Jan. 11, 2010—Kaylee. For years this was the home screen on Tom’s iPhone:

July 25, 2010—Kaylee up on the garden gate:

Aug. 14, 2010—Sofa ballet (Kaylee)

Sept. 12, 2010: Kaylee

August 5, 2012—Zoe is hot:

June 28, 2013—Zoe helps with my filing:

July 14, 2013—Kaylee decided to take up residence in the china cabinet.

Oct. 4, 2013—Zoe on an sunny fall afternoon:

Jan. 24, 2014—Kaylee, my office mate:

Jan. 27, 2014—Zoe, off center:

March 18, 2014—Zoe on the couch:

May 2, 2014—Zoe likes to shove over the imposter.

May 19, 2014: Upstairs couch.

July 8, 2014—New Slipcovers for the basement couch. Zoe: “I must shed on them immediately”

Jan. 6, 2015—We said goodbye to little Kaylee at the specialty clinic today, where she had been being treated for lymphoma. Kaylee (April 2004 – Jan. 6, 2015). Missed by all of us, especially her sister Zoe. Here she is, enjoying the afternoon sun on the front porch this past fall:

Nov. 13, 2015—Whenever I open the door to the attic, Zoe appears and rushes in, and I spend the next hour trying to coax her out. Today I waited until she was downstairs, opened the door, threw in the suitcases, and locked the door. Two hours later, we hear sad meowing from inside the attic. I have no idea how she got past me. I let her out, and now she is yowling and clinging to my leg. This is not a bright cat.

March 10, 2018—Zoe at the computer:

Feb. 26, 2016—Zoe was sleeping under the desk when I used the printer. As you can see, she was deeply disturbed.

March 12, 2018—Zoe on the back porch bench. Sunny and warm in Seattle:

Feb. 28, 2019—After 15 years of yelling, swatting, and shoving, I have finally found something that will get Zoe off my keyboard, mouse, and trackpad: It’s Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition.” A friend posted a link and as soon as the horns blasted the opening notes Zoe stood up, looking totally annoyed, and stalked off. (no photo)

Sept. 7, 2019—Zoe on the porch with the tomatoes:

April 12, 2020—And here’s a video of Zoe teaching Mr. Tippy her technique for eating dry food:

May 27, 2020—Zoe has been suffering from spinal arthritis for a few years. We got a supplement from our vet (please beware of OTC versions of pet meds from questionable companies) that includes glucosamine and chondroitin, and she is noticeably more comfortable and lively. We are surprised and impressed.

August 5, 2020—This is my cat. My cat is annoying:

Sept. 18, 2020—In denial about the rain:

2021

May 15, 2021—Tom has just taken Zoe to the ER. Something mysterious is wrong with her. She won’t eat, is quite disoriented, and wanders from water dish to water dish but doesn’t drink. She has been vomiting small amounts of clear fluid. I’d go with them except I I leave tomorrow morning (early) to spend a week in Florida with my mom and am trying to pack, organized the house, and fix the soaker hoses. While worrying.

Update on Zoe: They ran bloodwork and are concerned about elevated liver numbers (ALT and GGT and bilirubin are considerably above normal). So, her liver is of concern but her kidneys look fine. They are keeping her overnight, hoping to do some imaging tomorrow, and focusing on trying to feed her. Poor Zoe.

We want to find out what’s causing this, but our main goal is to keep Zoe as comfortable as possible. I feel terrible, especially about leaving Tom to deal with this.

BTW, for other cat owners: Our regular vet uses the Vitus Vet app, so we can access and share records. This came in very handy, as we could show the ER vets Zoe’s lab results (including liver and kidney) from September 2020.

May 18, 2021—Tom sent me a video of Zoe at home eating dinner with her colleagues. Her bilirubin numbers are down substantially, approaching the normal range. Perhaps the antibiotics are working! Zoe sees her regular vet in the morning for a treatment plan.

June 10, 2021—Zoe is back to normal:

---

Jan. 11. 2022—I have set up the Asian-inspired porcelain pet fountain the cats are supposed to be product testing and it is burbling away. Zoe, who spends half her life on the bathroom sink begging us to turn the faucet on, is staring at the fountain if it were a life-threatening vortex. I finally gave up trying to get a photo of her drinking from the fountain, and Tom is now on “fountain watch” with his camera. I may not get a product review article out of this, but I’ll probably get a humor column.