Ode to Bastet

Today would have been Bastet's 11th birthday. We got Bastet in College Station, Texas when she was just a couple of months old. It was sometime in the fall of 1995. Greg & I can't remember the exact date. We both remember that it was the same time Ann came down to stay with us. We adopted her from an animal shelter there in College Station. Her sign said she had been picked up off of the streets and we had to wait three days before we could adopt her, just in case she belonged to someone. They didn't know exactly how old she was, but we figured about 3 or 4 months at that time, and chose July 4th as the day to celebrate her birthday.

We went to the shelter a couple of months after our little Calypso died during surgery. There were many kitties there to be adopted, but Bastet was the one for us. The first time I saw her she was leaning up against the side of her cage looking all sweet and innocent. Somehow we just knew that she was the one.

We had just moved into the duplex when we got her. She was quite the little spitfire. BC didn't know what to make of her at first, and I don't think he was too thrilled to have her around. We never even had to think about what to name her. She was always rather imperious and commanding. I loved the character of The Cat Bastet in the Elizabeth Peter's Amelia Peabody series. So Bastet she became.

Bastet soon became "Stetty." We rarely called her by her real name (we're big on nicknames in this family). I often called her my little princess or the goddess. She had the goddess personality down pat.



As I did with BC, I'm going to list some of the things I loved about Bastet.

1. She loved to take a shower with you. She would sit on the edge of the tub and bat at the water droplets and they flowed down the shower curtain. She liked it if you wiggled your finger and played "shower mouse" with her, too. We had more shower curtains that had to be trashed because of holes from her teeth.

2. She was such a daddy's girl. She would come in and talk to Greg when he was on the computer until he picked her up and held her. She could get very demanding about it if she didn't get her way. She was most content when she was with him.

3. She was a chatterbox. Bastet always had something to say about everything. She had a great meow, too. I loved to hear her talking to us. I really miss that.

4. She was a great slimer. Even though we've repainted much of the house since she left us, there are still Stetty marks on the doors and some of the corners from her rubbing her cheeks against them.

5. When we moved from the duplex we found a bazillion milk jug rings under the washer and dryer. We dubbed these "Stetty rings". She did love to bat those around. She would also play soccer with Greg with bits of rolled up toilet paper.

6. She had a wonderful purr. Very loud.

7. In the last few months of her life she would come in and sleep in me. I think she was using me to stay warm, but I enjoyed it. She'd sleep on my chest and purr when I petted her. She stuck like a limpet when I would roll over or move in the bed. She loved nothing better than someone taking a nap during the day.

8. She had attitude. Or is that cattitude? She was a very cool cat. So much of an individual. So different from BC. So very catlike.

9. From the time we got her she always had to help you make the bed. We made a game out of it. She would play "bed mouse" with us on each piece we put on the bed. She didn't enjoy sleeping under the covers, but she loved to play under them when I was making the bed.

Of course there are many more things that were great about her. I know it's been especially hard on Greg since she died. It was so hard to let her go when her time came. That damned kidney disease. It took her from us too early.

I love you and miss you so much, Stetty. I hope you are healthy and happy and waiting for us with Mr. Bunny over the Rainbow Bridge.




Bastet
July 4, 1994 - July 7, 2005
You are forever in our hearts.