Caligo

Back in July 2003, I adopted a cat from an adoption clinic you were holding in Latham PetSmart. The Humane Society had named the cat Magic; I called her Caligo (pronounced cah-LEE-go), which is Latin for "darkness." (She was black.) She was a stray who'd been found attempting to nurse 17 kittens. It was guessed that a couple of other mama cats had abandoned their litters, and Caligo had tried to care for them all on her own. The humane society kept 5 kittens with her, then placed the rest with other foster mamas.

If I recall correctly, she was in a foster home for many months. She would go to adoption fairs, and would be shown to lots of people...but she hated all the noise and the excitement, and wasn't very social, so nobody wanted to adopt her. Then I met her at Lathem PetSmart.

I didn't know if I was ready to adopt a cat; I'd gone just to look at the cats. Caligo's foster caregiver was there, and told me all about her. Caligo was just the sort of cat I was hoping to find - affectionate, independent, and could get along fine by herself when I was out of town for a weekend every couple of months. I hadn't gone intending to adopt a cat, but I found myself going home with one.

Caligo was confident and very motherly - she was always in command, she regularly groomed all visible areas of my skin, and on multiple occasions she would complain if I hadn't eaten but SHE felt I needed to.

She purred constantly. She loved nothing better than simply lying with me, my face pressed against her belly, my arm around her.

In mid-2007, I moved from Troy, NY down to the Washington, DC area. Caligo cried in her carrier the whole way down, but she didn't have any trouble acclimating to the new area, since I was with her and I was all that she ever cared about.

Once, last year, she somehow got outside. I don't know how it happened, but I got home and heard her calling to me from outside my house. She'd been hiding behind a bush, terrified, and was so happy to see me that she clung to me as I carried her inside, shouting at me the whole time.

For five and a half years, she was the greatest, most affectionate companion anyone could ever hope to have. She slept in my bed, she ate from my hand, she lived simply to be at my side.

Late last year, she began having stomach issues. She saw the best and most knowledgeable of vets, but her condition was hard to treat, and harder to diagnose.

Last Wednesday, Caligo passed away from what was probably some form of intestinal lymphoma. Even if a final diagnosis had been made, it would've been very hard to treat. Even with treatment, she probably would have had only a few more months to live.

Caligo helped to give me five and a half of the best years of my life. She was an emotionally-dedicated companion, and every moment by her side was total joy... except maybe when she threw up on the carpet or pooped *next* to the litterbox. :) But the occasional cleanup was more than worth the total joy of having lived with her, and my life was so much more complete with her at my side.

Thank you for all the work you do saving animals. Were it not for the hard work everyone at MHHS does, I wouldn't have had the years of love from my little girl Caligo.

Since Caligo passed, I decided to honor her memory by adopting a new cat from my local humane society, the Montgomery County Humane Society. I recently brought home a sweet little boy, Ray, who was surrendered because his family couldn't afford to keep him. He'll be a good companion to my other cat, Deuce (white Ragdoll in one of the pictures with her), who I found on the street as a kitten in mid-2005. Ray will never replace Caligo, but adopting him will help ease the pain.

Thank you again, and I wish everyone at the MHHS many years of success finding homes for as many stray and surrendered animals as is possible.

Sincerely, Jason S.

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