About an hour ago I was upstairs working on the bathroom, getting ready to install the dual vanity. I asked my neighbor Jennye to come over and help me move the sink/counter portion from the top of the cabinet where it was sitting in the bedroom, in preparation for moving the cabinet itself. We sat the double sink/counter onto a couple of 5-gallon buckets, tested to see if it was balanced and then went to move the cabinet.
As we were in the bathroom we heard a loud crash and I immediately knew that one of my cats had jumped onto the counter and knocked it off of the buckets. It was a stupid place to put the counter anyway, I should have known that it wouldn't have been safe there even for a couple of minutes. We ran into the other room and sure enough YuYu was about ten feet away looking guilty, and the countertop was laying upside down on the floor.
Jennye and I lifted the counter up, flipped it back upright and started searching it for damage. It took 15-20 seconds before I noticed Mia laying motionless on the floor where the counter had fallen. There was a small puddle of blood... apparently the front edge of the counter landed on her neck before it flipped over onto her body.
I've never really gotten extremely attached to my various cats through the years. I don't think of them as little people, as other pet owners can. I'm a little surprised at how emotional I got over this. It wasn't the same as finding a new home for a cat that I am tired of... knowing that they will still be cared for. It was abrubt and unexpected and totally laced with guilt.
These two sister cats came from my upstrairs tenant a couple of years ago. They were unwanted kittens and I took them in. I had always wanted two cats that would get along and play together, because my past cats had always been very territorial. I named them Fook Mi and Fook Yu, after the Japanese twins in Austin Powers 2. I called the black one Mia and the gray one YuYu. They weren't twins, but you could see the similarity in their faces.
Troy and I joked around that Mia was born a little retarted... and the way she left supports the theory: she decided to stand underneath a large, heavy object while YuYu jumped up to investigate. Mia was the skittish one, much more timid and frightened of loud noises and fast movements, but strangely she was also more curious. When someone new would come to the house she would be the first one to walk right up and check them out... but also would run away as soon as the person would reach down to pet her. She sometimes would run into walls and fall off of furniture... it was amusing in a sad little way.
I think that it wouldn't be as hard if she had been my only cat, but since I just have one siblings I feel an immense loss for YuYu. Even though YuYu most likely will forget about her sister quickly, I can't help to imagine how I would feel if I lost my brother. It seems a little silly, but I think thats what is getting to me right now.
Anyway, I don't really want to have to tell this story over and over, so I am putting it here. That is all.
UPDATE: I found YuYu a good home with a girl that was a PSU student. She lived alone in a small apartment and needed a companion. I get emails once in awhile from her, and they all say that YuYu is loving life.
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