He Gave Her the Window - A Cat's Love Story

Gizmo
In 2001 we got our first Siamese cat and named him Gizmo. Neither of us had ever owned a Siamese before but we had heard that they were a different sort of cat. Like ill-behaved children, they get into things, break things, run spastically around the house, and attack your feet in the middle of the night while you are sleeping. In essence, Siamese cats suffer symptoms of severe personality disorders.

Gizmo was immediately neutered and his front claws removed. He was a little irritable over the neutering but it took him more than a year to get over the de-clawing. The vet said that this was typical Siamese behavior. Most cats get over the surgery in a few months but Siamese milk it for the pity. They love attention when they want it and will not take no for an answer. They don't adjust well to changes and they tend to be emotionally sensitive.

Introducing Gidget
In 2004, I became pregnant and I just knew that Gizmo would not adjust well to having a baby in the house. He had been the baby for 3 years and we had already learned that when Gizmo was not happy, no one was happy. If something did not go his way the crazy cat would relieve himself on the furniture or go outside the litter box. He also had a tendency to hide and pout if something occurred that he did not agree with. It took him over a week to come into the living room after we bought a new rug and a fish tank. How would he deal with bringing a baby into the house? We decided that he needed a playmate. Something to avert his attention away from the fact that he was no longer number 1.

He hated her. The minute he saw the new Siamese, Gizmo hated her. He wasn't too happy with us either. How could we do this to him? How could we upset his happy home with this little silver tone rat? She was puny. Only eight weeks old, she seemed to make herself right at home. She didn't care anything about his hissing and carrying on. Gidget just wanted to play and be loved. It didn't take long for Gizmo to warm up to her but he still kept her in her place.

A Siamese and a Gentleman
Gizmo became a wonderful host. I guess that he realized that everyone still loved him despite the competition. In fact, Gidget was a little shunned by those who sympathized with his quirky mental issues. Gizmo seemed to feel sorry for her being treated like number 2 and even more so when the baby came home and took our attention away from them both. He began allowing her to do everything first. When the litter box was cleaned, she used it first. When food was put down, she ate first. And when company showed up, she got to harass them for attention first. It got to a point that the cats had each other. That was what we had intended all along.

They All Grow Up
We moved a few times between 2004 and 2009. Gizmo and Gidget both had a difficult time with it every time we did especially when we moved across the country. They became inseparable. It seemed that the first thing they did each morning was to look for each other. They spent many hours grooming one another and playing. When it came to the baby, however, they were as different as day and night. While Gizmo would get up and run when he saw the child approach, Gidget had named herself the child's rag doll and protector. Even now, as the child is almost 7, she will allow him to pick her up under her arms and carry her around without making a fuss and when he cries, she will come running to see what is wrong. Unfortunately, for our dog who is also alerted to the crying, she will lash out at whomever she thinks is responsible. However, it would not be that way now if not for Gizmo.

Tragedy strikes
On May 14, 2009, I left for a weekend trip to Daytona Beach. I took the baby, then 4, with me. My husband had to work that day and the following day but said he would come on the third day. The trip was very relaxing and lots of fun. The hotel where we stayed had a water park for the kids, a tube run, several hot tubs, an indoor pool and an outdoor pool with a waterslide. My husband showed up on the afternoon of the third day as planned after having dropped the dog off at the sitter. The cats stayed home. They would only be alone overnight. They had plenty of food and water and a clean litter box in the large foyer where they stayed when we were not home.

Some time in the night, a fire started in the laundry room at the back of the house. The room was outside but attached to our son's room by the roof. The foyer was at the front of the house. No one noticed the smoke until around 9 the next morning. It had apparently been bellowing into the attic through the eave vents. By the time the firefighters arrived, the smoke had built so much as to blow out all the windows except those in the foyer. We always left one window cracked a little so the cats could get fresh air. But the windowsill was only wide enough for one cat at a time to enjoy it. And the window was opened only enough to allow one cat to survive. When we got there, the firefighters were just getting inside. Gizmo's lifeless body was blocking the door. He must have been trying to breathe from the very small crack beneath it. Gidget was found in the window gasping for air. I'm certain that Gizmo's death was not painful. With the smoke inhalation, he likely just went to sleep and never woke up. In the mean time, Gidget was given oxygen and treated on the scene.

In the weeks that followed Gidget had a difficult time getting back to normal (as much as was possible). But even now, she sometimes seems depressed and behaves as though she is looking for something that isn't there. I keep thinking that, being the gentleman he turned out to be, Gizmo let Gidget have the window. He gave his life for her and she deeply misses him still.