Maggie Mae, our little Mugsie

Mugsie was a baby kitten found abandoned in a box on the roadside. She was sick, had fleas, ear mites and was too young to leave her mother. We adopted this little bundle of gray fur and gave her a lot of TLC. She recovered to become an overactive, super achiever in the kitten division. For months she looked like a bad hair day with a bushy tail. Her crazy kitten antics kept us laughing and helped up to cope with the loss of our previous cat.

Mugsie kept her bushy tail but grew up to have beautiful, long gray fur that shown silver in the light. Her favorite activities were chasing "Da Bird," playing tag with me and sleeping in my lap.

When I was bedridden after surgery, Mugsie stayed in bed with me day and night, leaving only to eat and visit the kitty litter. We devised another cat-pouncing game called "hide the bookmark under the bedcovers."

At age 13 Mugsie had many vet visits, experiencing health problems involving her lungs and her intestine. She lost weight but not her spirit. Her vet felt that she would last only a few more months. I had a second surgery that left me in a body brace for 3 months. I prayed that our little cat would be with us for that duration, and she was, once again in bed with me while we watched Animal Planet together. It was so heartbreaking to say goodbye to our best little friend.

Nancy Krupa
Shoreview, MN