As a pet parent, I have known that eventually, my furry angels will someday leave me for that Rainbow Bridge in the sky. Yet I always assumed Willow would bury us. My frenemy from the day we met, Willow lived and loved on her terms and terms alone. The stereotypical cat, she gave no fucks. She was attitude and sass, right up to the end.

Some fun facts about Willow….

• NEVER really ate table food. Seriously, put the best salmon sashimi in front of her and she’d walk away with no regrets. Yet…

• SO MEXICAN. The only table food she ever really ate was carne seca and chicharrones. And I’m talking she would CHEW THROUGH BAGS to get to them once she knew they were there.
• Loved to poop in my closet. That never really changed.
• LOUDEST meower ever. I’ve met loud cats, but Willow…you could hear the demand, annoyance, or whining in her voice.
• The most dexterous paws you’ve ever seen. Very dainty too.
• Always tried to run out the front door. Never knew what to do when she did get out.
• Unlike the rest of our strange gang, she always knew she was a cat. And reliably, at least 2 times a year, she would end up falling asleep somewhere strange while Leo and I ran around the house terrified she had gotten out for at least 2 hours.

The day I met Willow, Leo and I had gone to the El Paso Humane Society, looking for a kitten to adopt. As we walked though the cat area, a little paw reached out and grabbed Leo. That’s all it took; a little dexterous paw peeked through the bars of a cage. Leo was in love from the start. I was a little apprehensive. While she had been cute and everything, I had wanted a kitten. But she had been there almost a year and the workers there were so happy she was getting adopted; it was hard not to agree.

You know those kids who act like angels when they are in public and as soon as they are in private, all hell breaks loose? Yep.

First off, she had kennel cough and was too skinny. So off to the vet she went, coming out with medicine and calorie powder. She was literally like, 9 lbs. Who wins: new owner and sister (armed with towel and aforementioned medication) or the cat?

The cat. The cat won.