Kitty 1

In January 2010, an orange, long-haired, stray cat came to us. Coincidentally, my mom also won $100 in the lottery around that time, so we considered her a lucky cat. We kept her as an indoor-outdoor cat.

One day after high school, I came home and the house was empty. I was so exhausted, I decided to lie flat on my back on the cold tile floor. I closed my eyes. Then, I felt her sniffing at me, and then crawl onto my chest and just purr. That became her signature move.

She was always very affectionate, and would try to crawl into your lap if you let her.

A year later, she gave birth to a litter of four kittens. When we took her to get spayed, we didn’t have a name for her, so we left the name blank at the vet. They wrote in “Kitty 1”.

We kept one of the kittens and named her Belle.

I moved to Austin from 2012-2020. Countless times, whenever I would come home, I would open the garage and Kitty 1 would come running. So many times, I would just have her in my lap and enjoy her quiet companionship, reminding myself that whatever I’m stressed out about, it probably doesn’t mean anything to her.

Kitty 1 really set the bar high; she seldom meowed, she growled away other stray animals, and she was very affectionate. I always imagined she was closer to a dog than a cat in terms of loyalty. She was always available and she would always return home.

In 2020, I moved to my own place in Houston. In 2025, I moved to San Francisco. Each time I visited my parents, I would see Kitty 1. Indoor cats typically live between 12 - 20 years. On one hand, I knew my time with Kitty 1 was limited, so I cherished those visits.

3 weeks ago, my dad texted me a picture that Kitty 1 was sick. I flew back as soon as I could. She was always available for me, I felt I needed to return the favor.

My sister flew in too, and we took Kitty 1 to the vet hospital. Congestive heart failure which was causing her chest cavity to fill with fluid. She also kept throwing up food and started to refuse to eat entirely.

They excavated the fluid and prescribed her pimobendan, furosemide, clopidogrel. They also prescribed her an appetite stimulant and ondansetron to help encourage her to eat again.

Her breathing came back to near normal, but she still refused to eat. We tried so many things to get her to eat again, but she kept throwing everything up. She was wasting away.

It was a roller coaster of emotions, between hopeful and hopeless. Each day, wondering if Kitty 1 will start eating again. Each day, watching her limp around and just sleeping all of the time.

We found a quality of life rubric for cats, developed by veterinarians. We scored her 21/70, the passing threshold is 35/70. It was a tough decision, but we decided to put her to sleep.

I’ve been with Kitty 1 for 16 years, longer than I’ve known most of my friends. It’s surreal that she isn’t around anymore. There are only fond memories. When a pet passes, it stings a lot more than when a person passes.

Kitty 1 has helped me feel what it’s like to have someone be always available to you. I wish to carry that forward.

We buried her right outside the window she used to sit by. I planted a bush that turns yellow-orange in the fall, to remind me of her colors.