Gato

Before we had the perfect daughter, we had the perfect kitty. And before she was "Gato" she was "Nickel Kitty".

Nicki was originally a stray, and after she was hanging around outside our house for a while was brought in. She had no idea what she was in for.

She joined six Dobermans, two parrots, and a snake. And a kid almost ready to head out to college. Those were crazy times and quite a circus! The dogs would chase her around and when they finally caught her!... they'd do nothing. If she hadn't been chased for a while she'd saunter out into the living room and make sure they were still interested.

Nicki was also brought in pregnant. She had five kittens, the number that was the source of her name. With a snake named "Pennies" it made sense to have a cat named "Nickel". The girlfriend who named them both is now Mamãe.

Eventually the snake joined the kid at college. The parrots were gone. And many of the Dobermans died off, replaced with a Dachshund (that Mamãe also had a strong hand in naming) who was more than willing to fulfill the role of chaser.

After about 10 years the rest of the remaining circus went to live in Florida, and Nicki came to stay with us. The snake was gone, so she finally had a whole place of her own! And she definitely owned us.

If you never met Nicki, you missed out on something. She loved to be picked up and petted (as long as you were an adult!) and she could be manhandled about any which way you could imagine, with her only reaction being to purr.

Nicki was a great companion for Mamãe when she was pregnant. While on bed rest, Nicki would lay right on the belly and purr. Maybe this is why LS would squeal with delight whenever she saw her.

Over the past year, Nicki transitioned well to her new name - Gato. She knew this meant her, and would even come to be petted by LS (with a little coaxing). She realized she no longer owned the house, but she still owned us.

Gato would have been the best gentle cat to grow up with, though for LS they were born about 20 years too far apart for that. But at least she was there for the beginning.

In the end, Gato was too good of a kitty to be in pain. After about 3 years of kidney disease and being given fluids twice-weekly via needle the time came today to say goodbye. She loved the back porch, where she would spend all day laying in the sun, and today that's where it ended for her.

You were a great kitty Nicki, and we'll all miss you.