Mara Jade

Here is my old kitty cat Mara (named from a Star Wars character). We've had her for 16 years and she turns 17 years in less than two weeks. She's been a wonderful lap cat, but I'm starting to take a bunch of pictures of her because we don't know how much longer she'll be with us. I first adopted her from the Humane Society where I used to work. My hubby (at the time it was my boyfriend), saw her and wanted her because he liked her little white 'socks'. So I adopted her and brought her home to the room he was renting at the time. She was even good then....she stayed in the room that he rented and didn't try to escape to wander the house. Since then we've moved 5 more times with her. She's always been very vocal and tends to act much like a dog. She comes when called and stalks people until they sit down so she can immediately pounce onto their lap for some attention. The problem with that is that I'm always tripping over her. I'm surprised in the last 16 years that she's had no broken bones due to the fact that she's always under my feet!

This pic is of her sunbathing on our kitchen floor. She's always searching for a patch of light to sunbathe in, either in the kitchen or under our skylights. You can see where her fur has lost the shine and not smooth anymore. You can now feel her entire spine and she's lost a great deal of weight. Gary jokingly calls her "Skeletor" (a He-Man reference). You don't live in this house and not get a nickname. We've warned the kids that her final days aren't too far off, but it will be hard for the entire family.