Biko

Rest in peace dear kitten...

Just yesterday we heard from a long lost friend who took in our kitty cat when we needed to find a new home for her. We were moving to Zurich, Switzerland and couldn't take Biko with us. Our good friend Traci who lived in Oregon took her and became a wonderful caretaker to her for the rest of her life, as it turns out. Since 1998, we've moved more times than we could have imagined. And just as we landed back in PA, she googled us and found us again to let us know it was Biko's final days. As it turned out yesterday was her final day.

It has been 11 years since being in touch with Traci.

Biko had congestive heart and kidney failure. As Traci says, "She was a very happy and spoiled Kitty. She is resting under a tree in the backyard. Can you believe she ever got skinny? She continued to love ice cream and yogurt and basically anything I was eating until the end. Some people called her Pico as they couldn't figure her name out. She beat up a great Dane once. She would roam neighborhoods and endear herself to old ladies that would give her tuna. I once came home and saw her in the window of a neighbor on the table eating out of a can. My friend's daughter loved her and she tolerated being dragged around by a 3 year old. The vet called her 'sassy girl' and they loved her where ever she went. She tolerated other pets but you always knew she was in charge. John and I are both so sad. No other pet has had as much personality.

My dad & her were nap buddies. She snored louder than any human. John grew to love her too over the past 5 years we have been together. The house does not feel the same w/o her. She moved around with me the past couple years and even flew by herself when I moved back to Nebraska."

My Sweetheart adopted her in his Sophomore year of college and when we moved in together a few years later, she also became part of our family. We were talking last night about how she often found her way into other people's houses to have a meal. There was one time when a horrendous sound came from the drive way. When he came out to investigate, two cats quickly scampered away, but there was Biko, laying on her back, already preening herself, easily recovering from some huge brawl she could only defend herself from with her two back legs. (The vet mistakenly de-clawed her when she went in to get spayed.) This cat had such spirit, such character. Though we haven't seen her in over a decade, it still is so sad to know she is not with us anymore.

She lived at least 17 years, was usually a very plump cat, but was only 5 pounds in the end. I have a feeling she used every one of her nine lives.