Fekhie and Arj - 1992

Ardra was born to a litter of five kittens on June 30, 1992, in a little house in Chandler Arizona. Her mother was solid gray and her father was, like her, a color point. She and her brother Fekhie lived in several different homes before moving in with us when they were four and a half years old. Two of her other sisters, Pouncer and Plopper, were already here, so we had four of the siblings.

She came to us with the name Ardra, but I liked to call her Arj, or sometimes Jolly Cat because she was just so happy all the time, or Plushkin for her thick soft fur. Her original name was Minuet, but somehow it didn't take.

Arj maintained a sweet, gentle, accepting nature for her entire life. She tried her best to integrate with everyone, no matter how obnoxious they might be. As an example, when she and Loki first met (they weren't living with us at the time) Loki mounted an attack and scratched Ardra's eye. While the two never became fast friends, Arj accepted Loki in spite of the injury and the two coexisted without any significant problems. I'm not sure how many other cats would have been so forgiving.

Biggest Yawn Ever - 2001

Although she liked pretty much everyone, Arj loved her brother Fekhie the most. They would bond through regular bathing and snuggling with each other. For as long as she had him for company she was fairly independent. After he passed away, she let me rub my chin and nose on her face and on the top of her head, just as if she was getting a bath from Fekhie.

Arj was never very active, her favorite activity being a good nap, but she did enjoy the Laser Mouse from time to time. She also liked to "sharpen" her paws on cardboard boxes. She was even able to jump up to the counter top well in to her fifteenth year, which is more than I can say for most of our seniors. She spent quite a bit of time on the kitchen counter waiting to see if food would arrive.

For treats she liked melted ice cream, tender vittles, and deli turkey. As a main course she liked canned cat food of almost any flavor, but having a voracious appetite, she also accepted kibble without hesitation.

Arj and Fekhie - January 2006

During nap time she loved those soft padded "bucket" beds, the kind that wrap all the way around the body. Her favorite places to nest were on our reading rockers, my little round swivel chair, the backs of the couch cushions, and in the middle of our bed. She knew all of the softest coziest places and would migrate between them throughout the day.

Arj also liked high up places, like the top of the fridge, where she could sit and watch the world go by. She was much more brave than Fekhie, who tended to stay close to the ground. At night she would nest right between us on the bed but would usually leave right after lights out to go sleep in the top of her cat tree. In the morning she'd return and meow at our faces to gently remind us that breakfast wouldn't make itself.

She also enjoyed nesting right next to us on the couches, or even on our laps if there was a pillow for extra cushioning. She liked petties, especially along her cheeks and upper body, and when she'd had enough she would gently put her teeth on our arms to tell us we were done.

Arj's 15th Birthday - June 2007

Although they weren't very close, Arj was Pouncer's sister in many ways. They had similar shapes, and they both had voices that were loud and demanding, except that Arj never sounded cantankerous. She used her meow to request things like food, and that certain doors be opened. To really show her insistence, she'd pet us with her paws to provide extra motivation. She was especially fond of doing this while we were eating at the kitchen table. If she couldn't quite reach us, she'd make the pawing motion out in the air. It was incredibly sweet.

Muffled by distance, I would sometimes confuse Pouncer and Arj's calling sounds. Pouncer liked to "sing" while carrying "the baby" (an old catnip toy) around in her mouth. We were more than a little surprised one day to find that Arj had picked up the habit. She even expanded the practice to include another toy, the leopard mousey. While Pouncer was secretive about this fetish, Arj would sing and carry her toys out in the open for all to see and hear.

Ardra seemed pretty healthy for most of her life. Her only problem was to occasionally throw up her dinner, especially when she ate too much. She was also sometimes a little sensitive about the abdomen. Fairly recently she became hyper thyroid, which was very easy to manage with medication. Less than a month ago we noticed she seemed a little down, but it didn't appear to affect her appetite at all. About a week after that she stopped showing up for dinner and within days was diagnosed with kidney disease. Having had some prior experience with this, we started fluid therapy right away. Less than a week later she was admitted to the hospital with acute kidney failure. An ultrasound showed that pancreatitis was the most likely cause.

Arj and the Baby - November 2007

Flare ups of mild pancreatitis could have caused the vomiting and abdominal tenderness that we had seen over the years, but I'm told that it's extremely difficult to diagnose in cats. I feel like her condition was a ticking time bomb just waiting to go off. We couldn't see it, but it was hiding there just waiting to happen for who knows how many years.

Even when she was hospitalized, Arj maintained as much of her gentle demeanor as possible. A vet tech told us about how Arj made a special connection with the cat in the cage next door. The two cats sat very close to each other, one on each side of the wall, with their noses very near each other at the front of the cage, but with no way for the two of them to actually see or touch each other. They just laid there in silence, keeping each other company. The tech spoke softly and looked very moved as she described what she had seen. It made me want to cry that I couldn't be there with Arj too, at a time when she needed comfort and support the most, but I'm glad we were at least able to hear the story.

Ardra - May 05, 2008

The hospital did everything they could but Ardra's kidneys were just too far gone. We brought her back home for a final visit where, I am very sad to say, she deteriorated rapidly. She probably didn't have much time left either way, but we chose to take her back to the hospital to end her suffering.

Ardra passed away under a full moon in the early morning hours of May 21, 2008. Her sixteenth birthday would have been just a little more than a month away. My beautiful Arj, I will miss her good nature, her smile, and her wonderful purr. She left us much too quickly, but I wonder if she missed her brother Fekhie more then we could tell. They were apart for six long months and maybe now can be together again in whatever lies beyond.

My Little Jolly Cat - 1997

Petting the Air - 1998

Four Paws Out - 1998

Arj and Fekhie - March 2007

Waiting for Snackies - October 2007

Christmas - December 2007

Ardra - May 15, 2008

Saying Goodbye - May 20, 2008