adventure cat, feline enigma dies at age 11
Deaf White Kitty passed away Feb. 5, 2022 – four years, two months and one day after a vet said she wouldn’t last a week.
Born on the Ides of March in 2010, Kitty was a sassafrass. She took no shit. She suffered no fools. She gave no fucks. Unless she wanted something, then she gave all the fucks. She was a prawn.
Deaffers (Doff, Dee Doff, Dee Doff a Loo La; Kotty, Kott, Kit Kat; Princess Prawncess, Prin Prawn, Prawn, Prawen; Didja prawn; Djidhy peen, Didjy peen peen kott kott; Floof, Floofy; Paper-plate face, Catzilla; and at the vet’s: Kitty) was deaf – but she could read lips. She knew homemade sign language for “time for fluuds” and “I jove you Kitty.” She did not care for fluuds.
Kitty enjoyed many passions: watching things burn, knocking things off the counter, playing piano, bird watching, red velvet chair perching, interrupting board games, lying on papers, backpacks, clean laundry and random piles of junk, getting into instrument cases, suitcases and Paulie’s laundry basket.
She adored Christmas, butter, boxes, milky things and little a bacon as a treat. She was a whore for Chick-Fil-A chicken nuggets. She dabbled in space travel. She was an avid hunter of hair ties. She loved a party.
She could be very sweet but would strike without warning. She kept her djidjy sock feet sharp. Snugs, on her terms, and only at night. She had a strong resting bitch face. She would oft stare motherfuckerly.
Kitty lived for the road. She saw the Grand Canyon, Nashville, Dallas, L.A. and San Francisco. Route 66. She won in Las Vegas. She mined diamonds in Arkansas. New York, Florida, Mt. Airy Fiddler’s Convention, MerleFest, Bookmarks literary festival. She was always chill in vamper. She did not care for hotels.
Deaf White loved vacationing at Granny’s house on Cayuga Lake. She’d sit in the second story windows, fresh air blowing through the screens, looking down at her kingdom of birds and dogs and people.
DWK is survived by LBK, Little Black Kitty, or L.B., or Elbie. She did not care for Elbie, or for contractors. She is predeceased by a beta fish whose name we can’t remember, and who we suspect she murdered.
Feline Leukemia Virus was supposed to have killed her in 2017. A second opinion showed she was not in the end stages of FeLV but rather suffering from IMHA. Then came kidney disease and a couple of more trips to the ER. She came home for hospice in January 2018. Lots of ups and downs followed, but she enjoyed a quality of life that amazed her vets. We remain grateful for the extra time.
She went back to the specialist after a drastic weight loss in her last two weeks. They suspected SCL, a treatable cancer with a good prognosis but that required an endoscopic biopsy to diagnose. They thought she was healthy enough for the procedure, but her blood pressure dropped while she was under anesthesia. She woke up ok but couldn’t stabilize. They said her passing was peaceful.
Before she died she tested negative for FeLV and had overcome kidney disease, IMHA and a devastating fear of the euphonium. She had also defeated Paulie in the epic battle of the reclining office chair of 2018.
Kitty was a fighter in every sense of the word. She made us laugh every single day. We miss her terribly.
R.I.P. Djidjy peen. Rest in Prawn.