Memories of Hops

A week ago I was holding Hops knowing it was one of her last days on earth.  Today, I wanted to capture a few of the little things that made her the sweet kitty that she was. 

• She loved the last of milk at the bottom of my cereal bowl.
• She loved to lay on my lap and sleep, she never wanted to get down, only my bladder forced her to move.
• Hops almost always came into bed and laid by me as I watched a little TV before I turned off the light at night, sometimes she would be so annoying and want to lay on my feet.
• She would lay in front of the fireplace until she got so hot that she had to crawl out of her fireside bed and lay down on the floor a little ways behind to cool off, 
• Hops never could jump up high and she could never jump down off anything without her legs caving, sometimes her chin would be hit the floor.  In one episode, she chipped off the tip of one of her canine teeth,
•  She always would hide when company came. 
• When she was just a little kitty, and when Dad & Ev would stay here, she would get Dad to rub her cheeks.  Dad always thought that was so funny how she just loved her cheeks and face rubbed,
• Her official hideout was under the guest room bed. But she would also randomly choose one of the many cat beds located around the house.
• Hops always laid around my feet when I was in the sewing room trying to sew, she would get as close as she could to my right foot that runs the sewing machine pedal.
• She did not like it outside in the cat condo, she would quiver and act afraid.
•  When Barley and I would sit on the back deck, Barley loved the cat condo, but Hops was happy to lay right next to the screen door, inside the house, where she could see us but where she felt safe. 
• She was a Rollie Pollie girl her whole life weighing over 10 lb even at the end of her life. 
• She had the softest fur. 
• She was the alpha cat and if Barley was laying someplace that Hops wanted to lay, Hops always won that fight.  Actually,  Barley always gave in to Hops in any spat.
• She rarely meowed, Barley has always done all the talking for the two of them, in fact if Hops meowed,  I usually went to look to see what was the matter. But on the way to her only vet visit, the Friday before she died, she made up for that and meowed loudly most of the way there and back.
• I adopted her from the Barron County Humane Society. She had been a horse barn cat. When I went to the Humane Society to look at cats, in November of 2008, the room was full of people and little kids, there was a lot of talking and laughing going on and people holding cats; in the corner there was a cage with two Tortoiseshell cats curled up together sound asleep. Those two became Barley and Hops.  After they had their surgeries, neither one went to the vet until a few years ago when Barley had a UTI. Friday was the only time Hops had been to the Vet since 2008.  I never wanted to put Hops through that experience, she was not a brave kitty.
• Barley and I miss our sweet Hops.  I'm trying to train Barley to enjoy being a lap kitty, but so far, she's not that into it.
• Hops always had trouble jumping up on the recliner, just recently I had purchased a set of steps to help Hops get up to my lap when I am sitting in the recliner.  Since her passing, Barley has taken to perching on those steps.

We miss her.