Nan's Notes: Living Large ~ Y2K & Beyond

My Life as a Little Cat ~ Chapter Two

Just before the millennium, Jerry & Nan were out for a walk and saw a "for sale" sign on a larger townhouse in a neighborhood down the street. I didn't know what a garage was, but it seemed we needed one. So in the midst of the Y2K craze, we remodeled the new house and moved in. It was perfect for Big and me ... a quiet street where cats are welcome to lounge safely on the sunny sidewalks or nap in the flower beds. Turned out that garage was a pretty cool place to explore and our enclosed patio was the cat's meow!

Life was good and while Nan was in New York, Jerry took great care of us. After surgery in December of 2000, Nan stayed home from work for six weeks ... it was a good time to be together.

One of the worst experiences of my life happened in August of 2001. I followed Big outside for our morning walk and didn't come back on time. Thinking I was already inside, Nan locked the door and left for work. The neighbor saw me pawing at the front door and crying to be let in later that morning, but she didn't take me inside for safekeeping. I never told anyone where I went or how I survived the August heat, but I was gone for days. They looked and looked and worried.

I hear that they left the front door standing open that first night, but I didn't come home. The next night they closed the door ... I didn't come home. On the third night, I sent a message to Jerry that I was on my way. At 2am he woke up from a sound sleep, asked Nan if she had checked on me lately and then rushed downstairs. He opened the door at the very second that my paws hit the front steps. It was so good to be home!

They showered me with affection and I stood in my water bowl to cool my paws and drink the fresh water. Lesson learned for everyone ... I never strayed far from the front flower bed and Nan never left the house again without counting cats.

We got a digital camera in May of 2002, so we have lots of photos moving forward. Here I am on our OLD "sleeper-loveseat". This was when the office was just a den.

In June, we got the new leather chair ~ here's Big looking good.

Look closely, I'm under the table.

Ahh ... LOVING the new leather chair. It was just the right size.

Here I am with Jerry, watching TV in the living room.

This was funny. They bought a lion costume for Luke's first Halloween and I was fascinated with it from the moment it arrived.

Here I am in my own Halloween costume.

A nice shot of Big in his favorite resting spot.

Nap time was a big focus for us!

In October of 2002, Big was diagnosed with Chronic Renal Failure and the vet said his numbers weren't good. He began taking shots to make him feel stronger and SubQ fluids to keep him hydrated and comfortable. We worried, but Big soldiered on. He had things to do each day and so did I.