10 Good Things About Pig

On Monday the Pinkham family lost a member. We had to put our precious Pig to sleep. He was a part of my life for 14 years and I feel lost and sad  without him. I know our pets do not live forever- and I thought I had been preparing myself for the end, but the end is always so final. 

After finding out about Pig's passing a friend mailed me a copy of the book "The Tenth Good Thing About Barney". It got me to thinking about the best things about Pig. Most of my favorite parts of  him are memories and not things, but I felt I need to write them down (so I might ramble a bit in this post). 

I was fifteen when I adopted Pig, My cat of ten years passed away out of the blue and I didn't actually think I wanted another cat yet. My sister saw this little skinny gray cat in one of the cages at the adoption place and made me pull him out to take a closer look. Pig put both paws on my shoulder and rubbed his face all over my face. That was it, he had to come home with us. Pig loved everyone, and he greeted most people by rubbing all over their faces- in fact that's how we found out my best friend was allergic to cats... 

For the record, I didn't actually name him Pig, I named him "Tomo". My dad renamed him Pig after we discovered his desire to eat everything- he would even get in your lap and try to steal food out of your mouth. His first Christmas with us he ate the Christmas cookies right off the table- and some of the plastic wrap covering them. He slowed down as he got older, but at the end he would steal McDonald's french fries, and he might just bite your fingers trying to take them. 

I know this isn't totally unique for a cat, but Pig loved laundry baskets. He would attack your fingers through the holes, I hated this particular laundry basket but I held on to it for a long time just because he loved it. 

Pig drank his water by dipping his front paw into the bowl and then licking his paw. He also did this to any waiting water glass. I now don't trust cups that have been left out. 

He humored us in everything, absolutely everything. 

When Cordelia was first born Pig pretty much ignored her- once she started moving around he always wanted to be doing what she was doing. He let her dress him up, he played with her toys, they argued over who really owned the pink princess couch. She would squish him and accidentally yank his fur- but he always kept following her.  

When you pet his cheeks he made this silly face
(We called it skinny Pig)

Pig made the best Pillow. He had the softest fur. 

He was always there. He studied with me, he sat on my sewing desk when I sewed, he greeted us at the door, he would watch me exercise, when I was sad and crying he would find me and purr and kneed me until I calmed down. He was always there. 

A Girl And Her Cat

Life often moves too fast. Normally, when I mention that fact on the blog, I am referring to the rate in which Miss C is growing. However, today I am talking about my cat Pig. And despite the fact that I am only showing pictures of Cordelia and Pig, this post is really about Pig and I. 

Don't worry guys, Pig is still with us, and still beloved by many. Right before Christmas he started licking the hair off his legs pretty bad, and then the weather turned colder and he started limping, and not getting up, and crying, and loosing weight. I was in tears all the time, I thought he was done for. 

I tend to be a little dramatic, and he was not done for. Our Aunt gave us some medicine and it worked wonders. On especially cold days he still limps a bit, but no more crying and he is able to run and jump like normal. However, it got me thinking. Do I spend enough time with Pig? Do I pay as much attention to him as I should? When the day comes that Pig leaves us will I feel like I spent enough time with him, or will I regret pushing him off my lap so I could focus on my sewing project?

 In the end I realized that maybe I don't. I spend soo much of my time doing, mending, cleaning, organizing, studying, sewing, entertaining, making busy. I think I need to spend more time enjoying my little family, and doing less. We can call it my New Years resolution- to spend more time enjoying the company of the people I love. To learn how to spend time that isn't defined by accomplishing a "project". To slow down. 

He has been my friend for 13 years, and pets are such wonderful friends. Pig greets me when I come home, he sits with me when I cry and cuddles when I need to be cuddled- he deserves my time. Pets never judge, and they never hurt your feelings. I know I sound like a crazy cat lady- and I am ok with that, Cordelia and I are crazy cat ladies, I have no doubt about that.