15 or maybe 20 years ago a scrawny cat had the gall to invade our cat adverse homestead. When Mom was a little girl, a cat had kittens on her bed and from that time on, every family member was indoctrinated as to why we don't like cats. We were a dog family.
The most liberal family members endured a cat that crossed the property line. Most of us just chased them off with yelling, hooping, hollering, loud noises, and waving arms. But the scrawny cat crossed the line and hung around. Soon he was tolerated by Dad (who was starting to exhibit signs of Alzheimer's). DK got her name from a less charitable family member who referred to her frequently as Dumb Kitty. That sounded a bit harsh, however, so the initials "DK" became the name. DK became Dad's "dog" and would walk with him up and down the street to do his visiting with the neighbors. "There goes Huff and his dog" we would hear the neighbors say.
Mom gave up and bought cat food but DK knew her limits. She could sleep on the porch furniture but wouldn't/couldn't come in the house. She would hop to the window sill early in the morning and howl to wake us for breakfast. I think at some point Mom even softened to DK. During the winters, she would leave a heating pad, turned on, on the porch couch for DK.
As Dad took a turn for the worse, he and DK quit walking but sat together on the porch and dad would pet his "dog". Then, as his health declined, those times became fewer and further between.
Dad died on Memorial Day 8 years ago. DK hung around and continued to rule the porch couch and howl at the window sill. How she lasted for so long, I'll never know. Two weeks ago as I talked with Mom she said that DK had lost all her teeth and she only drinking milk. Always a finicky eater DK didn't want to be watched so mom would pour the milk and then spy on her from inside the house to make sure that she was getting the food and not some other feline interloper. Mom said that she even told DK that she needed to go check up on Huff.
Early this week mom saw DK sleeping partially under a car. It seemed strange to her so she went out to check on her. Mom found that DK was sleeping the sleep for the ages. DK is gone to look after Huff, but her nickname continues. Now it's just Dead Kitty. Sleep well.
