Jazzmyn Firefoot: In Memoriam

I decided to post some memories and pics of Jazz in honor of her life.

Jazz was born in January under the cabin Gerick and I were living in at the time in Ohio. There were 5 kittens born and 3 were tuxedo cats that went to good homes. Another was Jinx, a long-haired male kitty that developed health issues and was euthanized at about a year old. Jazz was the puff-ball that stole my heart the moment I saw her.

Here she is in a photoshopped pic Gerick did when she was a kitten:

I fed the stray cats who sheltered under our cabin that winter and thereafter as long as we lived there and made arrangements for them to be cared for at the site after we left. People in many rural areas dump their “extra” cats in the country when they can’t keep them. Most die of starvation or from predators like coyotes who eat them. Jazz’s mother and father were semi-feral cats that once had homes but got dumped. They liked to hang out on the porches with us, but never wanted to come in the house– they were too nervous of humans for that. Jazz’s father was also weirdly sensitive and would bite you after 2 pets if you petted him a third time, but once I figured that out, we were okay with one another.

Jazz turned out to have her father’s sensitive temperament. She would get over-stimulated and attack by biting or clawing if I pet her too much, or sometimes just moved the wrong way when we were cuddling. That could be VERY hard to deal with– and though she had a lot of people who wanted her, I kept her because I realized that with her issues, she could easily become an abused pet! She drove me crazy with how much she wanted loving attention but couldn’t handle too much of it. I had to give her gabapentin to clean her ears or brush her belly or take her to a vet because she could be vicious if you pushed her!

But it wasn’t because she was bad. She absolutely loved me more than any cat I’ve EVER had! She loved to hang out with me while I was writing or watching TV. Being near me was important to her. When I moved to a different chair or sofa, she’d follow me and settle in near-by.

When we started gardening at the White Gables apartments, she loved to hang outside with me as well. I developed an allergy to cats in my early 40s at about that time, and it crushed my soul because I couldn’t have her in my bedroom with me at night any more. But we hung out by day, and she seemed content with that after a month or two. And I did invite her into my room when my fatigue was bad, I was lonely, and I had a towel or blanket I could throw over my covers that she could get on which would be removed and laundered afterwards to keep the dander level low.

I felt guilty as heck that I couldn’t have her with me more. Still, one does what one must. During my divorce, I was so distraught– and my cat didn’t like it. She was very upset that I was acting so strange, and I did my best to comfort her, but I was in great distress for a couple of years. She came with me to Cat and Sharn’s house, and she settled in fairly quickly. Sharn said she’d never seen a cat so devoted to their person in her life, and –yeah, Jazzy was my shadow!

When we got the kittens, Jazz was upset for a few weeks, but she eventually learned to get along with them most of the time. Still, Jazz was the very grumpy older auntie to the kittens. The only one that befriended her was Mez– they would sleep next to one another on my bed when I let them into my room on the regular. He was the most freaked out when she got sick… he still looks around for her sometimes.

After Sharn died, we moved to Heron Hold, and Jazz was the best mouser when we got here. We’ve been here 5 years, and she slowed down and became a contented indoor cat most of the time, only going outside with me to hang out and eat grass when I was outside doing chores. She became very attached to Cat as well, and would talk to and cuddle with her quite a lot the last couple of years.

At the twilight of her life, Jazz wasn’t nearly as touchy and over-sensitive. I instructed visitors in how to pet her, and she only rarely had an issue. She mellowed out slowly but steadily over the course of her life, and was the sweetest kitty you could imagine! She was okay being pet by autistic kids who can be notoriously insensitive sometimes– but they loved her and she ended up cuddling with both of them, helping them through a rough time in their life.

She was a difficult cat sometimes, but I never regretted keeping her! And I will miss her so very much.

Amara sent flowers that arrived the day we buried her. I was really grateful for that consideration– I don’t expect it with pet deaths, though I know I’m grieving harder for my furry baby than I ever will for either of my own parents. So goes life sometimes. What’s important was that Jazz and I gave each other lots of love and had better lives for it.