Our sweet and shy little Saffron. We rescued her from a crazy lady in Northern California who said she was selling purebred Rag Doll kittens. We saw this little bundle of fur at the bottom of her stairs and knew immediately she was perfect for our home. We also knew she wasn't a Rag Doll, but it was more important to get her out of that environment then to argue whether or not she had proper papers.
However, the damage was done. Saffron was shy her entire life and often hid in the closet. Only when it was quiet in the house, like when we were working at our desks at night or getting ready for bed, would she come close to us. But we loved to spoil her with attention. Our favorite thing to do was to pretend we didn't notice her when she meowed that she was in the room ready to be pet. We would call out and say, "Where's Saffron?!" She would meow back letting us know she was right at our feet. Once again, we would "wonder" where she was and she would meow louder and tap us with her paw. We would finally be overjoyed to "see" her and she would run in between our ankles and do a wheelie to make sure we got stroked the top of her head to the end of her tail. She would lavish the attention and purr with great intensity. But she never hung around for more than 10 minutes.
Saffron looked like a kitten her whole life. She was only eight pounds and her fur was as thick as wool. We would often laugh and say a pound of her was all fur. In the heat of the Southern California summer, we liked to shave her to give her some relief. It was a saga at the groomers, though. We often had to medicate her just to get her in the carrier...heck...I had to medicate myself sometimes because it was so stressful. The groomers were happy to give her back to us at the end of the day, you could tell they were exhausted from wrestling our eight pound cat. But when she got home, she would lighter on her feet, run around and even frolic! It was a glorious sight to see.
Our greatest gifts would be when we would wake up and find her at the foot of the bed or when she would roll on her back when we were fixing breakfast in the kitchen. We knew she loved us and that was her only way to show it. Sometimes, if we were really lucky, she would jump on the couch and sit with us for a few minutes. If she was there for more than 15 minutes, we were in heaven!
We loved her to pieces even though we could never truly gain her trust. We were devistated when she died so suddenly. Because her fur was so thick and because we could never get close for very long, we didn't know she had cancer until she started to cry out in pain. Even though the doctor said there might be a chance, we knew how difficult it was to wrangle her into the carrier, let alone how stressful it would be for her to endure treatments. My husband and I had to make the toughest decision and let her go. I felt the irony pass through me that I could finally hold her for as long as I wanted now that she found peace.
Her spirit will live with us forever.