Piece #101 - Sheba

Way back in my posting #26 Raining Cats and Dogs, I spoke about all the animals we had in the house and how the animals were therapy for the twins. Since they have Asperger's, psychologists feel that people with our condition would be helped if we had an animal for therapeutic reasons. I'm not the biggest fan of animals because I'm usually the one who has to clean up after their messes. I'm not sure how therapeutic that would be for me cleaning after pee or poop 'accidents'. However, this event is one that really deserved a special posting all by itself. If you were able to read the 26th posting, you would know who Sheba was. I'm very sad to report that on September 25th, 2015, Jaimee and I had to make the grueling decision to put Sheba down. Sheba was 16 years old.

As an owner, you know these moments are going to come yet you never seemed to be prepared for that time when you have to put the animal to sleep. Jaimee and I have had to put down other animals before but, this was a little different. We got Sheba when she was still a kitten and lived with us the entire time. This cat was rather fascinating because no dog or little children that we ever had in the house intimidated her (like my granddaughter Sophia). The only thing that would spook Sheba was the vacuum cleaner! This was the only animal in the house that knew if she heard the can opener then that usually meant snack time, in the way of tuna anyway and shockingly the only animal to come when you called her name. Whenever Sarah was home, Sheba would generally sleep with her; even when Sarah moved downstairs, Sheba would follow.

I know I've mentioned this before but, there were many nights when I took a shower Sheba generally wanted to be in the bathroom with me. There would be a time or two when she poked her head in to see if I was still in there, but usually she would lay on the towel right next to the tube until I got out. I remember a few times when Sheba would go into the bathroom only to find that it was my wife in the shower and not me so she would promptly leave the bathroom only to discover that I was in the study watching the whole amusing event unfold. Most times when my wife was out of town, Sheba would literally sleep on Jaimee's side of the bed...the whole night! Whenever Jaimee came home, Sheba had a very difficult time relinquishing her side of the bed. Many times Jaimee would get the cold death stare from the cat. (I've honestly had never seen a death stare from a cat...unless you’re a tiger!) Before her death, she would many times wait in the kitchen for me whenever I made breakfast because once I was finished; she knew actually where I would go...the study. There, she would hop on Jaimee's chair which was next to mine and wait for her portion of my scrambled eggs. Once she had her food, she satisfactorily left and would lay inside the clothes basket in the hall. 

Probably the biggest scare we ever had with that cat was one morning I had gone downstairs to restart the dryer before I would leave for work. I went back upstairs to finish getting ready. A few minutes later, I came back down the stairs only to hear an odd noise coming from the basement. When I came to the dryer, I heard this loud thumping noise, so I immediately opened the door only to find Sheba had been in the dryer! Sheba was panting like a dog and I knew that wasn't a good thing. Jaimee called the vet and they told us to take her to the animal hospital. The doctor told us that we were very lucky she was still alive. Jaimee and I monitored Sheba to make sure she was going to be okay, the only thing Sheba permanently got was a white streak of hair that ran down on the front of her ear. Needless to say, that really scared us and how amazing it was that Sheba lived through the ordeal.

One thing is for sure; Sheba gave us some amazing memories and will sorely be missed. Sheba was the only animal who came the closest to catching a squirrel; it made the dogs rather jealous. I really did love that cat. It's going to be very difficult because she was a big part in my life and my daughters. It's kind of funny to think that a cat could do this to a person because I always figured dogs would be more difficult to deal with, but a cat? Sheba will always be one of those special animals you experience every so often. Good bye Bathsheba, you always have a special place in my heart for the rest of my life.

Song of Inspiration [Check it out on iTunes or Android!]:

Song: "The Hurt & The Healer"

Artist: MercyMe

Album: The Hurt & The Healer

Here is a picture of Sheba in one of her favorite places to sleep...on our clean clothes!

Here's the official music video to the selected song: