Born amid tornado debris, Izzy Cat lived a full life

Losses weigh heavy and I don’t have enough energy or tears to write another tribute to a beloved pet. I know most folks are exhausted from reading them on social media. But Izzy deserves to be honored so here we go.

We humans are so weird. We often avoid human relationships in an attempt to prevent that painful condition known as a broken heart. Yet we so freely give our hearts to our pets when we know with near certainty they will break them one day.

We know we will choose them, buy them little beds and toys, give them outrageous nicknames, sing them silly songs, contort to odd positions so we don’t disturb their sleep in our beds (even though, as mentioned, they have beds of their own). We’ll walk for miles and miles with them, going nowhere, and let them copilot our road trips and our lives. We’ll giggle at their antics, marvel at their intelligence or lack thereof, fuss when they chew our shoes, report their shenanigans on social media and fret when they’re sick. We’ll cuddle them and kiss them. We’ll pour our love into them as often as required to keep them filled completely to the brim. We don’t want them to be deprived of even one drop. And we’ll do all that because they pour even more love into us, which fills us with a glow like no other. Pet love is perfect love. They rarely argue or refuse to load the dishwasher and they’re so frickin’ excited when we walk back in the door from getting the mail.

That’s why we choose them even while knowing, from the very first day, our hearts will be broken when they leave this world before we do. We sacrifice our hearts, we offer up the pain, in exchange for the honor of being their best friends for as long as they live.

Baby Girl and I discovered our kitty Izzy in the aftermath of the April 27, 2011, tornado outbreak. A litter was born in one of the houses that was struck in Tanner, Alabama. I took Baby Girl with me as I covered the aftermath for the newspaper for two weeks. One day, we drove past a house that had been badly damaged. A rain-soaked piano stood in the driveway and, on it, two kittens played a mangled tune. Those who know us know we had no other choice but to stop.

The homeowners were there trying to clear debris and begin rebuilding their lives. They told us a mama cat they didn’t know had taken refuge in the destruction and gave birth to a litter. They have us permission to choose a kitty to take home. We chose one of the kittens on the piano and Baby Girl named her Isabelle, or Izzy.

A vet told us ten years ago, when Izzy wouldn’t stop bleeding from her nose, to euthanize her. We refused and paid another vet for a transfusion. That $700 bought 10 years of life and shared joy. A great bargain, don’t you think?

Izzy died Sunday. She’d been sick and it was her time. But I will miss her. I take solace in a memory my husband brought up that night about how Izzy used to tease our German Shephard Neeko. We had a spiral staircase in our first house when we got married and merged our pet families, including my cats and beagle Lucy and his dog Neeko. Izzy enjoyed standing at the top of the spiral staircase, causing Neeko to immediately set up guard at the bottom so she could chase Izzy the moment she came down. Izzy would meow plaintively, as if she couldn’t get down because Neeko was blocking her way. She fooled even us the first few times. We’d move Neeko and let her come down the stairs unassailed. But we quickly learned that’s not what Izzy wanted. She and Neeko were performing a scene in an unknown play, with Izzy, the princess, trapped on the balcony with a dragon below. When Izzy got bored with playing a damsel in distress, she’d slowly walk down the steps causing Neeko to prance with excitement of the coming chase. But when Izzy got near the bottom, she’d simply shoot past Neeko with blinding speed and take shelter elsewhere. Neeko never once caught her, but they performed the play, over and over.

Neeko died in 2020. Now, they can play again as often as they want, the “damsel” and the “dragon,” loving their roles, loving the game. Thinking of it, I can smile again.