In Memory of Ms. Flipper

This morning I heard some heartbreaking news — Anna’s CH kitty, Ms. Flipper, has passed away.

It’s always upsetting when a pet dies, but there’s just something different about our bonds with our CH cats. As Anna put it so beautifully, “Flipper is my heart.”

An active member of the CH Kitty Club Yahoo Group, Anna shared some of the sweetest stories about Ms. Flipper with us. She was always up to something, whether Ms. Flipper was stealing the hearts of male cats everywhere, or if she was learning to use her walker. It was so fun to hear about her stories and accomplishments amid the usual posts about adoptable cats, CH questions and more.

In memory of Ms. Flipper, I wanted to share an interview I had with her earlier this year:

“I am almost 3 years old. I came to my momma when I was just a little, itty bitty; I think I was 4 months old. I was a California baby. Actually, I came from my mommie’s home town and was actually found on her grandma’s property.

My mommie and siblings had been killed by a very mean person, and I was the survivor. A wonderful person found me, and I was taken to a wonderful rescue: Whiskers, Tails and Ferals. Mommie’s friend asked mommie to take me. My mommie did not know anything about CH, so she had to do some reading fast and hooked up with the CH group. I made the journey to Oregon and my mommie was in love from the minute she saw me, and I melted in her arms.

My CH is severe. I have terrible times walking and I can’t stay upright, but I get around. Mommie worries a lot cause I get a few bumps along the way. I don’t have many toofers left, dey all got knocked out. Mommie says I need a pink football hat. Mommie has to help me use the litter box, and I have a lot of accidents. Mommie just cleans me ups and washes my beds out. She has special food dishes for me, and I have to eat a lot of wet food to stay hydrated, although I do love my kibble!!!

I can not be alone on furniture as I can get hurt. I flop around sometimes. Mommie said one of my nicknames is Spaz!! I have dislocated my right shoulder a couple of times.

Mommie puts warm water in the bath, and I can play in the tub. She slips a homemade sling under me and I tread water. She says it is good for my muscles. She plays with my feet and legs to make them stronger. I likes the toys she makes out of socks. They are big and stuffed with kitty nip, and I grab them and play.

I can’t climb; it’s just not my thing, and I’m scared to be up high. Mommie has a very special pouch for me, and she takes me places, and I educate hoomans about disabilities. CH, my mommie says, is just a condition. I’m very, very smart, I just can’t walk right. People need to know that CH kitties are very loving, very normal, and we don’t know we are different. We deserve to enjoy a good life too. See, my mommie has MS and RA, and me and my 6 other brufurs and sifurs who have CH help my mommie look at things better, and we give her laughter and hope and the will to go on every day.

I’m a fiesty gal, or shall I say Diva. I don’t take no guff from anybody and I can let out a yell and a swipe with the best of em especially when my sisfur Rachel flops over on top of me!!! I can get pretty funny sometimes and I make my mommie laugh. It’s dangerous to have me in your lap when you have nachos cause I will do whatever it takes to snag a treat. I am also very protective of my mommie, and if she is holding me and I don’t know you or another cat I don’t know approuches, I hiss and yell. I can hold my own!!

My favorite part of all this is the being waited on. My mommie caters to my every whim. She knows what and when I need something. And let me tell you, I’m really spoiled caused if I don’t have my purple blankie, I carry on till I am wrapped in it. I like my naps with mommie, she wraps me in my blankie and we cuddle.

CH is sometimes a bummer cause I’m more sensitive to certain noises, and there is also some textures I simply do not like. I don’t like change, and CH kitties have more problems with infection and sensitive tummies. Mommie has to be very careful what I eat, and even has to be careful with flea treatments.

I hate CH cause it makes me sad that so many others are sent to the Rainbow Bridge for no other reason other than they are not understood. I hate people who walk up to my mommie when we are out and tell her that I need to be ET, it sets mommie off. Mommie gets upset when she sees a kitty in a shelter or one being gotten rid of cause the people got them cause they are so cute, then find out how much it takes to care for us. But let me tell you, mommie says that if she had it all to do over she says “oh yes, I would.”

Mommie gives me massages. She has a feather she plays with me with when I’m on her lap–it helps my coordination, and I also likes bubbles because I have to reach for them. I have a playpen in the summer mommie sets up for us out in the carport and we gets lots of fresh air, but I do not like the grass–but my sisfur Rachel loves it.

My mommie says to other parents: love, love, love, respect, care, and let your babies teach you to be caring about hoomens and animals with disabilities. Don’t feel sorry for me, I’m happy, I am loved and well cared for. There is actually 7 of us in this house with CH, and then I has a blind sifur a deaf brufur. You might say I have my mommie wrapped around all four paws. Would you believe that Rachel and Miriam who have CH too are the same colors as me. They are moderate and my big brudder Smily Bob, he is 9, he is moderate. Then there is 9-year-old Princess, she is mild to moderate. Puck he is 2, and he is mild and deaf. We call him the Holy Terror!!!

Being CH means mommie can’t go on vacations much and she can’t be gone all day. But she really don’t mind too much, and we have friends who help us when mommie has to be gone for a week, and usually I travel with mommie cause I’m the worst.

So you see, life is not bad at all, although mommie feels bad cause I needed a lot of baths this summer and I’m a tad bald on my back end, but we are using a different shampoo now. And oh, I hate fleas. Poor mommie, she flea dips, combs and picks dem off me. I cant have flea drops because the one time I had one I got very sick, so dat ended dat. Dam fleas, dey a plague to us furies. It’s been nice to talk, maybe you can talk to my boyfriends for me. All my friend have husbands, why not me? I is pretty brainy, slender, I can carry on a great conversation, but I loves quiet cuddles and moonlight strolls.”

Rest in peace, little girl, and thank you for making all of our lives that much sweeter.