Cinco de Mayo is a day to celebrate and have a good time. Many of us aren’t really sure why aside from some vaguely Mexican reason. It turns out it’s mostly a U.S. holiday celebrating Mexican heritage and culture and also the date of a battle won by Mexico against France. Whatever. It’s fun. Have a margarita.
I go through this day in remembrance of something else entirely. This is the day I most remember Maya. I first met Maya when the family that found her called for help. They described a black cat and five kittens. The cat had been a stray that decided to stay with them. The kittens came shortly after. I reluctantly took in the feline family. Mom plus four kittens were black. I knew even my rescue group would have a hard time placing them. Black cats can be a tough sell.
I went through the standard procedures, testing for disease, spays and neuters and vaccinations. The babies were cute as are all kittens and they had a great mom. She was so attentive I decided to call her Maya (after the Maiasaur, a dinosaur with a rep as a good mom). Then it occurred to me there were five kittens: Cinco de Maya!
I couldn’t have been more lucky with those kittens. Predictably, the striped one, Marble, got a home first. But then the two black females, Penny and Whistle, got adopted together. A week later, the two black males, Slingshot and Button, got adopted together. I just had Maya left…for about four years.
My mom tried to take her in at one point while I was moving, but Maya turned out to be a biter. She was also not very affectionate or trusting. I took her back and she continued to be a caring mother figure each time I fostered kittens. Even if they were as big as her, she’d pin down a younger cat to clean its ears. I eventually came to understand that Maya was no longer a foster. She was my cat. She trusted me and sat on my lap whether I wanted her to or not.
The biggest problem with keeping Maya was she didn’t get along with my other cats, all much older than her. She hid in my office and I spent time with her when I could. I thought with her age, she would be around long after the others were gone and that would be “Maya’s time”. Sadly, about a year after the decision to keep her, she got sick.
Maya stopped eating and grooming. She lost weight fast. She couldn’t walk in a straight line. She was given emergency fluids and medicine. She ate again for about a day and a half then stopped. Her liver was failing. I had to make the hard decision and let her go. I was lucky to have the opportunity to spend time with her. I held her and brushed her and made her as comfortable as possible. I was with her at the vet’s office when the end came.
Now every year on Cinco de Mayo I think of the good mother cat that I got to know. I hope I made her life better. She was my friend and I miss her.
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