The Story of Purkinje Loo

by Christine Crish
(Nashville, TN)

Purkinje (Purr-kin-jee) Loo was a 2-year old Bengal that we adopted because her previous owner, an acquaintance of the family, was going to "give her to the pound because she was too affectionate." How crazy! My husband and I thought "too affectionate" was the perfect cat for us.

And Purkinje was. She was a constant snuggler and cuddler. The minute we were sick or sad, she was in bed nursing us back to health. She rode on our shoulders and hid in our laundry. In a house of 4 cats and a bulldog, she was the only one that got along with everybody.

Of course she was also a devil, stealing raw meat off the counter and running off with slabs of bacon trailing behind her like the scarf of a WWI flying ace...

After our son was born and turned 1, Ms. Purkinje started sleeping in his crib with him. She was light as a feather at 6lbs, so she snuggled up and slept on his belly and both she and our son loved it. She spent so much time with him it was kind of weird. But as it turns out, she may have known that she needed to get as much time in with her new friend as she could, because out of the blue, Ms. Purkinje got sick with a very bizarre form of stomach cancer (at only 8 years of age).

We tried to do whatever we could for her and when her quality of life diminished, we sat by her side and cuddled her as she was euthanized. Our hearts were broken--and it amazed us to see that the other cats and bulldog were also quite heartbroken by Purkinje's loss as well.

Purkinje was one of those special cats--a cat of a lifetime. There will never be another quite like her. During the spring after she was laid to rest in our front flowerbed, one of our iris bloomed an unusual gorgeous golden orange color, just like Purkinje. Coincidence? Maybe. A comforting reminder of the greatest kitty that ever lived? Definitely.