Until We Meet Again, My Beloved Grace

Grace (Gracie)

My sweet little Grace crossed the rainbow bridge today. I am absolutely devastated and still struggling to come to grips with the suddenness of her loss.

She arrived at our house on December 19, 2025. Although she stayed with us for just over 34 days, she left an indelible imprint on my heart and memories worth a lifetime.

I can never forget the moment she arrived at our house. My brother rescued her and brought her in, and immediately she jumped onto my lap and became comfortable. And then something special happened. She stared at me with her angelic eyes, without interruption, for one whole minute. It was the most beautiful, innocent, and priceless expression of love I have ever experienced. I kept asking her, “Why are you looking at me like that, sweetheart?” And when we finally broke our gaze after what felt like an eternity, I was so overwhelmed by her display of love that my eyes welled up. We created an instant bond that will last forever.

I affectionately called her Crazy Gracie because she was an absolute bundle of energy and chaos, and nothing was safe in her path of destruction. In terms of behaviour, she was more orange than most orange cats, and I loved her to death because of it.

She used to overwhelm Bowie, who is usually calm and laid-back, with her interminable energy and compel him to lash out at her. But she was fearless and made him run around the house in sheer terror. It was so entertaining to see Bowie, who has fought and defeated all the male cats in the neighbourhood, run for his life, chased by a kitten half his size. However, we knew he was humouring her, and deep down, he loved playing tag with her. Eventually, she wore him down, and they were on the verge of becoming inseparable. Unfortunately, fate had other ideas. I'm heartbroken for Bowie, who lost a dear friend and hasn't even realised it yet.

Bowie and Grace

Sleeping on my chest was Gracie's favourite place to rest. As soon as I sat or lay on the couch, she used to jump onto me and playfully bite my fingers, toes, or arms. After calming down a bit, her soothing purrs engulfed my heart and ears before she slowly drifted off to sleep. This was our routine every day.

Gracie and Me

I will fondly remember our playtimes together. She didn't need expensive toys; a neatly folded plastic cover held together with a rubber band was all it took to keep her occupied for hours. She was a clever girl who mostly made me run around the house and pick up her toys. It was almost as if she was playing me, and not the other way around.

Within a few weeks, she had become an irreplaceable part of our lives. But our happiness was fleeting. On January 19, she refused to eat her favourite creamy lickable treat, something she usually couldn't wait to eat off my hand. That night, she vomited multiple times and completely stopped eating food or drinking water thereafter. Over the next three days, we made several trips to the vet, who treated her for severe dehydration. On the second day, the fever had subsided, and the bile vomiting had almost stopped. However, she was still dehydrated and refused to eat or drink anything. My family and I tried everything to get her to eat, but our efforts were in vain.

Around this time, she started vocalising. They were neither her usual meows nor cries of pain. The haunting sounds she made are still ringing in my ears as I write this. It was almost as if she knew her time had come and was preparing us for the inevitable.

After the third day of tests and treatment, we brought Grace home. She started moving gingerly around the house. A mere six hours before her departure, she jumped onto the bed and slept on my lap for a few minutes. She then slept beside me for a while. I could see her struggling as she twisted and turned, trying to find the right position to lie down. Sometime later, she lay down next to my mother's feet, burying her face in her saree. Grace loved playing while curled up in my mom's saree. In hindsight, I believe she was saying her goodbyes.

At the stroke of midnight on January 23, she became completely disoriented, and her movements turned wobbly. We were absolutely shattered to see her in this state and broke down in tears. This spirited kitten, who ruled our hearts, climbed every window, curtain, and cabinet in an instant, and reached every nook and cranny of the house in a jiffy. Her energy was infectious and chaotic. It was devastating to see her deteriorate so badly in a mere three days.

Even though we knew she wasn't going to survive the night, we tried everything to hold on to her a little longer. At 12:50 a.m., I lay on the couch with Grace resting on my chest. As her breathing became laboured, she failed to respond to my reassuring words. I kept telling her to keep fighting. For some reason, I thought that if she survived the night, she might get better in the morning and start eating again. I was hoping a miracle would save my precious baby.

For forty minutes, I held her on my chest as she took her last few excruciating breaths. Her breathing pattern is still fresh in my mind: three to four fast breaths, followed by a big heave. In her final moments, her survival instincts kicked in, and she started kicking with her hind legs and made a running motion with her front legs. As this motion stopped abruptly after three intense seconds, her front paws hung briefly in the air. That image will haunt me for the rest of my life.

Immediately, I sat up on the couch while holding her. At exactly 01:29 a.m., Grace took her final breath and passed away gracefully in my arms. It felt as though my entire life came to a standstill for a fleeting moment. In the morning, we performed her last rites and cremated her at a local pet crematorium.

I love you, Gracie. Your brief existence made a profound impact on my life and left a huge void in my heart that will never be filled. Thank you for the memories. Rest easy, my baby, until we meet again!

My Love for Cats seriously Tested

My baby Achilles sitting on me

My love for Cats is purely unconditional and unmatched. I have loved all my cats as if they were my children. But few days ago, that theory was put to some serious test. It made me question myself whether I am actually a lover of cats and animals in general, whether my love for them is real or not.

Few days ago, that is on the morning of 18th Jan at around 05:45 I heard the meows of kittens just outside my door step, near the front gate. My Mom had already woken up because of the meows (Even she loves cats as much as I do), and few minutes later I woke up as well. It was still dark and when we turned on the lights, we saw two tiny kittens of ginger color of about 5 to 6 weeks old, obviously scared and confused, calling for their mama. We figured out that someone knew that people love cats in this (our) house so they must have dropped off the kittens at our door step hoping we would definitely take care of it.

Minutes after they came to our house, feeling cold and scared. Resting for now.

So I tried to slowly invite them into our house by providing them with some milk. They were very scared but somehow made their way in the house. It was damn cold outside as well. First couple of hours I tried all the tricks to make them feel comfortable, usually it works very well but they decided to take refuge under the cot for now. The whole day they were screaming, even though we understood their situation, it became unbearable even for my mom who is such a huge lover of cats. In the meanwhile one of them decided that the area behind the Television set was the bathroom and decided to poop there. My mom silently cleaned it; I didn't hear a word of anger or disgust from her. I knew she was getting tired of it already. At the end of the day my mom was very tired and so was I, trying to control the kittens and make them go to sleep.

After a few hours both kitties felt a little comfortable and decided to take a nap.

The following day we decided that at least we should give them up for adoption, mom asked me to post an online ad about it. I wasn't willing to let either one of them go, wanted to keep them both. But already there was some tension among the only cat still with us from Alicia's descendants, named Zorro which is 10 months old now. So Zorro didn't like the fact that there were intruders in the house and started hissing at them, and the fiery kittens actually returned the favor by hissing back at him. This went on for a while; my mom has had enough at this point. So I asked my best buddy Rajiv, who is also a cat lover to adopt one of them. So he came to our house and decided he will take the female kitty (the other one is male). I felt gutted to separate the kittens but we had little choice at that point. So we got a basket ready, trying to make the kitty as comfortable as we can, placed the kitty in it. I sat pillion to my friend who was riding the bike with the kitty in the basket I was holding. It was a 25 minute journey but the kitty was so scared, it constantly kept meowing throughout the ride, even though I did my best to console her. Her screams broke my heart. But 4 days later, which is today I hear she has become pretty comfortable in their home.

The last time both kitties were together. Enyo on the left and Achilles on the right.

Meanwhile, when I came back home the other kitty was still screaming as he wanted his sister back. My mom has been consoling him for a while but to no avail. He wanted to get out of the house, constantly scratching the front door, asking us to open it. This is when I made the biggest mistake, almost sinful. I let the kitty go outside thinking I would follow him and bring him back again. Thankfully there were no dogs around. But as soon as I let him go, he ran into those drainage pavements, I tried to keep up with him from the outside, he had gone some 50 meters away from the house, nearing the end of our block. I was afraid he might stumble on to the road where the traffic is slightly heavy, even though it was not a main road. I kept calling for him from the outside; he would respond with meows but would not come out. This continued for the next 10 minutes and then he came out and hid under a stationary car. I tried to persuade him to come out, he finally came out but started running on to the road, I tried to grab him but he bit me on my index finger and scratched both my hands. I was bleeding and he again went back under the drainage pavement. I came back home dejected and furious at my self for my stupidity for letting the kitty out. My mom was nursing my wounds; I was almost shattered because I thought I would never see that kitty again. My mom was consoling me, saying he would come back on his own. Half an hour later I went in search of him again, I could see the pavement where he went under from the main gate of my house, I saw him at the same place where I had left him earlier, still screaming. I called him, and this time he came running towards me after he saw me and ran straight in to the house. I felt so happy and relieved at that moment. I would have never forgiven myself if something would have ever happened to that kitty. Finally he is home and safe and since the past few days he has become very comfortable with us. But still there is some tension with the kitty and Zorro; hopefully they would get along in the coming days.

As he was so brave and courageous I have named the kitty Achilles, in honor of the brave Greek King and the other kitty's name as Enyo - Twin sister of Achilles in the Greek mythology.

But that incident really made me question my love for cats and animals. For now, I am really happy as I was in some way responsible for those two kitties getting a home for themselves and assured that they would be taken care of really well.

All's well that ends well. :)

I am a Cat Lover and I am Proud!

Alicia wants her dinner early. So she is setting the time appropriately.

My baby posing for the cam :)

Dear Cat Lovers,

The day is finally nearing, the day which made me a lover of cats from a guy who was not a big cat person in general. That is the day when I found my baby Alicia. It was on Nov 16, 2008 when I found her and my whole perception about cats and animals in general changed forever. Now I am proud to say that I am a cat lover and an animal lover.

I just want to remember this day as Alicia's birthday. Even though the real birth date of Alicia is not known, maybe she was a two and a half month old kitty when I found her.

It will be almost 3 months since Alicia went missing and it saddens me to this day that I haven't found her back. So I urge all cat lovers to come together and support this cause and celebrate this day in remembrance of Alicia.

Please attend this Event and wish Alicia a Happy Birthday. :)

Thank You,

I Love Cats

I had written this more than two years ago after I lost my beloved cat named Alicia, an adorable little kitty who was solely responsible for my love for cats. Miss her so much. :(

I had posted this note on the eve of her birthday in my fan page on Facebook called I Love Cats, dedicated to my baby Alicia. It has close to 50,000 likes now.

Recently I celebrated Alicia's 4th Birthday and 3rd in her absence. It's been 28 months since I saw her last but I still miss her so much. It breaks my heart she is not with me anymore. Hope she is safe wherever she is and a good cat loving family is taking care of her.