Have you ever done the morally “right” thing yet felt so heartbroken from your choice?
On October, 30th, I made the difficult decision to put my nineteen year old cat down due to a cocktail of health issues that she had little to no chance from recovering from.
While I am glad I let her rest in peace, my heart and soul still feels the pain and loss that comes from no longer having my feline companion in my life.
The origin story of Princess Natsu
Cats were always apart of my life. The cat that I grew up with during my infancy and teen-years was my mom’s cat, “Snowy”. Snowy was a pure white cat, I believe half Persian and Siamese. According to legend, my mom’s cat was intelligent, but by the time I was old enough to ‘play with her’, she was already a senior and spent most of her time sleeping.
This was why when I went on summer vacation with my father in 2000, my grandmother and mom decided to adopt a kitten that I could call my own. Neither one of them are good with surprises so they called me almost immediately while I was in Florida and told me about the small kitten they adopted from the Humane Society. They said she was the only female kitten and that I would love love love her.
They were right.
My memory is trash, but I remember the first time I laid eyes on my cat almost as if it was yesterday.
As soon as I got home from my trip in late June, I ran to my bedroom. My grandma had hidden her in a scratching post, using a pillow to keep the kitten inside for the surprise. However, Princess was bad with surprises too, because by the time I opened the door, that little kitten had pushed the pillow inside and was waddling out of her hiding place.
She was so tiny and fragile.
She was just like me!
How my cat was named Princess Natsu
While my grandma adopted my cat with full intentions of her being MY cat, she already had been calling my kitten ‘Princesa’, Spanish for Princess, before I even arrived from my vacation. Due to this, I really didn’t bother changing her name when it came time to name her. Instead I just opted for the English way of naming her and she just kept both versions of her name.
Initially she had the same last name as me, Campos, since she was my cat.
However that changed in 2002-2003.
I got heavily into ‘roleplaying’ which is basically a hobby in which you create fictional (or sometimes real) characters and put those characters into situations and play out how they’d think and behave. It’s a bit like interactive storytelling in which you and others collaborate in telling a story with your created characters.
One of my best friends at the time created a character, a magical elf boy who I immediately took a liking to. His last name was “Natsu” and he was a charming playful fellow who reminded me of the villain in Mew Mew Melody. It was then I decided that my cat would have his last name. After all, during that time, I was too shy to date real boys, so Princess got a fictional father.
Even after I graduated from middle school, the last name kinda stuck and I liked the origins of Princess’s entire name. Princess T. Natsu Campos.
My relationship with Princess
Princess was my best friend. Since I was raised like an only-child in my household, she also became this strange combination of daughter and sister. I would play with her, but also baby her. And as we grew up together, she tolerated her role as confidant, pet, daughter, and sister.
While I do consider myself ‘blessed’, while growing up my grandma and father took turns going in and out of the hospital. I remember having days where I wasn’t sure if either one of them would see me graduate. It seemed that with each passing year, their health slowly but surely declined. Whenever these thoughts consumed me, I would pull Princess onto my lap and pet her. Her purring would relax me and I’d time my breaths with her own to calm my breathing.
Luckily, I’m still blessed to still have my grandma and father in my life.
When it came time to play, Princess and I had a variety of fun activities to do together while she was still in her youth. While she was small, I entertained myself with finding boxes, containers, and bags to coax her into climbing into. Her natural curiosity matched my own as I squealed in delight with each container she explored and settled down in.
I also decided to show all the ‘dog-lovers’ in my life that I could teach my cats tricks and taught Princess how to sit on command. My cat was very food motivated, so teaching her how to sit was time-consuming but very doable. She kept this knowledge with her throughout my life and it delighted me each time I demonstrated her skill to guests or when I was alone at home and called her over to sit down next to me in the kitchen.
Games I played with Princess
Laser tag.
A very common game that most cat owners play with their cat, I had several laser pointers throughout Princess’s lifetime that I’d use to play with her. She would love to chase the laser up and down my hallway, as well as, claw the wall whenever I pointed the laser pointer up.
As she got older, she played less and less with the laser pointer, but she would follow it with her gaze. Sometimes she’d just look at me just to tell me, “Really? This again?” While other times she’d go along with it and play for a few minutes before laying back down to be a lazy kitty.
Tag.
In my living room, we used to have this table that had a cloth over it. Princess used to love hiding in there while I ran down the hall. Then like the young tigress she was, she’d emerge from her spot and chase me down the hall. I then would chase her down the hall until she hid back in her spot. We would do this several times, taking turns in chasing each other just for the heck of it.
If I got tired of running, I’d then use my laser pointer to play with her. And if she got tired then I’d let her rest and get some cuddles after the adrenaline wore off for both of us.
Fetch.
The final game was the one we played the least during her long lifetime. I used to own a starfish toy that was lightweight for Princess to carry around the house. I would toss this Starfish down a flight of stairs and Princess would go down to get it. Then once she got it, I’d take it away from her just to toss it back down the stairs all over again.
I wish that recording pets were as common as they are now, because I don’t have any footage of my kitty playing fetch with me. It was adorable.
Want to see more of my precious kitty?
Suffice to say, if given the chance, I would write more and more about my cat. I had her in my life for 19 years, so there’s plenty of material I have to work with when it comes to my cat.
However, pets are like family. While I’m low-key obsessed with Princess, I know you all may not be the same. If you are in the 1% that would want to see more images and videos of my cat, I’ll be updating the Instagram I created for her before she passed away.
This Instagram grew quicker than any of the other accounts I made, but since she has passed away I’ve been less concerned about growing a following and more interested in having a single spot to remanence the good times I had with my kitty.
If you’d like to see pictures of Princess Natsu, feel free to go to her Instagram at: Instagram.com/princess.natsu.
Will I ever own another cat?
At the moment, I am not bringing any new felines into my home. Since Princess has passed away, I’ve received a few offers of kittens who need new homes and in my grief I had been tempted to adopt a black cat on Halloween (the day after Princess passed).
Right now I’m working a lot and don’t have the time to properly raise a kitten. Instead I’d rather focus on working, improving myself, and saving enough to move out of my current home so I can have more space for a furry companion.
However I’d still love to see pictures of your cat or cats that your friends own. Feel free to comment below with pictures or with Instagram accounts that are filled with cats. I’ll probably follow them