Tiny, fluffy, overloaded cuteness, with the voice of an angel…. She’s Chloe, or should I say, HE is Chloe. Here’s the story. Year: 2006. Setting: Newark, CA Incident: Our good friends, Trish and John, went on vacation, and left behind their 2 cats: Obi and Omsi. (Obi has sinced passed away and we are very saddened by it). Obi was on a special diet where we can only get at the pet store. One day, as we walked into their house, we saw a trail of ants marching towards Obi’s special diet, laboring to bring the kitty food back to their colony. Needless to say, we took care of the ant problem, but the food is not longer edible. Panicked, we called Trish and asked her where we can buy more of Obi’s cat food, and that’s why we went to Central Vet Hospital. Right there, in the vet office, outside the chicken coup, was a giant cage. Sitting inside was 2 kitties: Chloe, and another little kitty. They were playing, wrestling inside. The moment I saw Chloe it’s all over. Love at first sight. I knew I can’t leave her at the vet. I had to take her home. And I just assumed she’s a girl because of her long fluffy hair. But I resisted. We already have 2 cats at home, and Rally (The Alpha, who passed away 2 years ago), and Chewy, the super skittish kitty, probably won’t be too happy with the competition. So we left. But we went back. 2 days later. She was the only thing I could think about for 2 days and I’m sure Rally and Chewy will learn to deal with her. So we took her home. The nurse at the vet confirmed that she’s a girl. Yeah! Our first daughter! How exciting! And she’s a Beauty! (Not to sound mean, but I always wondered how parents deal with super ugly children…) So she got home, and she quickly claimed everything to be her territory. 
Couch, cardboard boxes, pillows, everywhere that she finds comfortable. A few months later, we brought her back to get her first check up. And that’s when we found out the big secret: Chloe IS A BOY!
Chloe is a BOY!
Yikes! Ah well. She has already gotten used to being called Chloe, and so have we. In our minds, she’s a girl. A pretty girl. So she remained our baby girl. Anyways, she’s neutered. She does have ultra big feet that makes her even more cute. And she grew up to be even more beautiful. Everybody, our friends, family, cat sitters, they all love her. She loves to pay ball. Her favorite food is mango pudding. And vanilla ice cream. She likes to drink milk and she licks the coffee out of my cup. She kept her (human) cousins company. She’s a good girl. And a fighter. She beats up her brothers (older and younger), and never loses. Always claims the new toys, new cardboard boxes, new places to sleep. Loves the laundry basket. She yoga with us in the morning, sleep with us at night. She’s our precious little daughter.
Chloe, pretending to be a stuffed animal
I’d never truly understood the impact of cancer. Sure, we’ve had friends, distant family that’ve lost someone to cancer, but I personally have not lost any immediate family to cancer. From what I heard, cancer patients usually have a few months to live after diagnosis. Not Chloe. Between the time she was diagnosed with lymphoma all over, and the time we had to put her to sleep, we had 4 hours. 4 hours. It is a very short time for us to prepare, but a very long time for her to stay in pain. Oxygen will give her a little more comfort, but towards the end, she didn’t recognize us anymore. Last year when we visited the Marine Mammal Center, we were shocked to see how even sea mammals are getting cancer. From the ocean. What kind of poison are we putting into the ocean? What kind of toxin did we give to Chloe?????
Now I feel it. The Pain. The Shock. The Sadness. The scariness of Cancer. The sorrow of losing a child. Everywhere in the house I can still see her. Sleeping on the box, playing with cardboard, sitting in the laundry basket. I can still feel her soft hair, hear her meow, her footsteps, her purrs. She’ll always be my baby girl.
