E.T.'s Story

As long as Radar was alive, E.T. could usually be found very near her. She was still her Mommy's baby at age eleven, when Radar crossed to the Bridge. E.T. was devastated with the loss of her Mother, and this was one of the first times when she really made her presence known. She would trail me from room to room, crying and looking so lost. Radar had been my life and I was in worse shape than E.T. We were also in the middle of moving, so she did not get the love and support that she needed.

After a week on the road, either in a ten foot trailer, or the back seat of the car, we finally reached our destination in the far north. E.T., Peanut, Satie and Tabu all travel very well, but I'm sure they were very happy to finally have their temporary home at a standstill. We spent a month parked in a friend's yard, while we looked for a place to call home. The cat's were kept confined in the little trailer. The friend had a very large Shepherd/wolf cross, whose chain reached very close to the trailer. They also had one very mean Siamese cat. I was very concerned not only about the dog and cat, but worried that once out of the trailer, the cats would wander and get lost.

One day, after we'd been there about two weeks, I happened to look out the window of my friend's house and there was E.T. sniffing her way around the yard. Cessna, the dog was more or less ignoring her and their cat was indoors. We're not sure how she got out, but from that day on, she was allowed a bit of freedom.

We found a place to rent, not easy when one has four furbabies, and settled in. E.T. became very independent, wanting little from anyone, content to do her own thing. She never wandered far from home and usually could be found off by herself. She became very vocal when she did want something, whether it some attention, food, or playtime. When she was ignored, she would tap on your arm or leg continually with her paw until you finally gave in and paid attention to her.

When we bought a place that backed onto a greenbelt, E.T. still stuck pretty much to the yard, unlike Satie, who couldn't get enough of exploring. E.T. liked to lie on the deck in the sun, Queen of her domain.

The one thing that she really enjoyed was a short play-time of fetch. She loved chasing a rolled up wad of foil and would bring it back time and time again, to have it thrown. When she'd had enough of the game, she would bat the foil out of the way, to let us know she was finished playing.

She did love my ex, and would harass him all through meal time, wanting a bite of whatever he was eating. She would jump on the back of his chair and swipe at his arm as he was bringing a fork full of food to his mouth. She usually got her way and was treated to a nibble.

Sometime around 1999, E.T. started sleeping on my head. It was kind of like going to bed wearing a touque. She was a very long cat and she would try her darndest to get all of herself on top of me. It never worked of course and she would have to settle for a large portion of her body draped off to the side. It was a long time before I realized, that this was the beginning of her not feeling well.

We started to notice that she wheezed on occasion, nothing serious, but after what her Mother had gone through, I was taking no chances. Off to the vet she went and she was put on anti-biotics. They seemed to do the trick and all was well for a couple of months. Then the wheezing started again, more noticeable and stronger than the first time. Back to the vet and back on the anti-biotics, she went, but this time the wheeze never went totally away. It would come and go....we would think that it was gone and out of the blue it would be back.

Through all of this, my own world was falling apart. My marriage of 17 years was on the rocks and I didn't know which way to turn. One day I went to work and when I came home that night, my spouse had moved out.

E.T. took his departure in stride. After losing her Mother, nothing ever seemed to bother her very much. She wanted a little more attention from me, but that could have been due to her not feeling up to par. She was still wheezing on and off and the vet didn't think it was anything too serious. She lived in a home of smokers and he thought maybe she had developed an allergy to the smoke.

My life took a big turn around when an unattached friend was suddenly my shadow. He was always there when I seemed to need someone, and it very quickly became the romance of my life. When we decided to move, my four furbabies were not impressed. They were all getting on in years, E.T. was 16 1/2, Peanut, 15, Tabu, 14 and Satie was 13. We found work at the new location and had eight days to pack....I never want to have to do that again!

It was a three day journey to our new home, but we had only two days to get there. We took turns sleeping and driving, the four babies wondering, I'm sure, why we never stopped, except for gas and food. We made it with an hour to spare.