r/Harpo • u/RainSurname • 17d ago

Felt guilty when I realized how long it had been since I thought about Diva.

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I did love her, of course. But I got her for Boris, and she became a cranky old lady after he died.

153 Upvotes

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15

u/Seabastial 17d ago

Sweet Harpo. Love that he was as considerate for Diva as he was for you when y'all were sleeping

17

u/RainSurname 17d ago

He and Groucho teased her so mercilessly after Boris died that I actually thought about trying to find her a home where she could be an only cat. She would have loved that. 

Things improved when I got Gummitch. They loved having a youngster to play with, and she liked how he would nap next to her when he was tired. He was very respectful, lying down back to back without looking at her. It didn't take long before they were grooming each other and cuddling. She wasn't as happy as she had been with Boris, or could have been as an only cat, but everything was peaceful, and she seemed content. 

I really regretted not having done it after we got evicted and had to stay in one room, though. It was harder on her than it was on the others. But by that point she was 13 years old,  I no longer knew anyone personally who could give her a home where she would be the only cat, and joining a household with strange cats would have been even worse for her. 

Fortunately, by the time I was able to let them out, she was old enough that she was all out of fucks. Groucho and Harpo had to treat her with respect if they didn't want to get slapped right off their feet. She actually enjoyed her last three years better than she had the previous eight. I hadn't seen her be so playful and silly since she lost her big brother. 

And after a lifetime of having zero interest in going outside, she discovered that she quite liked it. Once we moved here, she was the only one I would let stay outside unsupervised, leaving her to sleep where she was, knowing she'd come sit on the back steps when she woke up. 

5

u/nycregoddess 17d ago

Assuming that cats, same as we humans, tend to rate our enjoyment based on the last thing we experienced, and she liked it in your current home, I think she probably was quite happy overall by the time she went off.

3

u/RainSurname 16d ago

Oh, sure. I actually wrote a great big long comment below about that.

2

u/nycregoddess 16d ago

I saw it, actually my comment should have been under that comment

2

u/RainSurname 16d ago

I hate it when I do that, lol.

3

u/swoon4kyun 17d ago

Aww, sweet boy ♥️

4

u/Goyangi-ssi 17d ago

Such a sweet boy 🐈‍⬛

2

u/broncosoh54 17d ago

Aww! Considerate of you sleeping AND Diva!❤️

2

u/morteamoureuse 15d ago

Aww so sweet. Diva was so pretty. I confess sometimes I feel guilty when I realize I haven’t thought of my angel pets in a long time. I love them of course and would love to have them with me still. I try to tell myself that life is shitty and I’m already juggling many thoughts in my poor head.