Not too many people even knew we had a third cat, but a few months after we first got our beautiful calico, Jasmine, who died this past October, we adopted another kitten and named her Lilly.

As people will do with their pets, we gave her a nickname and she became Lillybell. Lilly was not like Jasmine. She did not run to greet visitors and was often hard to catch if you wanted to cuddle with her. For this reason many who will hear of her death this week will not feel the same sadness they did when they heard about Jasmine.

I dare say that even the Bunt girls don’t feel this loss quite the same as Rod and I do.

Lilly was sleek and slim and truly beautiful. She was most affectionate to Rod who earned her devotion over anyone. He would grab her and shmooze with her even when she put up a fuss. As a result, she would climb into our bed at night and climb on his chest to rub her head against his face.

This increased significantly after Jasmine’s death since Jazzy did not like to share her space on our bed.
When we found Lilly she was one of a dozen cats in an apartment and was struggling to get her fair share of food from an open bag. I think this was what made her a little skitterish and shy. Please don’t think Lilly wasn’t a sweet cat because she was. Never mean, never nasty. Just not the social cat that Jazzy was. And she was a great mouser!

I can also tell you that if you scratched her under her neck she would squint her eyes, lift her head, and she would not budge for as long as you would agree to do it. This is what I did for her in her last few minutes and ,just as if it it was any other day, she purred.

We love you Lillybell and you will be missed.