Catire Cortés

Greetings to this beautiful and necessary community, it is very gratifying to know that there is a niche in which we can share, the longing we keep for our loved ones, for those who are no longer here, with us. I also take this opportunity to wish you much success and growth. It is the first time that I publish here, at Hive Memorial Forest, and today I wanted to bring back the memory of someone who was very special in my life, and it is a non-human person, my beloved Catire Cortés, because a new anniversary of his death is approaching, and although I always remember it, these days I miss he more.

Catire Cortés was a white cat, totally white, with yellow eyes. He was very big, very intelligent and very noble. He was born in this, my house, if I remember correctly on March 21, 2000. He was the son of Galadriel, a striped kitten that I had at that time. He was part of Galadriel's first litter. I remember that one of my dogs, Milenia, who was very young, less than a year old, took him from the litter, just minutes after he was born, and left him in my hands, as if saying: "Look, how cute!” (she was also super special). From there a very close bond arose between Milenia and Catire, which continued forever until he died. As he was a puppy, she cleaned him with great care and affection, as well as pampering him. When he grew up, it was common to see them eat from the same plate, play, snuggle and sleep together. Milenia had a very particular game with him, and it was that she would open her mouth, and "swallow" Catire's entire head, to then release he and spin and jump. It was a game that the two of them had.

Since he began to grow, Catire showed a very noble character, as well as great intelligence, so we decided to keep him at home, and we gave the rest up for adoption. He became a big family darling: My daughter used to bathe him, and even put sunscreen on his ears, because she read that white cats are more susceptible to developing ear cancer. He allowed himself to be bathed like a baby, without bothering, without complaining, she even wrapped him in a cloth at the end of the bath, just like a human baby. My aunt adored him, she let him sleep in her bed, shared food with him, and was very fond of him.

When Galadriel had other litters, he too nursed alongside the new pups. It was something very strange to see, because there were the newborn pups and he, who was enormous, even bigger than his mother. He also helped her groom and clean them, which is not a very common behavior in male cats. He snuggled them, played with them, and taught them to be cats. When the kittens already ate solid, he was in charge of bringing them game, which was not always very pleasant, because it brought mice, rats, lizards, but we had to let him do this, because he was educating the kittens. It was very touching.

He was also a great hunter, there were hardly any rats and mice in the house. I am very sorry that I do not have more photos of him throughout his 10 years of life. In the first photos, Catire was almost two years old. In the others photos that I share here, correspond to its last year of existence, but when he was youngm he was a beautiful cat, very white, shiny, beautiful. After getting old, he stopped washing himself.

He was an incredibly well behaved cat, never marking territory, although he was never neutered. He was also incredibly loving and kind. I remember that he would come up to where I was sitting, and give me a slight touch with one of his paws on my cheek, to then purr and look at me with much love, that was his way of greeting me, of saying "here I am". He was also special with my husband, he would approach him, rub against his legs and then lie down at his feet, while he watched him. And although it may seem an exaggeration, when visitors came to the house, he was in charge of receiving them, approaching people and giving them a slight touch with one of his front paws, it was like shaking their hands and saying "Welcome!"

He also had very peculiar gastronomic tastes, such as eating melon, especially the gut without the seeds. He also adored the shredded salad and the French fries. And do not think that I forced him to be a vegetarian or vegan, not at all, he simply showed his interest and delight when I prepared those meals, he smelled them and immediately he was in the kitchen asking for his portion, and when I gave it to him, he ate with great relish and delight.

These photos, in which he appears with these three puppies, it is necessary to clarify that they were not his brothers. It was part of a litter that a friend gave me in 2009, because she knew I liked cats, and it was easier for me to find a family that would adopt them. These kittens arrived over a month old, I think they were already two months old. When I received them at home, Catire was very sad, he even left for three days. I suppose he was sad, he felt displaced, but then he came back and behaved wonderfully with these kittens, just as he did with his little brothers years ago: he pampered them, played with them, snuggled them, brought them hunting, taught them to climb, just like a father or an older brother. Of these three kittens, we left the tabby at home, and we named him Tigre, but that is another story.

Catire became ill in mid-June 2010. He had an abscess on his right cheek. We took him to the veterinary clinic and the doctor said that he was the product of a fight, that he needed to be operated on, so we left him at the clinic for surgery and recovery. He was there for 3 days, we went daily to see him. After he was discharged, I saw that his behavior changed, he was very withdrawn, isolated, he hid in one of the rooms, so we decided to take him back to the clinic and leave him hospitalized. He was there for 5 days, during which time the doctor was very attentive, and gave his various treatments to improve his condition. At the same time, I got sick with a fever and terrible pains, and simultaneously, a large part of my plants died, literally scorched.

Since I couldn't go see him, my husband visited him daily. The veterinary clinic was at that time, very close to our house (it no longer exists, the doctor migrated to another country); but Catire remained the same, did not improve. By June 23 at night, I recovered my health, I felt good. However, I clearly remember the morning of June 24, 2010, when the doctor came home with Catire's body in a box, three hours after he had died, and she literally told us that she could not explain why he had died, that she did all the treatments she had at her disposal and nothing worked. We had absolute confidence in her, in her abilities and knowledge, since she had been the doctor of our animals for more than 12 years. I remember her words when she said "Let him take, everything he has to take." There I understood that Catire gave his life for me, he sacrificed himself for me, he gave me the greatest gift that a being can give for another being out of love: His own life.

I have loved and love all my animals, for me they are part of my family, only they do not have a human form; but Catire Cortés was really special, because he taught us many things in his 10 years of existence, such as total love, mercy, tenderness, compassion, joy... I will never forget he, and I hope one day to see he again.