# My Dusty



## QueenBunnywitch (Apr 8, 2009)

This is basically the story of the kitty that will forever hold my heart, she will never be replaced, and I will always remember her.


When I was young, probably about 8 or so, my cousin's cat had babies. We adopted two of them Ashes who was grey and white and Dusty who was black and white. Their markings were almost identical but their personalities were completely different. Dusty was supposed to be my stepdad's cat and Ashes was supposed to be mine. When they were young..Ashes was easy going, outgoing, and let pretty much anyone pet her. Dusty was finicky and didn't like being around a whole lot of people at once. She also didn't like being pet all the time, unless I was the one petting her. When she was still a kitten and in her teens she would let me carry her around in my barbie bed like she was a princess, I used to call her Cleocatra. As they got older, Ashes was still pretty outgoing but never kicked the habit of nursing on anything around and when she started nursing she would drool until whatever she was nursing on was soaked but she was the sweetest thing ever. Dusty became just your typical intelligent, dominant, alpha-female. If you're familiar with Two Lumps, she was the female version of Ebenezer. She demanded your respect and the respect of all other pets in our home. 

Ashes got out one night and got pregnant by a skinny black and white male that had been roaming the neighborhood. She had two kittens we named Gunther and Felix, little boy versions of Ashes and Dusty, Gunther was grey and white and Felix was black and white. When they finally got older they ended up running away and Ashes ran away shortly after. We never saw them again but the neighborhood was full of cats all the time so they probably just joined up with a group of ferals and went on their way. 

Then one night Dusty got out and successfully managed to get knocked up by the same homewrecking male that impregnated her sister. He was pretty friendly and seemed to like that we had food and water set out so he decided to live with us. We named him Pepe, after Pepe le Pew because he always had HORRIBLE gas. When Dusty finally went into labor it was scary, it was her first labor and we didn't take her to the vet because at that time we really didn't have the money to, or at least that was the excuse I got from my parents. I think it just mostly had to do with the idea that animals knew how to take care of themselves and you only took them to the vet to get put down. Horrible way of thinking, I know but I was too young to know any better. Looking back at how some of our animals were cared for is just..unforgivable. I blame my stepdad, things changed once my mom met someone that knew how to care for animals the way they were supposed to. But that is neither here, nor there, I digress. Dusty ended up giving birth to 6 stillborn babies. She also some how managed to give birth to a kitten with no bones and a completely perfectly formed head. Over the next couple years she had 2 more litters, the second litter also had 6 that died soon after being born and the 3rd litter had another 6 babies..but this time, one was stronger than the others and thanks to my uncle that cared for her day and night, she survived and was strong and healthy. She was such a weirdo we named her Loofy. After Loofy we got Dusty fixed.

The house we lived in when we first got Dusty was creepy, and if I slept in a particular room I had vivid nightmares. Dusty always seemed to know when to wake me up, I'll never understand how, but any time a dream got too intense and I couldn't wake myself she'd always jump on my bed or bat at my face to snap me out of it and wake me up. If she wasn't around and I managed to wake myself from a nightmare, I'd start calling my mom, I could always hear Dusty's little paws and sure enough she'd erupt into the doorway to save me. When I was sick or sad she wouldn't leave my side, even when I was a teenager. 

She had such a mischievous side to her as well. I had a vanity with various little knicknacks, perfume bottles and jewelery boxes. She loved to just lay right in the middle and shove everything out of her way. If something clattered to the floor she would just lay there like a Queen, as if it were the fault of the object invading her space. She also had an obsession with my Barbie pillows. If I left my room unattended while my toys were out she would steal them and rip them to shreds. She would steal loaves of bread and hide them under my bed. 


Once Loofy got to her cat teens, Dusty stopped mommying her and would randomly attack her. They really didn't get along at all. One night Loofy managed to get out while we were bringing in groceries and of course, ended up getting pregnant. Not by Pepe though, he was long gone, probably ran off to join Ashes. This time it was Bart, a big fat yellow tabby. We were worried that when Loofy had her babies Dusty would attack them but to our surprise..Dusty actually started to help Loofy through her labor. She stayed with her the entire time..I had never seen her so affectionate to another cat before! She even let the babies try to nurse. The kittens were adorable, all 4 of them and they all found homes very quickly. We planned to get Loofy fixed but she managed to escape and get pregnant again before we could. My stepdad passed away a few years before and at this time my mom met someone else. He talked my mom into letting him dump her somewhere because he didn't want to deal with the kittens. I was furious but they didn't care about my opinion. I was depressed for weeks but at least I still had my Dusty.


My mom was HIV+ and when she started getting sick Dusty started to sleep in my mom's room instead of mine. Dusty was usually very weird about being pet, she only wanted to be pet when SHE wanted to..but that rule seemed to change for my mom. If my mom wanted to pet her or worse PICK HER UP she would let her with little to no objection. Unfortunately my mom passed away..which left me with one of the hardest decisions I had to make, and probably the only thing I regret..I had to decide what to do with Dusty. My mom's fiance didn't want to stay living in our house because it was too expensive for just the two of us. We also had 2 dogs and 2 puppies. We gave our boy dog to my grandmother but we couldn't find anyone to take the puppies and the momma dog. A dog shelter only wanted the puppies but we said they couldn't have the puppies unless they took their mom too. The agreed and a few weeks later we received a call from someone saying the found the body of our dog by the side of the road. The must have just dumped her and didn't even bother taking her collar off. I couldn't find ANYONE to take Dusty, I wanted to make sure she was going to be taken care of. I couldn't take her with me because the apartments didn't allow pets. The only people that would take her were my cousins that had animals but never took care of them, it was that or a shelter that probably would have put her down because she was already at least 7 years old and not friendly or playful. She ended up running away and I'll never know what happened to her. 

After my mom passed away, I never had dreams about her but everyone else would say "OH Starr! I had a dream about your mom and it was just beautiful!" The dreams I had of my mom were never peaceful or happy, she was always ignoring me in a crowd. I always had dreams of Dusty though. In almost every dream I've had of her she talks to me and tells me not to worry about her and to let her go.

Most recently I had a dream where I found her in my old neighborhood and she was faded to brown. She kept telling me to leave her alone and that she was happy where she was. I kept crying and i could smell her and feel her. I always get depressed for days after I have a dream about her. 

Sorry this was so long...I just felt like I needed to talk about her and what she meant to me. I learned so much from her and I'll never have another pet like her.


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## vammpiire (Aug 17, 2009)

That is such a lovely tale. 
The part about your puppies mother made me really sad. 

I hope you're doing okay now.
I know how you feel about your mom. My dad passed away recently and exactly what you said about not appearing in your dreams and hearing everyone elses dreams. It makes me feel crummy inside.
I wish you the best :]


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## i.love.my.cats (Aug 11, 2009)

its sad to hear that all your cats run away and the dog at the side of the road made me feel really horrible and down :crying : hope your ok now :heart

did you have any pictures of the cats ? x


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