In memoriam Gatinha

Gatinha, one of our family's cats, was run over by a car this morning. My brother took her to the veterinarian as soon as the vet's office opened, but to no avail: the vet had to put Gatinha to sleep this evening.

Gatinha (Portuguese for "kitten" or "pretty girl") was a domestic longhair with the coloring of a Himalayan. She had the loveliest, if rather blank, deep blue eyes. She came into the life of the da Brescia family when she was about four months old. It was about four years ago, on a stormy night. She was wet, thin, bedraggled, skittish of everything and everyone. My mother fed her. My brother and I helped. Slowly Gatinha became used to us. We had her fixed, of course: there are too many strays and feral cats in this neighborhood, and we did not want to contribute to the population problem.

Gatinha did not see or hear very well (Mom speculated that Gatinha was the product of inbreeding among the neglected cats of a neighbor), and liked to stay close to home, even though we let her outside. I don't know why she was out in the street, since she did not like to stray from our yard. Perhaps a dog spooked her: that would be characteristic of her.

Poor baby, poor silly, simpleminded baby....