Claire

Claire, my family's 16-year-old cat was put to sleep this week. She was a treasured part of our family and we were all extremely sad to see her leave us. Claire joined our family when I was 8-years-old. The photo below of Claire and I was taken shortly after she became part of our family.

Claire was quite the gal. She LOVED to eat more than anyone else I've met. My brother Dan decided to use Claire as part of his science experiment in elementary school, seeing how different cat foods would affect her weight. My mom says that project was the foundation to her becoming fat. Claire was obese for the majority of her life, much due to my brothers and I feeding her whenever she meowed at us. My grandparents were also notorious for feeding her everytime they would come over to our house. Despite being overweight, Claire was quite spunky. A favorite past-time of mine was to play "Catzilla" with her, lifting her up by her front legs and having her walk around on her hind legs with her front legs out in front of her like Godzilla-- she was pretty terrifying, let me tell ya! ;)

Claire was a big snuggler. She had a way of knowing if I was feeling sick or just feeling blue because she would always jump up on my bed and snuggle with me right when I needed it most. Growing up, I would always introduce Claire to my friends as "my sister", as she's the closest I ever got to having a sister. Gosh, thinking back, Claire and I did a lot together. I would dress her up (which she hated), take her on walks with a leash (which never worked out because she'd just find a nice sunny spot in the grass and lay down to take a nap instead) and listen to JingleCats with her during the holidays.

Almost all of the family Christmas memories I currently have involve Claire curled up under the Christmas tree. My mom put up my family's Christmas tree a few days ago and she called to tell me to stop over and check it out. I went over and immediately teared up, realizing this is the first Christmas without Claire under the tree.

Claire at 16-years-old

Claire, we will greatly miss your meows and purrs. We will miss you laying across the heat vents during the winter, hogging all the heat for yourself. ;-) We will miss your pitter-pattering of feet on the wood floors throughout the night and your stubborn "oh no you didn't!" sassy personality. Thank you for the memories and snuggles. You were a irreplaceable part of the McClanahan clan and we will greatly miss you.

One last time, here's your favorite Christmas song. It's still as disturbing and hilarious as the first time I heard it, but you sure thought it was pretty fabulous!


RIP Claire.