Step Up 2: Hermia Boogaloo

February 10, 2008

A few weeks ago Ted and had to deal with something very serious.

Our cat, Hermia, is getting old.

Really. She was born April 14, 1991 . She’s going to be 17 years old in two months. (these pictures are from around 1992).
I got Hermia from my friend, Sydny, who had gotten her as a kitten. Just a couple of months later he got a new roommate, who he said was only temporary, and he asked me if I would take Hermia for a few months, maybe 6 at most.

That, as you all know, was 17 years ago.

Now I can’t imagine life without her. She talks all the time. She takes up half the bed and REFUSES to move an inch at night. On laundry day we have to move the sheets around her just to wash them. She hisses at the other cats, Jack and Betsy, when they come near her, but secretly she searches them out when they don’t come by for a few hours.

But you know what? She’s always been here. I could always depend on Hermia– for entertainment, for a warm little body in the bed, for a $600 vet bill…

So the last few months Ted and I noticed that it would take her a little longer to hop up on the bed (which is only a little over a foot off the ground). She would do that ONE-TWO-THREE/READY-SET-GO… ER, WAIT, I’LL TRY AGAIN sort of attempt. She was getting on, but you could tell it was a strain for her. Arthritis.

The A Word.

We thought about getting some steps for her to get her up onto the bed more easily. But the only steps they had at the pet stores were hard, and looked cheap and ugly– as if they should be steps outside of your motor home or trailer.

I did a google search and came across this website: Puppystairs

They had exactly what we were looking for. Soft, but sturdy ramps for pets (yes, though the website is called puppystairs, they are for cats also… maybe they should change the name to be more inclusive?). We also found one that was on clearance.

The ramp came in less than a week and is beautiful. It’s made of a really durable triangle of foam, but you wouldn’t know it’s foam. I could sit on it (though I won’t). It’s covered in a washable, lovely heather gray felt-like slip cover.

It took Hermia a few days to really get used to it, but now she goes up and down it like a pro. She even occasionally jumps off mid way down the ramp just to show us how sprightly she still is. (to see more pics of Hermia and the ramp go here).

Sure, with shipping it cost almost $100, but we feel better, knowing she isn’t hurting herself when she climbs up on the bed. Knowing that what could be the last few years of her life are spent in comfort (though we do suspect she might just be around another 10 years… the Tina Turner of Cats). $100 is a small price to pay for someone who has been a fiercely loyal, oddly verbal, perpetually dandruffy, occasionally matted, bed warming, mostly love-able (except when Jack and Betsy are around), zany, strangely compelling friend.

Hermia contemplates the ramp (should I go down and get some kibble? After all, it has been ten minutes since my last feeding…)