Mohrle was my first cat, I got her when I was 9 years old. Since then, there was not one school that I went to, not one company that I worked for without her being around when I came home. Everything that happened in my life involved her in some way.
She was also my best childhood and teenage friend, overall friend, sister. It doesn't take words or other "human" things to make a deep and strong relationship between a cat and a human person. And as many pet lovers will agree, having a pet like that for so long already qualifies the animal as "human" and "family member" in the mind of the owner. I don't see a difference between her being a cat or a human being.
When everyone was depressed, she was the only one who improved the mood. She never came home angry from hunting to let go of her frustration at home. She never pushed anyone aside just because she was not feeling too good, never did any of the things that are oh so human that are our weaknesses. She didn't even worry about the future. But she did worry when I didn't come home for whatever reason. And it was the ritual of both of us to see each other at the end of the day and spend some time together.
Mohrle was very smart. She accidentally learned that, when she hit the glass window when trying to catch insects, she would catch my attention and make me open the window. This is how we found out that "scratching" means "please open the window". Apart from that, she could read the signs that I give her and she had a very good understanding of us humans. When she wanted something, she would also touch us with her paw gently.
Mohrle was also very sweet and very much focussed on people. Not like many other cats who are very independent and focus on that. She liked to go for walks when someone left the house, and when her health allowed it, she would always stick arround when taking a walk, and not go home because she was tired. She would "talk" to me, and walk around my legs over and over, begging us to go home, but she wouldn't just walk away. Mohrle was very caring and very...respectful towards us. It's hard to explain.
There are many, many stories that went on. Times she got lost, times she got almost lost, times we thought she would never come back again but after some hours, my dad just whistled and she was next to him. There were times she was injured on many occasions. And other times when she was funny, cute, silly. Over 18 years full of stories. And my brother can't even remember the time before she was there.
And I, I still remember the very first day. I remember how her mum looked, and the sibling. All different colours than her. She was very traumatised the day we got her, when she was taken away from her family as a very young and small cat. My dad told us to leave her alone for some time. The next morning, I found Mohrle lying around my dads neck like a scarf, sleeping like a baby.
Then, when we first let her out of the house into the garden, she seemed to walk further and further away, into the bushes. Only after some time we realised she would only go as far as we would follow her. She stayed nearby. That's the family bond that was there after only some days.
Mohrle was born in March 1992 and died yesterday, August 19 2010. She was ill, had a fatal disease, and showed signs of being too close to the end. It hurts but it was the right time to go to the vet one last time.
It's sad that cats don't get the recognition that humans get when they die. There isn't really any "achievement" you can measure, and they don't leave behind much more than pictures, video material and memories. I can only say that she had a big impact on me. And if I could declare her a human being, I would.
