Lua
July 10, 1990 – September 16, 2004
Today’s Photohunter theme is “in memory”.
This photo was a gift from my dear friend Mudhooks, who took a pic from my gatitos Fotki album, and softened and framed it for me after my cranky & beloved Lua died. You can see the original photo below…
(I still miss you, Lua)
casa azahar 
Cats are better than anybody. Especially the cranky ones.
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Ah, poor cranky Lua….
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I believe that’s Princess Crankypaws to the rest of us, isn’t it?
Say what you like about Lua, people always remember her.
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So true, Blues.
Ah, how fondly I remember that “get the fuck away from me” look in her pretty blue eyes. Or how she would scuttle away with a nasty backwards glance whenever I tried petting her. And how, on the rare times I picked her up, her body would go completely rigid and she would emit a menacing psycho growl until I had the sense to put her down again.
In fact, it was the “never picking her up” thing that shortened her life. By the time I found the tumour on one of her teats (just by chance, had to pick her up and move her from my chair because a student had arrived) it was already so big that operating would have been both cruel and useless, especially at her age (14 at the time). If I’d found it sooner then a less invasive operation would have been possible. Ah well, there’s no going back.
Poor ol’ cranky Lua. I adopted her when she was two. I had just arrived in Spain and wasn’t looking for a cat (hadn’t had one in over 20 years) but her owners wanted to get rid of her because they were about to have a baby (duh), so she got stuck out at a friend’s house in the country with other cats and dogs and was so terrified she hid inside a cardboard box and refused to come out for about two weeks. When I heard about this I agreed to take her on a “trial basis”, but once I got her home and she peed all over my duvet when I tried playing with her, uh, well, I knew she was mine. I love a challenge, and I was determined to love that cranky little cat until she loved me back.
And she did, you know. In her own way. She became terribly protective of me and, when I was sick, she would never leave my side and would follow me everywhere, even into the bathroom. She always slept on my pillow, curled up next to my head (the position that Azar has since taken up) and it was only then that she would allow some gentle petting from me. Never on her belly, unfortunately. But she adored being stroked under her chin and I loved the look she would get on her face when she let me do that. She really did have a very pretty face.
One of the hardest things I’ve ever done was call the vet to come and put her down. All that last week she had taken to sleeping in the small “studio” room, and so I ended up putting a little rug in there for her. And one evening I found her lying on the rug in “her room” and pushing herself up with her front legs in order to breathe and I thought “that’s enough”. I was lucky that Maria the vet agreed to give her the injection at home, and so she died in my arms with me kissing her on the head (another thing she used to pretend she didn’t like, but I knew she did). Poor ol’ Lua.
Nog now uses that room to teach his classes, but even now we still call it Lua’s Room. As in “have you seen the dictionary?” “Yep, it’s in Lua’s Room”. She was quite the girl.
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A memory indeed. Mudhooks did a wonderful job with the photo.
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We’re very lucky that our two adore being handled. Indeed, Murphy has been absurdly proud of his ‘shave-nakey’ bits since his operation, showing them off to all and sundry so keeping an eye on his post-op scar has been very easy.
Which reminds me, did you get my last e-mail with some newer pictures of the boys?
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Both Sunny and Azar get daily full-body snibbles, so there isn’t a square inch of them that I’m not familiar with. I’d know in a minute if there were any mysterious lumps anywhere. In fact, Sunny does have one under one of his nipples, but the vet said it was just a cyst and, indeed, it’s been the same size for years now.
Yes, I did get the photos. And they were adorable and made me go awwwwww for ages. And I meant to write back … really, I am so crap at keeping up with my correspondence. If I don’t reply immediately to an email it tends to get “put aside til later” and then later never comes. Sorry about that. Please send more! 🙂
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Hello,
I found your blog after I began following your SevillaTapas account on Twitter (since I’m heading to Sevilla for research in a week). I just wanted to say thanks for the great info you are making available about the city.
And Lua was gorgeous. Makes me want to go find my little one and get some cuddle time in!
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Hi Rachel and welcome.
I once had a Rachel who was a historian stay with me. Will you be at the Archivos de India? Please feel free to get in touch by email if you’d like any more Sevilla info.
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Benjamin wouldn’t let me come within 5 miles of his belly for petting. He BARELY tolerates my touching his back which appears to be overly sensitive for some reason. But he does put up with my scratching his head and neck and he doesn’t mind if I put my hand on his haunch which I love to to, mostly because he lets me do it until he decides “Okay. That’s enough love for you… I’m off to bed.” and he wanders off to sleep in my mother’s bottom drawer.
Mine are up.
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Isn’t it odd how our cats can love us to death and yet NOT WANT to be picked up or messed with? Smokey is just like Lua, he goes all rigid (without the psycho growl) when you pick him up. I forcibly feel him all over anyway, and he gets thoroughly combed.
Great shot, nice “glamour photo”!
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My grandmother had a Siamese cat with a very similar personality. We still missed her after she was gone. Lua was a beautiful cat. I am sorry for your loss.
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The Manx cat I had ages ago was like this. The closest she ever came to me is she would sit on the arm of the chair and purr. I still miss my Minx, too.
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