Olivia

Quail's return to our home was dampened by the fact that a few days earlier we had learned that our oldest cat, Olivia, had cancer. We brought her back from the vet's office and she spent the following week eating her favorite food -- Gerber baby food in chicken, beef or turkey flavors.

By this past Sunday, she wasn't eating at all which made our decision to put her down on Monday a little easier.

She was 15 years old and one of the strays we picked up. When we first got her, she was 2 pounds and our vet thought about 2 months old. But one month later, she was 4 pounds and had teeth that come in around 6 months so our guess at her age was really off. One month of living with us on a well fed diet turned her into a foodie and she loved to eat cheerios, nuts, and crunchy things. For the rest of her life, if food went missing, Olivia took the blame.

There are no pictures of Olivia and our first puppy, Gusto, because he chased all the cats. Olivia wasn't so fond of Harley the first time around, but she did like Anita and Ava. She tolerated Quail.

She really seemed to like Harley after he returned to our family and I would find the both of them sleeping on our bed. I kept hoping for the day that they would cuddle but they both seemed happy to just share the same bed.

Of all our cats, Olivia got along best with Donovan who died five years ago but she always willing to share a plate of something yummy with Harrison.

Her original name was Oliver after the cat in the cartoon Oliver (Oliver Twist with cartoon animals). When we learned she was a girl, we switched it over to Olivia but she was always my "O Girl" and our beautiful gray kitty.