Monday, May 31, 2010

Memorial Day for Fen


A last drawing in May of our cat, Fen. Originally named Fendicchio by her former owners, we had her for about 11 years. We estimated her age at 20 or 21 when she died this month.

She came to us as a cranky, irritable cat who didn't purr for about 3 years and who hissed at passing phantoms, swiping at those who invaded her space.

But over time she mellowed and became a loving, cuddly, purring elder whom we hated to lose. She survived 17 months past the vet's one-month estimate of life, after a diagnosis of severe diabetes in 2008.

Rest in peace, Fen. This Memorial Day is for you.

Pen and w/c on Canson drawing paper.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

What a wonderful piece of art! It makes me so happy to see her at peace and in comfort. As a former "owner," I wish we could have given her that release from what seemed to be an inherent insanity. When I was about 8 to 10 or so, my family adopted her from a neighbor who had their son drive her over in his arms, on a skateboard! I remember her being unperterbed about that for some reason. Over the years we did what we could to calm down the occasional fits of irritation (she used to hiss at strings and kitty toys as a tiny kitten!) but maybe age helped to calmed her too. Thank you for giving her so much love and comfort, and giving her an extraordinarily long life!

<3
Erin

Nita Van Zandt said...

Thank you, Erin! We're still adjusting to the fact she's not with us.