Luna’s sixth birthday

Happy birthday, Luna! Today, my little pandemic kitty turns six-years old.

This is a bit of a sadder birthday because Luna lost her older kitty sister, Venus, two months ago. For the first time, we are celebrating without Venus.

I am very thankful that Luna is here with us for six-plus years. And for each of Venus’s birthdays, I always took a moment to appreciate her health, and that she made it another milestone. I never take Luna’s life for granted, especially after these past few months.

Part of being a pet mom (or pet dad) is knowing how short and precious life is. This goes for people as well, but we are painfully aware of how our pet’s life is so much shorter.

It’s crazy to think that it has only been two and a half months since Venus passed away. It feels like it’s been over a year. Despite all of my photos and videos of her, and all of the dreams I’ve been having of her, it’s hard to imagine that she was actually here.

It’s just unsettling how quickly life goes on when we lose the ones we love. It must be the way that our brains are wired. We adjust too easily to change. And I don’t like it.

Even though I remember her meows, I can’t fully remember them. Like, there’s so many parts of her that my brain has already forgotten. I think it must be suppression as a coping mechanism.

I know that I could never actually forget Venus — at least not what she meant to me. I’ve had so many dreams of her, and in these dreams, I am so confused because I’m like, “wait, I thought you died… but you’re here!” And we’re playing together and I’m petting her.

On the first day of spring, I had a really vivid dream that she was really young again, like 1-2 years old. And she was so happy and playful. A few nights ago, I had a dream that I asked her about her birth cat parents. “Who did you take after?” I asked her. And she told me, “I took after my mom’s looks and my dad’s personality.”

So, Luna has been adjusting fine, from what I can tell. It’s very hard to tell with cats. But Luna is still her playful and snuggly self. She might even enjoy the extra attention she gets now. But I’m sure she misses her big sister.

Luna has become more vocal and she’s slowly gaining more confidence and assertiveness. Venus was always the alpha cat, so now Luna has to step up as the new alpha. Luna always depended on Venus for demanding food and attention, and now Luna needs to do this herself.