The Circle of Life

Sabe and Tayne

"R-r-a-w-w" came the sound from outside my front door. I sat up in my chair. "That's Sabe!" I exclaimed to myself as I got up and went towards the door.

Sabe, my beautiful part seal point Siamese with turquoise blue eyes. I had her for 14-1/2 years. About a year ago she had been diagnosed with FIP. Gradually over the course of the year she became weaker until the time came that both she and her sister Tayne let me know it was time for her to go. Friday I took her to the vet. She quietly curled up in a ball on the examining table and closed her eyes as if to say she was ready, and the vet injected euthanasia. I took her body home and showed it to Tayne and their younger sister Nala so they would know where she had gone, then dug her grave in my back yard. That was 2 days ago.

Sabe had a distinctive, deep throated Siamese meow. How could this be? I opened the front door, and just to my left by the tree sat a beautiful big gray tabby with emerald green eyes. At first he'd stay a few days, then he'd leave. Then he'd come back a few days and repeat the process. Eventually he stopped leaving and grew into a beautiful 17 pound tiger. I named him Moufasa after the Lion King. Moufasa never meowed like that again. I knew Sabe had sent him to me.

Less than 6 months later I came home to find my beloved gray tabby Tayne dead at the age of 16-1/2. It was hard to lose them my girls, but I found comfort in knowing they had lived long, full lives. And having Moufasa around helped to detract my attention away from my grief. Moufasa had beautiful markings, a large face and huge paws, and we bonded strongly. Then we added Houdini. Then we moved and got Simba, who had been abandoned at the house we rented. Then we moved to Arizona, leaving Nala in Tennessee with family, and acquired Little Bit. When we returned to Tennessee we were a four cat family.

Moufasa

We rented a cottage atop a mountain that set behind another house. I always had a cat door and lived in the country away from roads and close by neighbors. My cats went in and out during the day but stayed in the yard, and at night I brought them in and closed the cat door. Moufasa absolutely loved the outdoors. He didn't have to go any further than the front porch. He just needed to be outside. One Sunday seven years after he originally appeared I noticed a convertible in my landlady's driveway as I left. I thought to myself perhaps I should get the cats in as they might jump in the back of the convertible. But it was a beautiful day and I knew they'd enjoy it so I left without getting them inside.

I wish I had followed my instincts. When I returned, my beautiful Moufasa lay dead at the side of the driveway. I never knew if he had been hit by a car – no one ever confessed - or been killed by a stray animal. I got a bee bee gun, prepared to run off anything threatening, but we had lived there over a year and never had problems with stray animals before. I took his death hard. He was 9 years old, and it was not his time. I missed him so. And I know the boys did. He was a wonderful big brother.

Eventually I decided that three cats were plenty for me to take care of and had no intentions of adding to my cat family. Then one evening three months later I heard a slight meow just outside our screened porch. I went outside to look, but it was dark and difficult to see and the cat ran into the woods. In a couple of days it returned in the evening and then left, and then returned. By the time I was able to get a good look at him I realized - he looked almost exactly like Moufasa. Though younger than Moufasa so smaller in weight, he was a huge gray tabby with big paws and beautiful green eyes.

I passed out notes around the neighborhood trying to find out who owned him. No one claimed him. Gradually he came inside the house and the rest is history. He looked and acted just like Moufasa. I named him Sarabi (after Moufasa's wife in the Lion King – he never seemed to mind I had taken his name from a girl). A friend of mine told me at the time that creatures that are low to the ground that unexpectedly died young would often reincarnate. Sarabi was Moufasa reincarnated. I'd call him Sarabi Moufasa Gray. Once again, a new addition to the household helped to divert my attention away from my grief.

Within a few weeks work was forcing me to move again. Sarabi had not been with us long, but he did excellently with the move and bonded with his brothers the way Moufasa had. Moufasa was always closest with his big brother Simba, and now Simba and Sarabi were very close, just as Simba and Moufasa had been.

Sarabi loved the outdoors just like Moufasa did. Then one Sunday a year and a half later, Sarabi did not come home. I searched and searched and called and called to no avail. The next morning I searched again, and found him, weak and barely able to walk. He had no scratches on him, no limbs broken. Up until then he had been the picture of health. I could not imagine what was wrong, but within a couple of weeks he had been diagnosed with both FIV and Feline Leukemia. I was devastated. My beautiful boy would not get better, and I would have to euthanize him. This was even harder. Sarabi was only 3-1/2 years old. I wondered if he had had either of those diseases when I initially got him. I blamed myself, as I always had when any of my cats died.

Sarabi Moufasa

That was 6 months ago. Since then a job loss has forced us to move in with family. But Sarabi is here is here with us in spirit, always. At night I have his picture by my bedside and I talk with him. Once again Nala is a part of our family, along with Miss Kitty, making it a total of 5. I still don't need any more than 3 cats of my own, but Sarabi knows he can come back to me again. Perhaps he will. Maybe he's waiting for me to get a place big enough to keep him. Or perhaps the combination of his 3 years with Moufasa's 9 is enough. Only time will tell.