Jasmine Micucci

Please meet my beautiful senior domestic long haired beloved female cat Jasmine. She was a stray as a baby before she was weaned, I believe, from her mother, dropped off on a corner by my home. She purred in my long hair all the time and kneaded my hair is why I believe this.

We bonded immediately. With her goofy 1/2 mustache, her patience, consideration for my work part-time in my office, the fun we had as she started to grow, taking her with me everywhere, so friendly and sociable, loved my son, never complained,  became more talkative announcing every little thing (so funny and adorable). 

She was the best of both worlds… Loving and an absolute sweetheart and strong, faster than lightning, and tough. She wasn’t a “lap cat”, is the only thing that made her less than perfect, but not completely, so I treasured the times she jumped up on my lazy-boy with me.  As she grew weaker and sicker with her tumor I picked her up to sit with me often layed her across my chest close to me and kept her there as long as she wanted constantly stroking her until she was able to relax but she stopped purring and talking completely very much unlike her most of her life. I am very grateful to have had a lot of time with her near then end of her life, but at the same time it broke my heart I couln’t help her more than relax her enough to sigh in relief as many times as I could help her do, but that diminished closer to the end too. She never relaxed enough to close her eyes and stopped looking at me pretty much like she always did and I really believe she never slept at all. I only don’t know when I was in bed. She got so quiet when terminal with the tumor that is was almost scary. She was never quiet. The last few days of her life she was not able to sigh in relief anymore and just layed there with me not relaxing at all. I just could not stand to see her so different in the end, but I knew it was really close when her back leg and paw swelled that made it harder for her to walk, then she started to fall over, but able to get up, then she dragged her back leg on the edge of her litter box but still managed to slowly and cautiously walk around. 

She never complained about anything until she just needed me which was rare, and I even found her laying half way in and out of the litter box one time, so I picked her up, cleaned her up which I did every day anyway from all the blood until it was so bad I had to shave off all of her beautiful white main on her chest, her beautiful thick white belly hair was always cury like she had a perm until it grew back longer but was straight and limp.

Jasmine had many nicknames , due to her perfect personality. Until she started developing multiple health issues on March 26th, 2022, she was mostly outdoors and stayed close to home, except her first few months.

She always made time for me too, and turned into an indoor/outdoor cat. We lived alone 14 years in a 55+ MHP where coyotes, barn owls, and male intruders harassed her, but I didn’t have to help her very often until a feral male cat pinned her down on her back. She also ran up one of my palm trees twice and would not come back down, but after rescue attempts with help from my neighbors daughter, my older sister gave me a number to a wonderful palm tree trimmer that also rescued all kinds of animals and helped us get her down after stuck about 12 hours 1st time then less the 2nd time. She also had a secret entrance to quickly run under our house and a barbeque to go up on top of my shed. She loved going on the roof a lot too in a very difficult way, then when I didn’t hear her anymore I would go outside to check on her and she would pop her head upside down from the awning and talk up a storm and got brave enough to flip herself around catching the trellis and jump on my car .I own my home and she owned her property. We were the perfect team❣️😺 💞

This all ended on March 26th, 2022 when she could not get up leaning against a kitchen cupboard on the floor on a Saturday morning and my Brother’s birthday. We managed and struggled through multiple health issues. Then just as she was able to wait 6 months for her senior extensive check up for the first time, 5 months later she developed a tumor in her right cheek inside her mouth.

I grieved from the day her vet said she was terminally ill with a tumor and would not make it through the year or past the first of this year.  She made it until January 24th 2024. I believe she could have made it a little bit longer than that, but she jumped from her cozy lounger unexpectedly when I was cleaning her poor legs from the hair being eaten away from the tumor outside of her mouth by then, because she laid there motionless and there was blood everywhere. It was time for her to get my help for the last time that she needed and deserved.

I prayed for months that the good Lord would spare her life and perform a life-changing miracle for her to become healthy and happy again. She was more than my best friend and loyal companion as most cats are, I do realize, but there was something so special about her that I couldn’t let go of. I even burned a candle over her for 7 days during the past holidays.

Now I do believe it was meant to happen in that way, because for only 2 days previous to this happening she was starting to have trouble walking with one back leg and paw swollen and starting to fall over and just lay there until I picked her up.

I’m grateful for our last few weeks together holding her in my arms, loving her, stroking her until she sighed with relief many times, and telling her how much I love her and will miss her so much. I told her many times to wait for me in heaven so we can be together again forever.

I went through a time that I lost trust in God because he wasn’t helping us but I realize now and understand a little bit more why he did not answer my prayers.

Obviously, this was not God’s plan for her or myself, because she is now physically gone from this Earth, but in a better place in heaven, I believe.

I would like to believe the words of the famous ” rainbow bridge “, because I want to be with her again someday more than anything in the world, hold her again, see her happy and healthy again like she was for 18 years of her life just short of 20 years when she passed. I’m also hoping she has found My Tigger Kitty that lived 23 years. Jasmine layed by her side knowing she was getting too old to play anymore immediately, so Jasmine never bothered Tigger again and would just lay with her quietly. I fell in love with Jasmine more when I saw this. Tigger was gone before Jasmine turned 6 months old.