Spirit

(Editor's Note: Bitey's Auntie Kate sent her beautifully written Bitey thoughts which I am happy to be able to post...)

SPIRIT: excellent disposition or attitude in terms of vigor, courage, firmness of intent, etc.;

There are many different ways people use the word “spirit”:


Wear your jammies to school to show your school spirit!

We’re going to have to move… The house was built on an ancient Indian burial ground. We’re upsetting the spirits.

I invited my lady friend up to my apartment for a cigarette and perhaps some spirits.


Then there’s spiritual, which I don’t even want to get into-


We went on a yoga retreat in the woods. It was so spiritual.



Most people don’t use this word correctly, in it’s most absolute sense. Spirit is the intangible quality so commonly undetected. It’s what sets us apart- it’s what makes us get up from the ground and brush ourselves off. It’s what keeps us going forward- vowing to spit in the faces of those who insist we bring back blue eyeshadow and stirrup pants. Spirit is what makes us keeping pushing, even through a grim prognosis. It’s what drives us to run, even when our legs have given up on us.



In this case specifically, I’m referring to hind legs- of a cat. Not just any cat- Bitey, Bitey Boo, Cousin Bitey, Bitey the Cat Who Really Should’ve Been a Dog. Bitey the Cat, who I wish I could’ve hung out with.



A few years back, I recall my reaction when Matt spoke of Bitey. As a dog owner, I couldn’t understand how one could actually observe such behavior in a cat. A cat who comes running when he hears the unmistakeable sound of a cat food can being cracked open? A cat that likes to drink from the spigot in the bathtub? A cat that begs for scraps? A cat that bats your head gently when he has to pee? My brother loving a cat? Could it be?



Bitey was all those things and more. Sadly, I never met him. Something I regret.



When Bitey got what Forrest Gump would call “the kit-ty cancer”, my heart went out to Matt and Jennie. As a pet parent, I winced when I heard of the lengthy procedures Bitey had to endure to sustain a somewhat normal life. Every day I read the Bitey Blog, filling in my boyfriend and co-workers of his progress.



I laughed when I pictured Jennie or Matt holding his back legs and letting him run on his front legs, kind of like a kitty-version of a wheelbarrow. I cried when I imagined Jennie and Bitey at the beach, taking in the vast expanse that is the Pacific Ocean. And ultimately, I sobbed when I heard that Bitey had passed.



Knowing what I know about my brother and my “girlfriend-in-law”, I know that Bitey had a great life and was loved very much. He never stopped fighting. He didn’t want to give up. He wanted to squeeze every sunny day out of life before he couldn’t live it anymore.



I know Bitey is in kitty heaven, walking on his hind legs only- Puss In Boots style.



To Bitey… spirit unbroken.