https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10208048295630554 Cutie is inside the blue cat tree slapping at the rope, which has Ella's attention. They were slapping at each other but decided not to do that on video.
Although she couldn't hear me sing it to her for the past year or so because she was deaf, Cutie had a song. It went like this. Cutie Kitty is oh, so good; Cutie Kitty is oh, so fine; Cutie Kitty is oh, so healthy in her body and her mind. She's a well-respected cat about town; doing the right thing so intuitively. Sung to the tune of "A Well Respected Man" (Kinks)
Aw, I'm so sorry for your loss, Ken. I know the heartbreak of losing a precious little one. I have a coffee mug that says, "My little dog, a heartbeat at my feet." I lost my "heartbeat" 2 years ago and it's still raw. That mug makes me teary-eyed.
I have about twenty small lights around the house that are activated by motion detection. When we were living up north one summer a few years ago, Cutie would meow at night. At first, I thought she wanted me to get up, so I'd get up and sit with her for a while, and she was fine. After turning the lights out and going to bed again, she'd start meowing. Then I realized that maybe she couldn't see very well at night and since we were living in a strange place, she didn't know her way around, and that she was probably comforted, not so much because I was sitting with her, but because I turned the lights on. So I bought some night lights, and she was fine. That turned into about twenty of them so that a little light would come on wherever she walked at night. They're kind of handy for us when we get up during the night too, so I suppose I'll keep charging the batteries.
We'll probably get another cat but not until after our vacation this fall. We will be doing a week at each of our timeshares (Virginia and South Carolina) back to back. I never wanted to leave Cutie for long periods of time, but Ella likes our catsitter and, being the only cat, we might give her the option of taking her home with her while we're gone. That hasn't been decided yet, and will probably depend on how well Ella gets along with her cat and vice versa. Either way, she comes by every day, and sometimes brings her son, who plays with Ella. When we return, we'll be thinking of getting another cat. I am looking for a kitten though, and a private adoption rather than a shelter because any cat I'd get from a shelter has already been poisoned by a ton of unnecessary vaccines. Plus, the last time I thought about getting a cat from a shelter, they were going to have us sign an agreement to feed the cat Science Diet food, which is not as good as what I feed my cats. Overall, shelters are too intrusive. I'd like Ella to have a feline companion, though. Although she'll probably hate whatever cat I bring in, they'll work it out in time.