A few days ago I posted some photos of my pets.  Babycat, who is 5, used to be a beautiful semi-longhaired tabby that looked exactly like a Maine Coon.  She has always been extremely affectionate and people oriented, but she was always my daugher Molly’s cat first.  Since the time she was a tiny kitten she always had a special relationship with my daughter.

Babycat before she lost all her hair.

A few weeks ago, Molly moved out of our home and is now living with a nice, well educated man named Paul who works as a med tech.  He is quite a bit older than she (he is 38!) but he seems to genuinely care for her and I don’t get any negative vibes from him.   In fact, he’s much better than the various boys she has dated in their early 20s who only care about partying, sex, and getting high.  Most of them still live with their parents too.  Paul has a good income, his own house,  and Molly and he are already in a serious relationship and decided to move into his house, which is larger than mine and has a much more modern kitchen with all the latest appliances.

Babycat has been staying with me, but I have 4 other cats and a dog, and she’s really not the sort of cat who cares to be around other cats too much. She is naturally high strung, jumpy and neurotic but has become more so since Molly left.   Since Molly has been gone, Babycat has been depressed, walks around looking lost, and has lost weight and chewed out large patches of her beautiful fur,  to the point she now looks like a scrawny shorthair tabby instead of the luxuriously coated Maine Coon lookalike she used to be.

Babycat looking patchy and depressed.

I have been feeding her separately from the other cats, and feeding her a high calorie diet, mixed with the occasional raw egg for her coat, but she hasn’t shown too much improvement appearance-wise, although she doesn’t seem sick.

Paul and Molly stopped by tonight to pick up a few of her things, and to talk about Thanksgiving plans.   I talked to them about Babycat, and Molly agreed it would be best for her to take her back to their apartment.  She would get plenty of attention and only have to deal with one other cat (Paul’s cat).   Most importantly, Babycat will be with her mommy, Molly, who has always been closer to her than anyone else in our family.   I think we made the right decision, and with one fewer cat around my small house, the rest of the cats have a bit more space to themselves.   I’ll miss Babycat, but I think this is the right thing to do for her.   They also plan to take her to the vet as soon as they can,  to rule out any serious medical problems.