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Cookie, Petey, and Kirb surrounded by the Girls

The Wook in Action

Klimey and Cookie catching rays

Cookie-Wookie Tribute

aka Woo-Woo or The Wook

Cookie stopped eating on April 14. Two days later I learned that she had a large tumor in her belly and the vet wanted to euthanize her. He believed she had days to live. Clara and I preferred Cookie-Wookie depart at her own time , in her own way, in her home.

I came home and wrote the following:

Cookie is deep.

A feline Budda who meditates to the rays of the sun.
A deep soul who at the SF animal care shelter 10 yrs ago stared her large green eyes into Clara's and Clara knew she was the one.

Bonded from first stare. Inseparable thereafter.
We were told at the shelter that Cookie was found locked in an apartment with another cat,
the owner dead on the floor for 4 days.

Cookie did not want to be abandoned again.

She wouldn't allow it.

Cookie followed Clara everywhere in the house like a parrot on a shoulder.
Upstairs, downstairs, back and forth.

A people cat

Prancing around the monthly poetry salons making sure no available lap was left unfulfilled and lovingly accommodating all pets and strokes. But beware as soon as you stop petting
The Wook, she'll wack you as if to say - hey don't stop now!

Star of the show

At a carpet presentation in our living room as every carpet was unfurled , Cookie would step on each one gazing approvingly at the audience - channeling her best Carol Merrill.

A poetry cat

Clara's faithful ghost writer, happiest sitting on Clara's lap at the computer for hours on end as Clara creates her poems.

Lover of the lift

The one activity that would tempt Cookie away from whatever she was doing was when I lay on the carpet and Cook would saunter over for a special game. I'd lift her high up - hold the position - look at her pretty face until she'd fidget and gently bring her down. Cook would then sit there waiting for the next lift and we'd repeat the routine over and over. Even when I was alone doing sit-ups, Cookie would seek me out and get in the way as only a cat can, and I'd take a break to play our game.

Gently persistent

When Cookie wants my attention or computer lap time she lightly tugs on my pants and I hoist her up into my lap and we watch the computer screen together.

A few weeks ago Woo-Woo jumped into bed and ever so gently took her paw and touched my eyebrows - message given, I got up and fed her breakfast.

Lover of the dark and deep

In bed Cookie builds elaborate tent blankets and burrows wayyyy down , so deep you can
not know if she's really inside. But invariably she is. Or she joins us in bed as we open the blanket up and Cookie-Wookie slithers in and nestles herself deep in the underbelly of the blanket feeding off our warmth and vice-versa.

A steadfast guardian

When not underneath the blanket, Cookie would mount herself on a pillow close to Clara's face and watch over Clara with her gorgeous eyes wide open the entire night.

A sweet soul

Petite and thin. Gentle, loving , craver of affection.

Not tolerant of our other cats being the focus. Cookie would remind everyone who's the queen and always wanted at that moment what the others had. And the others would defer whether respecting seniority or out of fear.

A Feline Sifu

This fragile looking feline could metamorphosize into a martial arts queen. First the tense walkaround to feel out her prey and then zap - acrobatic stinging blows with lightning quick precision. Rarely did a paw land on her.

Cookie-Wookie frail and loving

As Cookie's disease advanced she lost weight she didn't have to lose
She ate less. Hypoallergenic no longer did the trick. Eating Klimey's special dry food worked for a while. And when she tired of that, we found an unexpected delight in canned Turkey and gravy.

All the while, I would groom her short, thin hair, bone on bone and she'd relax and receive it gloriously. After a pleasurable grooming she would often be in the mood to eat.
Anything for Cookie-Wookie.

Not an outdoor cat but the Woo Woo would venture outside if that's where the action was.
When I come home, our cat Klimey greets me at the door. It's a ritual. We go into the backyard and Klimey self adminsters a back-rub via rolley-polley. Cookie-Wookie would often be sleeping in her tent blanket, but not wanting to miss out on any action she'd meekly emerge at the doorway and join us. Cook would get pleasure nibbling on tall grass and then would walk over to me. Just a few short minutes and then back inside.

Into the bed, underneath the covers, inside her blanket, into a deep deep sleep.

At 9:35am on April 23, 2013 the sweet loving Cookie-Wookie moved into her new dimension quietly without a fuss. Her final resing place was naturally underneath the bed. The same bed that she slept in and where she stood over Clara protecting her at all hours of the night. I've been around cats my whole life and never have seen a cat so devoted to one person. I imagine I never will again.

There is a quiet and emptiness in the house that eventually will be filled by Cookie's strong spirit. That will never die.

We buried Cookie next to Petey in the back yard. Our neighbor Susan upon learning of Cookie's passing, gave us a rose bush that we planted in the middle of the burial site surrounded by large rocks including one from the Sahara desert that shared Cookie's brown and white markings. Cookie was wrapped in the bathrobe that Clara always wore around her because the material was strong enough to withstand The Wook's intense nail grasp. Cookie loved to cling tight and was not exactly skilled at retracting her claws. Clara sewed the bathrobe in a custom fit for Cookie's burial. When we placed Cookie in the ground Clara sang a Langston Hughes poem accompanying herself on Tibetan singing bowl.

Elegy to Cookie Wookie
(by Clara Hsu, April 23, 2013)

Before you appeared
in my vicinity, I dreamed---

a pair of white, well shaped feet
peeking under a sage cloak
each toe inspired poetry.

The face was shrouded,
except for two cat eyes
intent on an object it placed in my hand.

Today my white bathrobe
worn from clingy nails
became your shroud.

Seven years of guarding.
Seven years of purrs.
Each morning
green eyes and snaggletooth.
Each night
a dainty ginger flower.

The April sun
has warmed the soil
in the lily garden.
A blade of weed
among the burial callas.

My eyes are painted
like an Egyptian princess.
I tread soundlessly from room to room---
a kungfu master would never
reveal the depth of her skill.

White stones
for the color of your paws
brown stones
for the markings on your back,
the Sahara and its black sand
after sunset.

What takes us away from this earth
is neither old age nor diseases
but a lack of intention.
If the intention remains
then we’re never taken away.

You had placed in my hand
the entire universe
even though I could not read
your mystery.

COOKIE
(by Jack Foley)

bundle of fur
sweet thing
(purred but cld still scratch in her last days)
folding into herself
going back
to the universal
dark
with ears up
and eyes open

Cookie-Wookie Listener Email Excerpts
(after hearing April 20 Cookie Tribute on Tangents)

I want to tell you how sorry I am to hear about Cookie's diagnosis/prognosis. At your Turkey pot-luck last December, she happily climbed from lap to lap, inviting everyone -- total strangers! -- to pet her. She's the sweetest, friendliest cat I've ever met, and her warm welcome reflected the warm welcome extended to each of us by you and Clara.

I know that you will miss her.

Sheila

Hi Dore

Nancy and I were both moved and saddened to hear your tribute to Cookie last night Great job and beautiful music and Clara's poem with the shak was a fitting ceremony Nancy has great memories of Cookie on her lap too.

Best to you both and Cookie

Rob

Oh Dore, I am so sad to hear about the Cookie-Wookie.
I still remember sleeping with all three kids each cuddled up with me in a different spot. How blessed to have spend such loved time with you and Clara for her.
Great to hear about your routines..I hold you all in my heart, dear ones!

Bibi

Sending our best to you, Clara and Cookie Wookie
It's not easy to let go - but as you know, we can offer our never-ending, loving compassion and respect for the furry ones who enter our lives. Thank you for your love of Cookie Wookie.

peace,

Julene, Tom, Mango, Bunny (the cat) and Bella

And now I've heard about Cookie...I'm so sorry to hear about her (especially so soon after Petey), but heartened to hear you are giving her hospice. Thanks for the tribute, she sounds like a spirited and soulful cat. I know she will feel the love from you and Clara during these difficult days.

Robin

I love the way you love your cats.

and what you go through breaks my heart....only meaning how wonderfully special your cool cats are. and I love how you bravely share such personal stories of them. Oh, so sweet.

xoxo

Jen

I am so sorry to hear that your cat is not doing well. Our cat, Opal has cancer too. We too are doing what we can for her as you are caring for your cat, Cookie. We love our cats and we cherish the time we share with them.

Dan

My heart goes out to you and Clara and Cookie-Wookie. We lost 2 cats last year and know how heartbreaking it is. I wish for all of Cookie's remaining days to be filled with love, comfort, and good music.

Thanks again for all you do. It means the world to us.

Best,

Shari

I'm very sorry to hear Cookie passed. The next time I listen to Tangents I'll hold up a taste
of my best scotch and toast to her life.

jeff

Prayers for you caring for your cookie cat.

So hard to know the right thing to do for your cat.

My cat has been weakening, but eating. and purring. In her old age i felt like hospice care has been the last year or so of her life with me.

My kitty also had stopped eating very much and her frail condition got weaker. she still made the rounds finding the sunshine in the house
i had the wandering vet come to my house yesterday.
He examined her. found a stomach/gi tumor also....learned that the murmuring sounds she made were moans of pain.
so, as an act of kindness,
i let him put her down. yesterday.

Bonita Cohn
she was 20 something.

Sorry to hear about Cookie's condition. We'll be thinking about Her and hope
she is as comfortable as possible. You and Clara hang in there.

John R

Thank you for your memorialization of Cookie.
Strength, and courage.

Nik M.

Hi. I was very moved by your tribute to Cookie, which I just now listened to on KALW's Local Music Player. I hope her passing goes as painlessly, for all of you, as possible.

Henry

Dear Dore & Clara--

My heart is with you. Anyone who thinks animals don't share our feelings just hasn't lived with one. Not really.

The Wookie sounds like a truly amazing kitty. I'm so, so sorry you'll lose her too soon.

I know you'll give her the absolute BESTEST time ever for the days she has left. Keep her out of pain & on your laps, close to your heartbeats. Maybe she considers that soundyour 'purr.'

I've lost a number of wondrous animal pals over the years. They just don't have the samelife span we do. That TOTALLY sucks, but there it is. You two have been the best parentspossible, I'm sure.

I have always felt that the finest compliment I could give to a recently deceased petwas to fill the awful hole in my life with another loving creature. You cannot think of thisyet, I know. Your life is centered on Cookie now.

But soon enough, it will not be. There is no reason to remain sad & miserable for weeks or months. Would that make sense to The Cookie? Probably not. She wants you to be happy. Plus, your other kitty (kitties?) needs a buddy.

This is why it is always important to have two cats or dogs or chickens or ferrets. They remind you to keep all the pets you need in your life.

I hope I have not been too forward by writing all of this. But you were so wonderfully honest this evening about your sadness at losing Cookie that I wanted to offer what comfort I could.

Thank you for sharing your sorrows with us. It helps everyone.

L&K, Mary Brady

Hi Dore:

Just a note to say I'm listening live and you brought tears to my eyes with your sad tale of Cookie. I too had a beloved cat, Yasou, from 1976 to 1990 when I left San Rafael for the peregrinations that ultimately landed me in Thailand. She moved with me from San Francisco to Albany to Mill Valley to San Rafael and after I left, she spent the last 3 years of her life with my neighbors who'd always looked after her when I was out and about. She suffered from nothing but advanced years and arthritis but one rainy December evening she, like Petey, went out into the backyard to die alone.

You reminded me yet again that I've been dreaming of having a cat again for several years now, yet must balance this strong desire with the unsuitability of the wacky riverside pad I've called home for 15 years as a cat pad. Then there's the difficulty of finding anywhere in Bangkok with enough land around to let a cat wander about safely and live an indoor/outdoor life.

I'm not much of a kid person, never having had any of my own. I see how the cats are your and Clara's pets/friends/children and realize how much I need that in my life right now.

Anyhow, just to say I sympathize with the pain and sadness of losing another beloved cat too soon after Petey's demise and thank you for nudging me about my own heart's desires at this point in my life.

Big hugs and love to you and thank you as always for your absolutely incredible program.

xoxoxox

Jennifer