Dany tells of the time Fauna found him, she was a tiny kitten, around six weeks old, with black fur and white tufts behind her ears, like a Mogwai. He was walking out of a vaadat tarbut meeting (cultural committee) in the kibbutz dining hall, and she adopted him, and was so cute he just had to take her home.
Shachar tells of Fauna's first pregnancy, which coincided with Shachar's carrying Bar. When Fauna gave birth, I was seven months pregnant with Bar. We put her in a carton with some clothes to keep her warm, and I sat with her while she gave birth, and I could feel her contractions and knew that soon I would be following in her footsteps with my own labor, it was very moving. She was a great mother to her kittens.
Bar tells of the time when Sheer caught Fauna's tail, and Fauna didn't like it. So she moved, and Sheer crawled after her and tried to catch her. So Fauna moved to another corner of the carpet, and this process repeated itself many many times, with infinite patience on Fauna's side. She was a very tolerant cat.
Shalev tells of the time when he saw Fauna catch a dove. Dany tells about the mice she brought into our house in order to teach us to hunt, because obviously we weren't doing a good enough job by her standards. Shachar tells of the time when Fauna, almost eighteen years old, saw a dog come into our yard, and without any qualms chased him away. Dany tells of the time he saw he fighting a snake. She was a great hunter and a brave warrior.
Shachar tells of the numerous times when we had to show her where her food was, because she would refuse to eat the food unless shown where her plate is. Dany tells of the annoying habit of "I don't have enough on my plate. You have to fill it up more!". Bar tells of the amazing talent of hearing a tuna can being opened from 100 meter away. Dany tells of the amazing feat of hearing our car going into the street and recognizing its unique motor noise and running towards it with whine: "will someone please show me where my plate is?"
Sheer tells of the brown hues in Fauna's black fur.
Shachar tells of the time when Sheer was a baby and woke her up twice a night, with Dany unaware of baby cries, while Dany woke twice a night to let Fauna in/out, with Shachar oblivious to the cat's cries. Shachar and Dany both confess to a tendency to mix names between the two. Well, they are both small and whiny and cuddle worth.
This morning Fauna died having lived with us to the age of 19(!).
She died peacefully, in her sleep, at home with the people who loved her surrounding her and they had time to make their farewells. She chose the time of her own death, she stopped eating and waited to die.
May her soul hunt fearlessly in the lands of never ending mice and doves, of comfortable cushions and easy reachable laps.
