*~IN MEMORIUM~*

Hiccup- Born July 24, 2008-Died September 17, 2008, at exactly seven weeks old.

Hiccup was the sole survivor of a litter of two, born to Rurouni, my own cat. Within her first days she was crying (Loudly, waking me at ungodly hours as she lived her early weeks beneath my bed.) and crawling around. She went through many names, including Toulouse and Gurgi, before we settled-originally as a joke, upon Hiccup, due to her habit of breaking into her namesake. She grew quickly, and, as the sole kitten, was given massive amounts of attention by all members of our family- including my mother, who as a rule never attaches herself to cats due to a superstition that they will meet an untimely death. Despite her active and energetic personality, she was easily subdued and enjoyed resting calmly on the laps and shoulders of the members of our household.

Unfortunately, the attention we gave to her sapped away from the attention we paid to the other animals. Rurouni herself did not seem to mind- She could leech off of her child’s attention, as she watched over her like a hawk. (Rurouni has given birth to several litters- of maybe five to seven litter, approximately four kittens survived past the first night, as the kittens are, unfortunately, likely inbred.) But our dog, Merlyn, did not like the situation. He is a generally aggressive dog, and once killed another kitten (Bedbug) over a watermelon rind someone had dropped on the floor.

On September 15, late at night, just as we were heading to bed, Merlyn attacked Hiccup. No one actually saw it happen, But we heard it, and Hiccup was found lying on the floor, bleeding from one ear. We called a veterinarian, who took an hour before they arrived at their office (To be fair, it was rather late at night.) Hiccup was not moving, and while her spine was intact, we believed she suffered brain damage. She was given two shots of steroids, before we were sent home at 1:00 that morning. Hiccup remained in a comatose state for the next day, finally passing away early in the morning September 19.

Only two pictures exist of Hiccup.

<img src="http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/dekujama/HiccupYoung.jpg" border="0" alt="Young Hiccup">

This is Hiccup at about four weeks.