In Memory of Nori 6/14/2022 – 7/24/2025
A story we know all too well. A busy kitten season means plentiful kittens, and the circulation of feline leukemia means some of these spry little kittens suffer from its diagnosis, usually from their mothers. Some of these kittens luck out, having abortive infections, where their immune systems are sturdy enough to shake off the virus before it has a chance to integrate with their DNA. Others have their very genomes, and the stories of their lives, rewritten forever despite appearing and being otherwise healthy for the time being.
This is the story of so many Shadow Cats, but this time, it’s the start of Ebi & Nori’s. Ebi and Nori, biological sisters, came to us from the Dorothy O’Connor Pet Adoption Center in Victoria, Texas. Unfortunately, in Victoria, these kittens were at risk of euthanasia due to their feline leukemia positive status. They were looking for a positive outcome for these kittens and reached out to us, and blessedly, we had the space to welcome them. Ebi & Nori came to Shadow Cats in September of 2022, ready to enjoy the simple comforts of cathood without a diagnosis condemning them.
Ebi inherited sweetness. She was a curious, gentle kitten, with cute little eyes that seemed to have an eternal question in them. Nori, on the other hand, was a handful and a half, and we’d have it no other way. These sisters weren’t just different in their coats, but in personality. Our dearly departed Bob & Pixie, the father and mother of Cookie’s Place, swiftly took them under their wing and guided them to some semblance of manners. It seemed to take more for Ebi than it did for Nori, but we loved her spicy little catitude.
She seemed to only get spicier with age! While she loved a good lap and was a snuggler extraordinaire, finding the best place to pet her was kind of like standing in as a member of an explosives engineering squad and being asked to decipher and defuse a bomb within a meager time limit. With that being said, chin scritches seemed to be the safest bet at any given time.
Nori was sweet when she wanted to be, but we can guarantee you it was never at medication time. Walking into Cookie’s West required going over your will & testament while drawing up her cyclosporine and then finding the fluffiest towel possible to wrap her in to avoid becoming a murder mittens mural. We always tried to keep her nails clipped, but that was an ordeal in and of itself. Despite her never having been hurt a day in her life, when nail trimming time came, Nori made sure to sing the song of her people…loudly and ceaselessly.
But, honestly? We loved Nori and all her opinions, as well as her constant need to tell us her opinions. As much as we love our sweet and gentle kitties, there is just something about a spicy kitty that draws you in. And Nori certainly had us captivated! She was just a silly girl, though if we ever described her as silly to her face, we’re sure we’d be met with a withering stare. Still, how serious can a black kitty with a mostly bald belly wearing a strawberry cone be?
Nori had a long affair with the cone due to her allergies. She struggled with hair loss and itchiness that took a lot of finagling to finally manage, as well as ultimately consulting with a dermatologist. So, until we found her perfect concoction of things, she was often seen sporting a chunky bald belly and a silly cone.
That tiny little kitten sure did keep growing…sideways, eventually! To her credit, she did have to be on appetite-stimulating medications, which gave her quite the ravenous appetite. She and her sister Ebi joined the ranks of our chunkiest cats. Nori’s previous sleek, panther-like face with cheeky little fangs pointing out filled out. You could still see her fangs, of course, and she was even featured in some of our Halloween photoshoots because of them. She was just so stinkin’ cute.
She would meow her discontent in the chattiest of tones and purr her gratitude when you pet her just right…or, naturally, gave her treats. And, of course, if you were caught sharing affections with another cat, it wasn’t unexpected to see Nori staring directly at you through a window or glaring from her perch on a cat tree. She wanted to be the center of attention, which was usually, except when she didn’t. Nori embodied the finickiness of the cat with grace, expertise…and a complaintive meow. She kept us on our toes.
Nori lived. She sunbathed (sometimes to her detriment). She played. She swatted. She drooled (usually after meds). She didn’t have much time with her biological parents but was absolutely and utterly adored by Bob & Pixie, even when she shirked their attempts to parent her. Nori was loved wholly and completely for exactly who she was, all her imperfections that made her the perfect sweet and spicy little cat we loved from kittenhood to adulthood.
Love was not enough to stop the lymphoma from spreading through her body. It wasn’t enough to stop the cancerous growths within her. But love bolstered her throughout, and in Nori’s final moments, she was nothing but treasured. Surrounded by the ones who loved her the most, by Caitlin, who knew her from her tiniest kitten form to the chunky, silly queen we know now, with a mouthful of churu she snacked on until her very last, Nori left us.
We wish that somehow love was enough to conquer impossible odds. We wish that love was somehow enough to shield someone from disease and the passage of time. But we are all susceptible to the passage of time, and some have even less time than others. But time isn’t the qualifier we believe in when we look at a life and its impact; we look at the love experienced and love spread. Even though Nori didn’t have a long life, she not only knew love but basked in it. Nori embodied her truest self, and here at Shadow Cats, she was adored for it.
Now, Nori stands at life’s final crossing. Across the bridge so many Shadow Cats have traveled, so many familiar faces wait for Nori. Bob & Pixie, the father and mother of Cookie’s Place, wait to reunite with the kitten they nursed at her very teeny tiniest. Nori, in true Nori fashion, would beeline across the bridge for what we could only imagine as a fondue fountain of churu. She always did act a little like a teenager who was too cool for her parents! Bob, who not-so-secretly loved Nori the most of all of his Cookie’s kids, would trot along behind her, Pixie in tow. None of them has to endure the pain of cancer anymore, or the ups and downs of feline leukemia. Now, they’ll exist peacefully…and we’ll carry a piece of them in our hearts forevermore.
Thank you so much to Nori’s amazing sponsors, Anne F and Suzanne I. Thank you to the volunteers who always gave Nori a lap and a brushing. Thank you to Dustin, who documented all her silly Nori-isms with the heart of someone who had been completely and utterly captured by her funky little personality. Nori may have acted like she didn’t have favorites, but we know she loved you. Thank you to our incredible staff who endured all of Nori’s fiery moods during medicating time, and who were simultaneously amazed by how pliant she was about being put in the neb tank! Thank you to anyone who ever pet her in the wrong spot accidentally, tickled by the way she flicked her tail in annoyance.
We love you, Nori. We always will.
Nori had 2 Sponsors
Anne Fajkus
Suzanne Isaksen