In all my 43 years, I've never had a pet as long as Moana...

In all my 43 years, I've never had a pet as long as Moana.

15 years.

That's a longass time.

We rescued her in 2000 from the Atlanta Humane Society when she was already a year or two old. She was hired to keep our beagle, Sprite, company while we were at work, and instead ended up conniving with that little incorrigible hot mess in sneaking her out of her kennel and helping her to rip our apartment to pieces.

After Sprite went to a farm in Alpharetta, Moana followed us into homeownership and fended off possums, dogs and other cats who dared cross our survey lines without permission, and would then gleefully trot along with us around the neighborhood on our nightly walks.

After moving to Grant Park, we got her a buddy, Maxx, who kept her pretty occupied for the next ten years. Maxx passed recently, so we agreed to get Moana a pool, which she enjoyed sitting by this past summer as she gazed perplexedly at all of us in the water while still proceeding to try and drink all the water in the pool.

In the end, this crazy cat had a wonderful, joy-filled 17-year life.

We will miss her little crazy ass.