Mekong "Meeky Moo" Aoki Clouthier

Mekong "Meeky Moo" Aoki,passed away on Sunday, March 29, 2020 after a brief illness. She was 19 years old. She was just 18 days shy of her 20th birthday. She was born approximately April 16, 2000. She is survived by her human mama, Odette S. Clouthier. She was preceded by her older brother,Canna Rex (2009) and her sister, Lamareoux Passer of Savoy (April 29, 2000 – November 27, 2019)

I remember when I first laid eyes on "him". She was a rescue kitten, that a fellow customer of mine was trying to find a home for. "He" was the last one. My friend knew I had adopted another kitten just two weeks prior that I had just rescued. I was told she was a boy. A fluffy ball of white and brown fur, that smelled like flea powder, as she was covered in fleas. And she hated me! She tried to bite me repeatedly. When I brought her home, I put her in the bathroom, so she could get to know her older brother, and little sister better. She hid under my bathroom floor through a little hole. After pulling up my wood bathroom floor to get her out. I thought it was safe from her getting under the floor. Nope. She did it again the next day. This little cute kitten hated me for the first 2 weeks of her life with me. Within that two week period, I found out she was a girl, and not a boy. Her original name didn't change, but started a life long tradition of adding new nicknames to her, like adding accolated to a career. After that we were inseparable.

We were two peas in a pod and she demanded to be part of everything I did when I was home. From being in the bathroom (She loved the smell of freshly brushed teeth) to writing in my journal (by draping herself across every book and notebook I was focusing on. She loved chicken and turkey but hated fish. She was always ready for a piece of cheese. She would squeak in joy when she was happy. She loved to be brushed and would squeak when I would pull it out to brush her. Our favorite past time was taking naps together, which she could always put me to sleep in 5 minutes of purring. I created Mekong Movie night on Friday nights, where we would snuggle together, watch a movie and share popcorn. She loved feathers. Up until the week, she died, she was always ready to pin the feather down. She loved her catnip mousie, which no matter how ratty it got, I never threw it away, as it was her favorite toy. We played a lot of unique games. The bottle cap hat game, "Who is poking you?, It wasn't me" "Kissie, kissie, give me kissie" where I would see if I could get a kiss for a kiss. My favorite was "A thousand kisses" that I tried to see how many times I could kiss her face before she moved. She was a fashion diva to her stylish collars, fun hats, and birthday crowns which she wore with class.

One of the main things people noticed about Mekong was her beauty. She was a gorgeous seal bicolored mitted ragdoll. She was mistaken for a Siamese or a Himalayan, but she was all Ragdoll. She had slightly off center triangle on her face, which earned her the nickname "Triangle face". On her right leg, she had a wobbly hourglass shape that bleed into the tip of her white mitten paw. This was her "Time paw" in which she bestowed love taps to my face. She had white fur tuffs in her ears, which sometimes I would style in hidden horns so she might be the "Kitty Overlord" to her demanding affection. She would beautiful flop, as that is what ragdolls are known for, in my arms when she would hear my voice at times. She was my "floppy baby.

Mekong had a beauty both out of the outside as well as in the inside. She had such sweet temperament, which became the rock of strength in my life. She weathered me through the heartaches of life, especially two painful breakups. When I was ill, she would not leave my side. In February 2019, I was in bed with the flu, and was terrified to giving her something to making her ill, so I pushed her away any time she got close, only to find her curled up next to my face when I woke. She was a sneaky one. When I would demand for my own space at times, she would creep up behind me and laying down beside me head. At times, I would watch her creep slowly, and I always withheld a laugh, as it was funny to see her so determined to be next to me. In the wintertime when she became "Mole Kitty" she would demand to get under the covers with me. If I was not reward to lifting up the blanket for her, she would try to infiltrate the blankets from the floor and dig a tunnel to myself. She loved laying on my face in some manner, that she was "Kitty Leach", as she wrapped her body around my face, laying her face on my cheek, a position that she picked up as a kitten, when she would drape her body across my throat or put her tiny face on my cheek. The cute little kitten became a long haired 12 pound cat in her prime. "I created that Monster" I said many times during her lifetime, as I realized how I adapted my life to suit her wants and needs.

She was very sensitive, and always knew when I was hurting. And if I was crying, she would bathe and smear my face which afterwards curl up on my face to comfort me. Most of the time, I would laugh, and joke that she was trying kill me. Killing me with her love. Mekong was ALWAYS affectionate, to the point of being demanding about it. When getting home, if I didn't pick her up or acknowledge her, she would climb to the closest table, chair, counter, etc and launch herself through the air onto my shoulder, like a fly squirrel. Several times in her life, she flew to her human perch to snuggle the one person she loved the most: ME

Her loyalty was endearing as well. She would greet me at the door when I could come home. If she heard my car, and I didn't come in, she peek out the window to see where I was. In later years, she would patiently wait on her little electric throw for me to come home. As soon as she saw my face, she would greet me with her little "Meerp" and rush to my side.

She was very vocal and always told me how how she felt. Always answering with either Brrrrrp, Meeer, Meerp, or Squeak, each one with confidence and power. When I eating and she thought she was getting something, she would perk up and say "Meeer". After years with her, I realized she was saying "hey" So when she would "Meeer" I would say "Hey" afterwards, and it was the only sound I was able to really associate with a human word. In her later years, she was notorious for talking back at me when I would lift the covers up for her to get under with me. I would be holding them, and she would walk half way in, with her butt in my face, and turn her face toward me. I would say "turn around" as I waited. She would complain the whole time as she turned around to face me and lay down. To this day, I wonder what she was saying as she was always very vocal during the "Blanket wars"

Mekong had several nicknames in her lifetime, all given to her lovingly. But always too many to name, as they were given depending on her attitude at the time or what she was doing. She was the Meeks, Meeka, Moo, Mookong. she gained a lot of new nicknames throughout her life time. She was a well skilled shoulder rider, that she earned the names Kitty bird and Vulture. When is was misbehaving, she was Monster princess. When she was good, she was very good indeed. But when she was bad, she was horrid (which was very rare). Her beloved sister, Lamareoux, whom she loved, was the Baker of the biscuits of the family, and Mekong was the window washer. She constantly smeared herself on my face as well as giving me daily baths, especially before she laid her head on my head, as if my face was too dirty to sleep on. She was Moose, Little goose, Mekong Two Bells, to distinguish from her sister's "one" bell on her collar. She was Monster Moo, and the Meeky Mas. Mekong was the Squeaker. At times she was Fluffy butt, Miss Bossypants, Fuzzy britches, and Moo Stinky Bum in which we dealt with a couple incidents with her long hair and the litter box. She knew what wet wipes were and did not like them at all!

During the end, just like most of her life, we are inseparable. She always waited all day for me to come home. ALWAYS. She had been under the weather that morning, and I couldn't wait to get home to see my tiny little girl. She waited all day for me. As soon as I cradled her to my chest, kissed her and told her how much I loved her like I had always did, her whole life, she gave me meow and walked across the rainbow bridge. My life devastated and heart shattered forever. I lost the beautiful soul that was within my physical grasp. She wanted to stay, but her poor tiny body was too worn out after almost 20 years. She waited that one last time for me, which I will cherish forever.

Thank you Mekong, for bringing so much love and security into my life with your purrs, kisses and cuddles. Now, I will wait until I can see you again. I love and miss you so very much, my tiny baby girl. Your Mama.