When I had to say goodbye to my cat of 18 years, it taught me some valuable lessons about B2B SaaS PR.
I’m just kidding! Losing my heart cat did not give me any poignant business advice to impart. Instead, I’ve gained a new appreciation for the role pets play in our professional lives.
Snow Boots’ Transformation from Pet to Coworker
Snow Boots (aka Handlebars, Bootsy, Bootsy Collins, the Bootsmeister) was waiting for me when I graduated from college. My mom picked her out from the animal shelter for me. That was definitely a risky move on my mom’s part, but, fortunately, she made a good choice.
Snow Boots became my life companion. She accompanied me through three states, five jobs, and six homes, enduring five years of overnight shifts, several roommates, a new dad and human little brother.
Snow Boots was there with me for every single day of my professional career. And she was a well-known officemate — nay — legend.
When I worked in newsrooms and an office, all my colleagues heard tales of her many antics. Getting stuck behind the washing machine and inside a couch, dive bombing the bed in the middle of the night, and swiping at house guests from her cat tree, to name only a few. For most of my coworkers, her legacy lived only in stories.
But she got her moment to shine in 2020, when we were all suddenly working from home.
We shared a home office for six years.
Snow Boots never missed a Zoom call. She could be sleeping all day, but the second she heard a voice, she was on the desk to participate. I have hundreds of pictures of her on my lap or splayed out across the desk with no regard for a productive work environment.
She was so insistent on being part of everything that I just let her roam around on the desk. The alternative was worse: an endless loop of her jumping up and me putting her down. Apologies to all the clients listening to me discuss content strategy while repeatedly moving a cat.
She’s also live edited an agenda — or five — and one time, she hung up on a reporter during a Zoom interview.
While her escapades could become tiresome, they provided many laughs and spawned lighthearted banter on calls. She also reminded me that I was not alone. She was my hallway conversation and a calming presence amid workplace stress, at least when she wasn’t the source.
Saying Goodbye to My Constant Coworker and Companion
The six years in our home office together were a blessing. So much quality time!
But it made the end even tougher. I was here all day to watch her decline. I spent many hours desperately researching remedies for various old-age maladies and fretting over whether she needed to go to the vet. She was notorious there as well, a proud recipient of a “dangerous animal” sticker.
On her final day, I took a wellness day from work, and Snow Boots and I cuddled in our favorite spot on the couch, watching the Olympics and reading. A vet came in the evening, and we peacefully said goodbye, still in our favorite spot.
I could spend quality time with her that wasn’t tainted with emails and a growing to-do list. When I asked for the day, my boss offered no resistance and gave me explicit permission to take care of what is important.
The days after the loss were really hard. Because I work from home, she was literally everywhere I went, so I felt her absence acutely.
I’m going to be honest: I didn’t realize how much work Snow Boots did. I was totally useless for the rest of the week (ok fine, maybe a bit longer than that). I felt like I didn’t know how to do anything without her. She was part of just about every moment of my work life. Not having her constantly present really disrupted my thought processes.
Thankfully, my PANBlast coworkers understood and supported me before and after my loss. Many people said things like, “We’ll miss seeing her on team meetings,” and “She was my coworker, too.”
Snow Boots wasn’t an expert in journalism, B2B SaaS, or PR (though she certainly sat through enough calls that she should have been). But she was the kind of steady presence every employee needs in their lives. Through new jobs, layoffs, disappointments, maternity leave and the everyday monotony of life, she was there. It didn’t matter what kind of day I had — she was going to sit in my lap whether I wanted her to or not.
There’s a pile of Kleenex next to my keyboard. Hopefully, my colleagues and clients don’t notice or graciously ignore it. I left it so my desk doesn’t feel so empty.
We all know pets are family, but I encourage everyone to take some time to appreciate the “work” your pet does, whether they’re with you in the office or not. And no need to apologize for that surprise on-screen appearance. Your furry friend is just doing their job.
To close on a happier note, my 7-year-old son is insisting on getting a cat that he can name and cuddle with, so stay tuned for PANpov Part 2: A New Cat in the Office.
