Loss of a loved one....

mvhplank · Post by **mvhplank** » Fri Feb 11, 2005 9:44 pm

I went through a catless time a few years ago and decided I really needed to have them around. I've got two goofy littermate sisters named Eileen and Liz (for my favorite fiddlers).

They've turned out to be fairly trainable. They jump off the bed and run out of the room in the morning when I shake the covers, saying "Up, up!" I'm teaching them "move," as in "get off the place where I want to sit," using a firm "MOVE" and a teensy spritz with a water bottle. They're VERY fast learners....

Many cats have taken a bit of my heart with them when they left, most recently Chickadee and Miss Kitty. They are all unique and unrepeatable gifts.

May I suggest you go to the shelter and rescue an older cat? They have less of a chance of getting adopted than the cute kittens. Chickadee came to us at age 15 (her owners were moving) and she immediately endeared herself to me by catching a mouse the first week. I only had her a couple of years, but they were memorable ones.

I'm deeply sorry for your loss.

M

anniemcu · Post by **anniemcu** » Sat Feb 12, 2005 12:38 am

Thanks all, for your heartfelt sympathy... We have four other cats, including one we nursed back to health after an animal attack for the last three months of last year... he and his outside buddies , all four of them, are doing just fine. Their four doggie friends are as well.

We have had so many pass through, and I expect there will be many more, but Dolly was really a one-of-a-kind-er... she and I were closer than I have ever been with any of the myriad of animals in my life. IT is like losing a child. ... and a sister for the kids.. especially the youngest, who knew her for 3/4 of her life.

We have rescued strays, rescued abandoned babies (Dolly was one of those, only about 2 days old when we got her and her brother), been adopted by neighbor's pets, and brought some home from the shelter... we've had dogs, cats, rats, mice, hedgehogs, birds, newts, snakes, spiders, possums, and more... it is definitely one way to add spice to life... and expense!!!... ah well... they are all G_D's critters, just like us human-folk... gotta love 'em.

The hardest was going up to take a nap today and not having her little thump-bump of arrival on the bed, to walk up and curl up at my shoulder... sigh...

She was still beautiful, even in death... I wrapped her in an old shirt of mine, that she had been on many, many times, and folded a lovely piece of silk around it, sewed it shut, and we buried her out in the back yard, next to the possums and a few other long lost souls... Dale read some poems and we all cried. My son and I brought a couple of large flat rocks to top it off with. ... sigh again, and yet again

blackhawk · Post by **blackhawk** » Sat Feb 12, 2005 3:31 am

I'm so sorry for your loss, Annie. They sure leave a hole in our lives when they're gone, don't they?

Jack · Post by **Jack** » Sat Feb 12, 2005 5:35 am

*hugs*

'Our' cat (we never decided to whom who she really belongs) is 17 years old, so I know she doesn't have that long left...I dread the day.

Wombat · Post by **Wombat** » Sat Feb 12, 2005 6:30 am

I'm sorry about your loss, Annie.

emmline · Post by **emmline** » Sat Feb 12, 2005 8:07 am

Our back yard is a bit of a cat graveyard. A couple of mine, and city-dwelling friend's Siamese.

Joseph E. Smith · Post by **Joseph E. Smith** » Sat Feb 12, 2005 8:20 am

I am sorry for your loss, it is never easy. Our four legged, no legged, winged and finned companions are so much more than simply pets, they are indeed 'family members' and their passing is no less easier to bear than with any other family member.

Remember the good times and cherish them. There is a higher reason for why our lives are enhanced by the prescence of our little companions.