World Pet Memorial Day

TBT:   There are 2 ways to look at this.  First is The Memorial Garden where I return the Over-The-Bridge Mews to the Earth.  I build a box.  Nail Brass letters of the name to the box and attach a small statuette to the top.

I regret that weeds grew there over Winter, so I can't show a current photo.  Plus, 1 box (Iza'a) is in the basement so I can copy it to build 2 more (Laz and Ayla) which are way overdue.    

This time, I am taking Iza'a box apart so I can make templates of each piece for (sadly) future memorial boxes.

But I can show an earlier photo when things were cleaner to show the general idea.

I will be working on clearing the whole area and placing boxes for Laz and Ayla soon!

The other way to acknowledge this day is to list the Gotcha and Bridge days of all the cats...

GOTCHA DAYS

Skeeter - October 31, 1992 

LC - October 31, 1993 

Ayla - January 16, 2008 

Iza - January 16, 2009 

Laz -- May 4, 2020

BRIDGE DAYS

Skeeter - December 10, 2008
LC - January 13, 2010
Iza - April 10, 2020
Ayla -September 2, 2023
Laz - November 21, 2023

   -------------

IN LOVING MEMORY

Monday Memories - Ayla

Today is a tribute to Ayla.   And our thanks and purrs to all for the supportive comments.   It has been a couple of hard days here.

I am missing some earliest pictures after all these years.  Even computer files don't last forever, it seems.

But she had a "pose".

And liked to be out on the old deck with Skeeter when he was very old and she was young.  And she was a comfort to him in his last months...  When he struggled, she sat next to him.  

Her best pic is probably the one in the tree.  Such a gorgeous girl...

She always did think she deserved to be a calender girl...

She loved special beds for years...  This is my best pic of her in one.  A Princess should always have a special bed.

And loved the top of the TV chair with the special mat.  She used to touch all the mat kitties sometimes...  I'm not sure what she thought, but she did that.

And didn't mind seeing herself sometimes.

And she always slept nicely...

She loved tight spaces...

Some cats are mean, some are good, some are wonderful.  Ayla was a "wonderful" cat.  She never did anything wrong.  And she loved my attention to her.

Drowned as I am in pictures of her, I don't have enough.  She slept next to me in bed most of her years, but I didn't capture those pics.  A bit of my reaching for the camera and she moved away.

She was on my lap in her early days, but I can't find them now.

I am going to miss her so very much.  

I miss Skeeter, LC and Iza all.  But Skeeter and LC were of my working days, where I was really only awake for a few hours around them.  It was almost like it was their home and I just "visited" a while.   Iza was a joy of my retirement time, but she died too young.  

Ayla was the transition from the Skeeter/LC years to the present.  It is like she had always been here.

Ayla was my first cat in 24/7/365 "at home, retired" life.  She was my constant presence and I was hers too.  It feels so empty here now without her.  I'm not even really understanding my day without her.  16 years is a long time even for people.

My Princess is gone.  Whatever physical troubles she had in her last month, at least they are over now.  I'm glad for that.  But the tears don't stop...

I will remember Ayla forever...

In Memorium

TBT:   This is going to be a mess of a sad post...  

Ayla made her journey over The Bridge shortly after midnight.  She hadn't eaten in so many days and wouldn't drink water.  At 6 pounds 4 ounces August 1st, she weighed 5 lbs 2 ounces last night.   She acted confused.  She staggered while walking.  My regular vet and the emergency clinic vet couldn't find a cause for her not eating or drinking nor why she was beginning to fall over.  The meds they provided didn't help.

I had a choice.  Let her starve to death or release her from greater pain.  I couldn't let this go on...  I chose to release her.  It was a horrible decision, but after watching Skeeter linger in distress at 16 for months, I couldn't bear to force Ayla to suffer further.  

The emergency vet examined her again and said it didn't look like she would survive too many more days.    You can't make a cat eat.  And for whatever reason she couldn't or wouldn't.

My regular new vet just couldn't fit another appointment into their schedule.  I won't forget that, but they are good vets otherwise, just way over-booked.

The emergency clinic vet had done a lot Friday but couldn't find anything specifically "wrong".    I think it was just "old age".

The ER vet took her aside to prepare a catheter, then brought her back (because I insisted on being there).  I told her what a good friend she had been for 16 years.  I told her she was the best Princess ever.  I told her that I would "see her on the other side" someday.  And that I would miss her so much until we meet again...

She purred with my arms around her one last time and I stared into her eyes saying "goodbye sweet girl"...  Then I told the vet tech to release the clamp.  

She was so weak from lack of food that she was gone like hitting a light switch.  The vet tech said her heart stopped in 5 seconds.  And he checked again after 15 seconds and 30 seconds (ay my demand).   She was gone...  She probably didn't even know anything was happening.

I'm not sure what I will do the rest of today.  I should try to sleep.  But first I need to set her out so the other Mews maybe understand she is dead, not just "missing".   And wrap her up in a plastic bag while I decide exactly where to bury her around Skeeter, LC, and Iza.  And I need to build a marking box like these...

I will prepare a tribute to Ayla later today or tomorrow.

But for now, I think I will just go to bed and cry...

In Memorium

 

In Memorium - Skeeter

TBT:  Skeeter's Over-The-Bridge Day was December 10th back in 2008.  I somehow lost track of the dates this past week.  So I will make up for it today, as "Mancat Monday" seems appropriate...

I remember you, my Dear Friend...

A Tribute To Spitty

THE BIG THING here:  A tribute to Spitty through Iza's memories in pictures...  Iza adored Spitty from the day she found him.  He had many ladycats who loved him but she was completely devoted to him.  She went over The Bridge in April last year and I know she was waiting (and would have waited many more years).  I present this in honor of both Iza and Spitty...

She loved that he once drove her around in a Furrari.. 

And that he once gave her a whole Goth vest when she asked for one...

And that they once took a balloon ride together...

She loved him with all her huge heart.  And hearts...

Spitty stood by Iza in difficult times...

She wrote him poems...

TO MY DEAREST LOVE, SPITTIKINS –

How do I love thee?  Let me count the ways…

I love thee as I love my meals, warm and soft.

I love thee as I love my rattelly toys, noisey and whapable.

I love thee as I love a warm pillow soft and quiet.

I love thee as I love Birdie TV and Fishie TV and  Skwerl TV.

I love thee as  My Protector In The Halloween Adventure.

I love thee as dearly as the deer love to graze on the hostas and azaleas in the front yard.

I love thee as I love My meal, My litterbox when it is clean, and  the warm waterbed.

I love thee as I love the birdies that hit our deck door and wait for me to get out there.

And I love thee Furs of deepest Black, Shining eyes, Claws of sharpness, and deepest mancat mystery…

In my thoughts and in my dreams Thee constant comes; and in between I dream of thee.

In fact, and I’ll say this my King I even did this TWICE. 

Cuz the first version got deleted when TBT furgot to save, and that wasn’t very nice!

IZA-LOVEY

They shared the Scary Halloween Tunnel which was so frightening I will only give a LINK...

Iza loved to show him her silken tummy, and he loved to lay his weary head on it while she adored his company.

There were other (happier) adventures.  Iza and Spitty visited Washington DC monuments and once camped out in the backyard in a tent I made just for them.  Spitty was concerned about being "outside" but Iza reassured him I was watching over them and they were in an enclosed space, so he napped sniffing outside air safely with her.  But pictures get lost sometimes.

Spitty was very special to Iza (and yes some other ladycats).  But Iza nearly existed for his attention.  Now they are both Over The Bridge.  I'm sure Spitty has a clowder of Ladycats around him now...  But I know Iza pushed her way to the front just to see him again.

It is a sadder world without their love.

Skeeter and Flashback Friday

Something went weerd with our post yesterday.  It originally had a remembrance of Skeeter's Bridge Day at the bottom.  The space is still there, but the picture and text isnt.  So we will  do that for today...

Kitten Skeeter  arrived at his Forever Home in 1992.

He departed it December 10, 2008.

Sunday Remembrance

Zoey Remembered...

Iza and Zoey shared a birthdate.  They left us near the same time.  

Crockett In Memorium

There once was a cat named Crockett
Who ran around like a rocket.
His tongue, it is said
Was Raspberry red
And nokitty ever dared knock it.

The gist of the boy was not red.
He was orange from tail to his head.
And his tongue, it would seem
Was a big deal to him,
And we have to admit we sure likedit!

Fare thee well Crockett.  We will all miss you so much.  But we know that there are many of your orange brothers who are showing you the peace and joy beyond the Bridge.  Our own Orange Mancat Skeeter received a message from us that you were coming and we understand that he was merely one in a long line of orange Brothers waiting  to guide you to a new existence.

We know it was too soon, but love is quality, not quantity.  Our purrs to The Ones You Left Behind...

In Memorium, Sammy And Miles

We don't often post tributes to Cats Who Have Gone Over The Bridge.  That's not because we dont love them, it is because we never know what to say beyond sorrow that their Beins miss them so very very much.   There have been so many that we have loved and whose lives we have enjoyed reading about.

But there is something about Sammy and Miles Meezer that always attracted us. First, as we have mentioned, they were the first cats to leave a comment on our blog.  We don't forget that.  It could have been someone else, but it wasn't.

And we followed their crazy exploits over the years.  The shipping off to foreign places, the box trips down the stairs, HAM!  The various adventures.

When I was a child, we had a female Meezer named Kenani.  When she went OTB, Mom got another named Hai Yu ("Hey You").  When I got out on my own, I wanted a Meezer.  But I had rescue kittens (and loved them dearly).

Sammy and Miles reminded me how much I wanted a loud talkative Meezer.  In 2007, I emailed a local Siamese breeder saying that "If you have a Siamese female that isn't up to your breeding standards, I would have a good home for her".  She replied that indeed she did have a small female and wasn't sure what to do with her because she didn't like to have a female near a new litter.

So I got Ayla, all adult weight 6.2 lbs.  Because loving Sammy and Miles caused me to search...  She is my tiny dancer, prancer, princess...  So that is another thing I owe Sammy and Miles.

I've been blogging over 12 years now.  I owe the start to Max The Psychokitty whose blog I had read from 2004, but I owe a lot to Sammy and Miles too.

When Skeeter went OTB in Dec 2008 and LC followed him in Jan 2010, I said it was the end of an era for me.  That was certainly true for me, but in blogging terms, it was only a few years.

Sammy and Miles were a part of MY life for the 12 years I knew them.

I can only imagine the romping good times they are having OTB, in the prime of their health, playing tricks and enjoying fields of Primo Catnip, and Ham trees etc.  I will always think of them that way.

Fare well, Sammy and Miles...

10 Years

TBT here:  It seems strange that Skeeter went over the bridge 10 years ago.  It doesn't seem like it was that long ago.  I still miss him.

Protector of sisfur LC...

Such a handsome and loving cat...  He could slip under the covers at night and rest next to me without disturbing my sleep.  Happy to be close to me.

He had gorgeous fur patterns.  Spots...
He had a wonderful send-off...


And he stays in our thoughts every day in the yard...

In Memorium

LC left for The Rainbow Bridge 8 years ago today.  I suppose there will come a year when I forget to remember that.  But this isn't the year, yet.

I got LC in 1993.  She wasn't MY cat; she was Skeeter's cat.  Due to work and commuting, I was  gone from 5am to 6pm (and asleep from 10pm to 5am).  And asleep from 10pm to 5am, so basically (from Skeeter's point of view) I was non-existent from 10pm to 6pm every day, leaving him to the untender unmercy of "Mean Old Tinkerbelle" whose only desire was to be an "only cat".

Skeeter was SO needy of attention and companionship that I got him "his own cat" - LC.  I deliberately focused her attention to Skeeter.  I've often wondered if that was the best solution, but it seemed right at the time, and Skeeter and LC became inseparable.  He protected her against Tinkerbelle, and she adored him in return.

Tinkerbelle left the yard at age 15 and never returned.  I personally think she went off to die on her own, but I hope she just found a new home without other cats for the final couple years of her life.  She seemed healthy as a horse at the time.

Skeeter and LC became the basis of my cat life for years after that.  What little time I had at home included wand toys and tossed toys, and at night (unlike Tinkerbelle) they spent time under the covers with me at night, so we had "close-time".

When Skeeter finally had to leave for The Bridge in December 2008, LC had a hard time adjusting.  Ayla was there, and they got along OK, but LC missed Skeeter so very much.  She had never been a lap cat (being accustomed to snuggling with Skeeter), but one evening she hopped up on my lap while I was watching TV. 

I was very surprised (and pleased).  I think she was surprised by my attention too.  She did that often afterwards.  I didn't mind being "the replacement".  We had 13 months of good companionship together, and she got along with Ayla with some snuggling too.

LC went over The Bridge rather suddenly.  One night, she was fine.  I heard a slight noise in the basement late that night but thought little of it.  The next morning, when she didn't show up for breakfast, I searched the house.  I finally found her, unmoving and still, pushed in to some stuff in the basement.  I could detect no heartbeat or breathing. 

I went upstairs and cried, but knowing she was over 16 and she had to leave eventually.  Later, I went down to collect her body.  She was still warm!  I rushed her to the vet.  They tried fluids and medications. 

The vet called a few hours later.  LC had roused, but died soon after.  I felt sick.  I was there at the end for Skeeter, but not for LC.  She died not being held, not being told what a Good Cat she had been, in a cage in a strange place.

At least she was with her beloved Skeeter again, over The Bridge.

You were a Good Cat, LC...

Remembering...

This is a day of remembering...  Is it only 9 years since Skeeter went to the Bridge?  It seems like a lifetime. 

I wish cats could be cloned.  I would love to have Marley and Skeeter meet.  They would be BFFs.

I love seeing Brofurs on other blogs.  They seem so happy together.  Marley and Skeeter would be like that.

He was a handsome cat.  He had odd gorgeous fur-patterns...

He protected LC and he was a good Protector of Ayla when she was new here.

He struggled his last few weeks.  The vet said to wait.  I think that was wrong.  Struggling isn't a good thing sometimes.  He was confused, stopped eating, and I was in misery about it.  He was my first cat who died slowly and I didn't know what to do. 

I should have let him run free a month or so earlier.  But he taught me when to know to do that.  A little early is kinder than a little later...

He was a sweet cat, always smelled like baby powder.

Friends at the time set up a sending-off tribute...

And he rests here, close by the pond he spent his last day beside...

Miss you, Skeeter...

In Memorium - Cheysuli

TBT:  I am speaking for the Mews today about Cheysuli.  They all want to say something, but none want to speak for them all.  So I agreed to try to express their and my own thoughts.

We learned late last night that Cheysuli went over The Rainbow Bridge Monday evening.  We are sad.  We know her Beings are much sadder...  That is proper.  Chey was one of many friends to us; but one of one to them.  Our "sad" is their "SAD".

We started our blog after Chey did.  And honestly, we do not remember when we first discovered hers.  But when we did (myself, Skeeter and LC back then) we followed constantly.  I followed it because I love Siamese cats; Skeeter and LC, and later Ayla, Iza, and Marley did because they just liked HER!

We always enjoyed reading what she had to say about her life, and we loved the regular "Find Chey" contests.  We even stayed up some nights waiting for a chance to discover where she was before anyone else did.  Sometimes we succeeded in being first.  Sometimes we were close but had additional information to add.  Sometimes we had no idea where she was, but trying to figure it out was always fun.

We always enjoyed seeing a comment from Chey; she was a sharp-witted kitty, and often original in her thoughts.  We will miss that.  And we will also miss her because we considered her a friend.  Among the many cat-bloggers, she was always among our group of favorites.  It is OK to have some favorites.

We understand the difficulties of end-of-life issues.  Skeeter resisted leaving me; LC left suddenly (to rejoin Skeeter, I think).  Chey's Woman understood that Chey was leaving.  The Male worked to keep her with them.  Both are right things.  Some cats rebound, some don't, and you never know.

But the cat decides.  Chey's Woman and Male have said "the search may begin once more".  I support that.  Empty spaces should be filled, and love is never diminished by more love.  Memories abide in the heart; the mind creates more space for new caring and love.

Ayla says "Farewell, fellow Meezer".  And brings a milk ring to the center of the room.

Iza says "Farewell from a 1/2 Meezer".  And pushes a rattley mouse to the center of the room.

Marley says "Farewell, I did not know you long, but here is a sponge ball".

I say "Farewell Chey, good friend.  Run Free of pain and age"... 

Now, finally, we all know where to "Find Chey" forever...

In Memorium

We are delaying our regular post today because Flynn has crossed The Bridge and we want to set aside this day in remembrance.  Flynn (and his brofur Eric) were admired and loved by all.  We loved them both.

When TBT started the blog, there weren't so many cat-blogs as there are today.  Kitties leaving for The Bridge were rare in the early days.  With so many more cat-blogs today, it happens more often.  The departures of all cats means some other kitties and Beins are sad and hurt.  But we are closer to some than others.  And some are such long-time friends that it hits us harder.

Flynn (and his brofur Eric) are among those.  We knew them both so much of OUR lives, and they go back a ways in TBT's life too.  We miss Eric, and now we miss Flynn.  We are sad for his pawrents.

So today we remember our friend Flynn...






Run free, Flynn!