If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. |
|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
|
#1
|
|||
|
|||
Rolecall: RPCA Rainbow Bridge kitties
It seems like the past 6 months there have been *so many* RPCA kitties
going to the Bridge. By my count, no less than 11 RPCA cats have gone to the Bridge, just since June. I'm sorry to say that it is getting very hard to remember all of the RB kitties, so they can be properly honored. So I thought it would be nice to have a thread with all of the RPCA RB kitties names in it. I'll start. Both of my RB kitties have been gone for a long time, although I still miss them every day. They are buried in my back yard, under my lilac bushes. There are stone markers where I laid them to rest. My wonderful, outgoing, extremely friendly tuxedo lady, Lucky, went to the Bridge on June 9, 1999, before I found RPCA. She shared 16 years with me. My sweet, gentle, loving all white cat, Blizzard, went to the Bridge in April 10th, 2001. I was blessed with a long full life with her. Some of the old timers here may remember when Blizzard went deaf, and gave me advice to cope with her loss of hearing. In her last year of life, Blizzard began to have trouble jumping up on the sofa and my bed, and again I received very helpful advice from the good people here on RPCA to help Blizzard with her decreased mobility. I was very blessed in that both of my RB kitties lived long full lives, and suffered no illness, until the very end. Many other RPCA kitties have not been so fortunate, I'm very sorry to say. ~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Life without cats would be only marginally worth living." -TC, and the unmercifully, relentlessly, sweet calico kitty, Kenzie. How you behave towards cats here below determines your status in Heaven. - Robert Heinlein Life is very difficult. Once you understand that, life becomes easier. -Buddha |
#2
|
|||
|
|||
Rolecall: RPCA Rainbow Bridge kitties
Gandalf wrote:
So I thought it would be nice to have a thread with all of the RPCA RB kitties names in it. It has been a sad autumn. I hope we will all do better in the coming year. I've lived with cats since I was born, and I won't record all those cats here. But the two I shared my life with after moving away from home both died in 2005. My feisty little Nikki at age almost 17 on 22nd May, and my darling soulmate Frank had just turned 18 when he was eased of his pain on 8th December. I still miss them, and dream about them every now and then. Currently my two young and healthy kitties are sending lots of purrs around the world to all of you who have lost a dear friend recently. -- Marina, Miranda and Caliban. In loving memory of Frank and Nikki. |
#3
|
|||
|
|||
Rolecall: RPCA Rainbow Bridge kitties
On Oct 31, 2:16 am, (Gandalf) wrote:
. So I thought it would be nice to have a thread with all of the RPCA RB kitties names in it. Working backwards (normal for me): Berfert RB Christmas 3005 We miss our little funny guy. Penelope Marie RB Spring 2004. She'll always be in my heart. Buddy RB 1998 Murdered by a hateful neighbor Pumpkin RB 1996 He just disappeared.one day. He was Amanda's orange tabby boy. Guido RB 1994 He loved to stick his whiskers up Rob's nose to wake him up in the morning. Also liked to pet my hair. Muffin MIA 1993. The only cat I knew who could make people believe that a 28 lb cat was starving. Needles MIA 1992 He disappeared less than a month before we were to move to Texas. I miss him. Pixel MIA 1992 Disappeared at the same time as Needles. I miss him as well Diamond MIA (sorta) 1990 As we were getting ready to move to the west coast from Kentucky, he moved in with his girlfriend next door to us. I wish him a long life and a lot of MRE caramel. There are more, but I cannot go on here. Thanks for the chance to say good bye again. Pam S. |
#4
|
|||
|
|||
Rolecall: RPCA Rainbow Bridge kitties
Shmoggleberry J. Cat, Esquire went to the Bridge on the 11th of October,
2007 Snoopy, cat of my youth, left years ago, maybe 1989 or so. Two others, 'Drooling cat' and 'Blackie' would also be at RB by now. Blackie was the cat before Snoopy, but she didn't fit the family and was rehomed elsewhere without children, and Drooling Cat was just some poor old street cat, half blind, totally toothless and very very thin, but s/he always had time for a good hard chin scritch on my way to the train station in the morning. Every morning s/he was there for a good six months, just waiting for her chin scritch, and then one day she wasn't. I never saw her again. I assume she went to RB. And IBKFergus, although not at the Bridge yet (I trust) is still remembered and missed, although I know she's safe somewhere better for her than here. She needed calm, quiet, 'unexciting', consistant environment with people who could dedicate alot of more time to her than we could. I wish we cold have offered that to her, but even if she ended up as a 'barn cat' she is still far better off than her littermates, some of which I still see at work (but most I don't :-( ) Yowie |
#5
|
|||
|
|||
Rolecall: RPCA Rainbow Bridge kitties
Gandalf wrote:
So I thought it would be nice to have a thread with all of the RPCA RB kitties names in it. Speedy Joe (MIA but must be RB by now)- our first cat. He was at best semi feral when we got him and as he got older he stayed out more and more until he never came back- didn't help that Billingsgate Fish Market had just opened down the road! Fugazi (RB)- 14th of April 1999 aged 12 from cancer Isis (RB)- 29th of May 2003 aged 16 just went to sleep and never woke up Travis (RB)- sometime in August 2003, aged 5 months, she was Dunzi and Sarsi's sister and when it looked as if she was not going to be rehomed, we offered to take her but the woman who had her mum decided to keep her and just a few weeks later, she was stood on and had to be helped over the Bridge due to head injuries. We never had her but I still consider her to be one of "my cats" Lesley Slave of the Fabulous Furballs -- Message posted via http://www.catkb.com |
#6
|
|||
|
|||
Rolecall: RPCA Rainbow Bridge kitties
On Oct 31, 5:51 am, "Lesley via CatKB.com" u27720@uwe wrote:
Gandalf wrote: So I thought it would be nice to have a thread with all of the RPCA RB kitties names in it. Speedy Joe (MIA but must be RB by now)- our first cat. He was at best semi feral when we got him and as he got older he stayed out more and more until he never came back- didn't help that Billingsgate Fish Market had just opened down the road! Fugazi (RB)- 14th of April 1999 aged 12 from cancer Isis (RB)- 29th of May 2003 aged 16 just went to sleep and never woke up Travis (RB)- sometime in August 2003, aged 5 months, she was Dunzi and Sarsi's sister and when it looked as if she was not going to be rehomed, we offered to take her but the woman who had her mum decided to keep her and just a few weeks later, she was stood on and had to be helped over the Bridge due to head injuries. We never had her but I still consider her to be one of "my cats" Lesley Slave of the Fabulous Furballs -- Message posted viahttp://www.catkb.com Penny - RB June 12, 2005. Was put down after someone shot her with a pellet gun. I got her from the shelter when she chose me. She was only with me for 2 yrs, way too short a time. Annie - RB April 1, 2007. Died of cancer at 12 yrs. Sweet girl, got her and her brother in Aug. 1995 after my brother's barn cat had a litter. She was timid, spent a lot of time under a blanket. Would purr if you just looked at her. Theresa |
#7
|
|||
|
|||
Rolecall: RPCA Rainbow Bridge kitties
"Gandalf" wrote in message ... It seems like the past 6 months there have been *so many* RPCA kitties going to the Bridge. So I thought it would be nice to have a thread with all of the RPCA RB kitties names in it. Gosh, this is a tough ask - it brings back much grief. But it's a great idea to pay them another tribute. My significant past masters: Happy - 1947-1965: the master who raised me - fine longhaired tabby. I was away at boarding school when his time came and he was PTS with assorted old-aged systemic shutdowns. Aries - 1979-1993: my soulmate black panther. CRF. Kensey: 1991-1999: sturdy panther 2, immensely clever cat and mighty, mighty hunter (weasels, huge rats, squirrels, gifts so regular local foxes used to come to my front door nightly to feast on the offerings K brought me. RTA. Pericles: 1995-2006: Red Tabby Maine Coon, wonderful stately boy, feisty as h*ck. Would walk miles round my local village on a harness staring down or scaring off the local d-thing population. FIP. I miss every one almost every day, but at least I know I'm a better person for having had their company & training. Purrs Gordon + present owners Bandit, Snowball, Claudius & Raki the D-Pet. All viewable he http://community.webshots.com/user/exocat ----== Posted via Newsfeeds.Com - Unlimited-Unrestricted-Secure Usenet News==---- http://www.newsfeeds.com The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! 120,000+ Newsgroups ----= East and West-Coast Server Farms - Total Privacy via Encryption =---- |
#8
|
|||
|
|||
Rolecall: RPCA Rainbow Bridge kitties
Thanks for the opportunity to remember, Gandalf - it is very apropos for All
Souls Day. Bandit left us on June 4, 2007. Dr. French came to our home so that Bandit wouldn't know fear as her last experience on earth. She had an easy passage to the bridge, she was so weak that I think the intramuscular sedative was enough to send her on her way. When Dr. French poked her thigh with the sedative needle she gave one last cougar-like yowl and scared the **** out of the vet tech (Bandit's trademark, patented July 8, 1990). After that it took about 5 minutes for the sedative to start working (as I said, I think her breathing may have stopped, or slowed so much I couldn't see her chest rise, at that point). Then Dr. French gave her the medicine that released her from her pain and infirmities. The whole time I was crooning to her the exact words I said to her as I left for work each morning, "Bye my Bandit, you be Mommy's good girl and I'll see you later. I love my Bandit." We had a good final weekend together, I got some last pictures of her, and I let her roam around in the backyard smelling the world for the last time (http://www.PossiblePlaces.com/CatNipped/Bandit_Last/). You can see how weary she looked in the pictures taken on the day she went to the bridge. For the last two hours of her life I held her in my arms and petted her, and told her all that she meant to me over the years. ================================================== ================================================== = In loving memory of our beloved Bandit, April 8, 1990 to June 4, 2007. Here are just a few memories of Bandit (in 17 years, there are a *lot* of memories). Bandit was one of the smartest cats I've ever known. Some examples of how smart she was... The first example of how smart she was is the first time I met her. She was all of 6 weeks old when I opened my front door one day and she dashed past my legs into my living room. I picked her up and put her back outside next to the food bowl, assuming she was the kitten of one of the feral/stray cats I fed. However, as soon as I put her down she ran back into the house again. At that point I accepted the inevitable and informed DH that we had been adopted by the cutest little long-haired tabby I had ever seen. She understood an amazing number of words and phrases, such as: Whenever I said, "Come huggers me, Bandit!" she would walk across my bed and snuggle down next to me so I could hug/hold her like a teddy-bear. The word, "tuna", no matter how softly muttered, sent her tearing across the house into the kitchen even before I started the can opener (it got so that DH and I had to spell the word "tuna" - which worked until she learned how to spell "tuna"!!!). When she was naughty, the phrase, "Go lay down, you're punished!" caused her to drop her head and walk into my bedroom (where she sat right next to the threshold and leaned over to look out at me sadly until I relented). She knew when I said, "Let's play put the sheets on the bed," that it was time to come jump up and kill all the evil bed greeblings. She knew an amazing number of actions that would cause a reaction, such as: When she wanted to wake me up, she would touch the "touch lamp" that sat on the night stand next to my bed 3 times very quickly with her nose to turn it on to its brightest setting. Or, if that didn't work fast enough, she would dip her paw into the glass of water I kept beside my bed and then shake it off in front of my face. Bandit was one of the meanest / fiercest cats I've ever known (her nickname was "Bitch Queen of the Universe"). Some examples of how mean / fierce she was... When Bandit was only about 8 weeks old, my son walked in the front door followed by his friend, who was followed by his pit bull. Bandit was sitting on the arm of the sofa when she launched herself through the air and landed on the dog's face. She locked her front claws behind his ears and her back claws under his jaw, and proceeded to bite him about the face and head. She looked like the alien in the movie "Alien" who plastered itself onto the astronaut's face. The poor dog stood there yelping and shaking his head back and forth trying to dislodge her. He finally managed to rid himself of her and ran yelping all the way home. I would warn every vet and vet tech about how violent Bandit could get and would ask them if I could hold her so they wouldn't get hurt (even though she would bite and scratch me, she didn't do it as savagely to me as to anybody else). One vet's office refused to let me hold her and had the vet tech try to hold her down instead. The poor vet tech wound up needing over 50 stitches in his forearm where she raked him with her hind claws. For the first few years after we moved to Houston, we lived in a second story apartment. We used to let Bandit sit on the balcony until one day when she spotted a very large tom cat in the garden below. She jumped off the balcony onto the back of the tom and then chased him for two blocks until she got tired (she used to be a lot more "fluffy" than she had been recently). Just about a year after that, we had a couple over to our apartment. I warned the guys to stay away from Bandit, but one of the guys said, "You've got to be kidding - we have 3 large pit bulls at home, we're not afraid of one little cat!" "No," I said, "I'm not kidding - stay away from her, she'll hurt you." Ben and I went into the kitchen together to get drinks when we suddenly heard loud screeching and Bandit's cougar-like yowl (Bandit's trademark, patented July 8, 1990) coming from our living room. When we rushed back in we found that one of the guys had made a kick-like motion towards her with his foot. He was standing on top of the backrest of our sofa, hugging the wall and screaming, "Get her away from me, get her away from me please!" Bandit was one of the most vengeful cats I've ever known. She would take revenge every single time I traveled out of the city and left her alone with Ben ("not the mama"). And she knew how to count, too! Once when I left her for three days, she took the opportunity of my coming in the front door with my luggage to dart outside. I found her collar on the bushes in front of our apartment, but no Bandit. I searched all night and the next three nights in vane. Just when I was ready to give up, after the exact amount of time that I had been away, Bandit showed up on our (upstairs) doorstep haughtily waiting to be let back in again. Other times after I'd been away, when she didn't feel like being bothered by disappearing, she would take her revenge by biting me in the middle of the night for as many nights as I had been gone. Bandit liked her creature comforts. I like to pile my bed high with pillows - 4 fat, king-sized pillows and 7 small throw pillows. Bandit would climb on top of that huge mound and nap peacefully on the softest spot in the entire house. She would curse me out every night when I made her move off of her throne in order to unmake my bed for sleeping. However, she did forgive me upon our nightly ritual of a complete body massage, brushing with a soft baby's brush, and scritchin's for at least a half an hour before she deigned to settle down to some serious sleeping. Bandit had the most indomitable spirit of any cat I've ever known. When she was 15 years old I took her in for a routine teeth cleaning. The vet was using a new "rice" warming sack and the vet tech left the sack in the microwave for far too long. Bandit was burned on over 60% of her body - burned so badly that the skin became gangrenous and started sloughing off her body. I didn't even know it had happened, she hid her pain so well. It wasn't until 10 days later that I saw the open wound on her belly that I knew she had been grievously injured. It took three surgeries to remove the dead skin and close up all the wounds on her belly, back and side. For weeks and weeks she was in the most unimaginable pain any creature could endure, yet she still came to me each night to be petted and brushed. And when she went to the vet to get the last staples taken out, it took two vet techs and me to hold her down, and she still managed to slash and bite two of us (me so badly I had to get antibiotics and a tetanus shot!!!). In the last year of her life she was blinded by the tumor in her brain that eventually brought the end of her life. Yet she never backed down from the challenge of living life to the fullest. She walked boldly across the floor (and often, just as boldly, walked into walls or furniture) - but was never afraid. When anybody got "in her face", or in her air space (she resented any other creature breathing *her* air), she would hiss and yowl and violently swat the air in front of her (said intruder having wisely backed out of range), and then sit back to lick herself in triumph. Bandit loved me more than anybody else on this earth loved me. She loved me totally, unconditionally, and steadfastly. Any time that any part of her body was touching any part of my body she was purring in contentment. She snuggled close to me every night and let me hold her like a teddy bear. She trusted me to always be there for her as she was always there for me. When I was feeling moody and being so bitchy that everyone else avoided me, she came and rubbed herself on me and purred until I was feeling better again. When it seemed like everyone in the world was conspiring to crush my spirit, she licked the tears from my face and let me know that even if everyone else in my life left me alone and in pain she would stay by my side and ease my sorrow. Bandit will be more sorely missed than any other cat I've ever known. After 17 years I feel so lost and alone without her that the pain sometimes takes my breath away. I'll forget for whole minutes at a time that she's gone and then something will remind me (everything reminds me!) and the realization of her loss washes over me again with the same force as when the vet whispered, "She's gone now." Bandit left behind three "sisters", all of whom I love dearly. And there will probably be other cats in my life whom I'll love as well. But there will never be another cat who has that special bond with me that Bandit had. There can never be another cat who could take on the world with her spirit and courage and grace. Her loss has left behind a hole in my heart a thousand times larger than the tiny creature who held my heart in her paws. My life will never be the same without her. Hugs, CatNipped "Gandalf" wrote in message ... It seems like the past 6 months there have been *so many* RPCA kitties going to the Bridge. By my count, no less than 11 RPCA cats have gone to the Bridge, just since June. I'm sorry to say that it is getting very hard to remember all of the RB kitties, so they can be properly honored. So I thought it would be nice to have a thread with all of the RPCA RB kitties names in it. I'll start. Both of my RB kitties have been gone for a long time, although I still miss them every day. They are buried in my back yard, under my lilac bushes. There are stone markers where I laid them to rest. My wonderful, outgoing, extremely friendly tuxedo lady, Lucky, went to the Bridge on June 9, 1999, before I found RPCA. She shared 16 years with me. My sweet, gentle, loving all white cat, Blizzard, went to the Bridge in April 10th, 2001. I was blessed with a long full life with her. Some of the old timers here may remember when Blizzard went deaf, and gave me advice to cope with her loss of hearing. In her last year of life, Blizzard began to have trouble jumping up on the sofa and my bed, and again I received very helpful advice from the good people here on RPCA to help Blizzard with her decreased mobility. I was very blessed in that both of my RB kitties lived long full lives, and suffered no illness, until the very end. Many other RPCA kitties have not been so fortunate, I'm very sorry to say. ~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Life without cats would be only marginally worth living." -TC, and the unmercifully, relentlessly, sweet calico kitty, Kenzie. How you behave towards cats here below determines your status in Heaven. - Robert Heinlein Life is very difficult. Once you understand that, life becomes easier. -Buddha |
#9
|
|||
|
|||
Rolecall: RPCA Rainbow Bridge kitties
An absolutely beautiful tribute, Lori.
Christine "CatNipped" wrote in message ... Thanks for the opportunity to remember, Gandalf - it is very apropos for All Souls Day. Bandit left us on June 4, 2007. Dr. French came to our home so that Bandit wouldn't know fear as her last experience on earth. She had an easy passage to the bridge, she was so weak that I think the intramuscular sedative was enough to send her on her way. When Dr. French poked her thigh with the sedative needle she gave one last cougar-like yowl and scared the **** out of the vet tech (Bandit's trademark, patented July 8, 1990). After that it took about 5 minutes for the sedative to start working (as I said, I think her breathing may have stopped, or slowed so much I couldn't see her chest rise, at that point). Then Dr. French gave her the medicine that released her from her pain and infirmities. The whole time I was crooning to her the exact words I said to her as I left for work each morning, "Bye my Bandit, you be Mommy's good girl and I'll see you later. I love my Bandit." We had a good final weekend together, I got some last pictures of her, and I let her roam around in the backyard smelling the world for the last time (http://www.PossiblePlaces.com/CatNipped/Bandit_Last/). You can see how weary she looked in the pictures taken on the day she went to the bridge. For the last two hours of her life I held her in my arms and petted her, and told her all that she meant to me over the years. ================================================== ================================================== = In loving memory of our beloved Bandit, April 8, 1990 to June 4, 2007. Here are just a few memories of Bandit (in 17 years, there are a *lot* of memories). Bandit was one of the smartest cats I've ever known. Some examples of how smart she was... The first example of how smart she was is the first time I met her. She was all of 6 weeks old when I opened my front door one day and she dashed past my legs into my living room. I picked her up and put her back outside next to the food bowl, assuming she was the kitten of one of the feral/stray cats I fed. However, as soon as I put her down she ran back into the house again. At that point I accepted the inevitable and informed DH that we had been adopted by the cutest little long-haired tabby I had ever seen. She understood an amazing number of words and phrases, such as: Whenever I said, "Come huggers me, Bandit!" she would walk across my bed and snuggle down next to me so I could hug/hold her like a teddy-bear. The word, "tuna", no matter how softly muttered, sent her tearing across the house into the kitchen even before I started the can opener (it got so that DH and I had to spell the word "tuna" - which worked until she learned how to spell "tuna"!!!). When she was naughty, the phrase, "Go lay down, you're punished!" caused her to drop her head and walk into my bedroom (where she sat right next to the threshold and leaned over to look out at me sadly until I relented). She knew when I said, "Let's play put the sheets on the bed," that it was time to come jump up and kill all the evil bed greeblings. She knew an amazing number of actions that would cause a reaction, such as: When she wanted to wake me up, she would touch the "touch lamp" that sat on the night stand next to my bed 3 times very quickly with her nose to turn it on to its brightest setting. Or, if that didn't work fast enough, she would dip her paw into the glass of water I kept beside my bed and then shake it off in front of my face. Bandit was one of the meanest / fiercest cats I've ever known (her nickname was "Bitch Queen of the Universe"). Some examples of how mean / fierce she was... When Bandit was only about 8 weeks old, my son walked in the front door followed by his friend, who was followed by his pit bull. Bandit was sitting on the arm of the sofa when she launched herself through the air and landed on the dog's face. She locked her front claws behind his ears and her back claws under his jaw, and proceeded to bite him about the face and head. She looked like the alien in the movie "Alien" who plastered itself onto the astronaut's face. The poor dog stood there yelping and shaking his head back and forth trying to dislodge her. He finally managed to rid himself of her and ran yelping all the way home. I would warn every vet and vet tech about how violent Bandit could get and would ask them if I could hold her so they wouldn't get hurt (even though she would bite and scratch me, she didn't do it as savagely to me as to anybody else). One vet's office refused to let me hold her and had the vet tech try to hold her down instead. The poor vet tech wound up needing over 50 stitches in his forearm where she raked him with her hind claws. For the first few years after we moved to Houston, we lived in a second story apartment. We used to let Bandit sit on the balcony until one day when she spotted a very large tom cat in the garden below. She jumped off the balcony onto the back of the tom and then chased him for two blocks until she got tired (she used to be a lot more "fluffy" than she had been recently). Just about a year after that, we had a couple over to our apartment. I warned the guys to stay away from Bandit, but one of the guys said, "You've got to be kidding - we have 3 large pit bulls at home, we're not afraid of one little cat!" "No," I said, "I'm not kidding - stay away from her, she'll hurt you." Ben and I went into the kitchen together to get drinks when we suddenly heard loud screeching and Bandit's cougar-like yowl (Bandit's trademark, patented July 8, 1990) coming from our living room. When we rushed back in we found that one of the guys had made a kick-like motion towards her with his foot. He was standing on top of the backrest of our sofa, hugging the wall and screaming, "Get her away from me, get her away from me please!" Bandit was one of the most vengeful cats I've ever known. She would take revenge every single time I traveled out of the city and left her alone with Ben ("not the mama"). And she knew how to count, too! Once when I left her for three days, she took the opportunity of my coming in the front door with my luggage to dart outside. I found her collar on the bushes in front of our apartment, but no Bandit. I searched all night and the next three nights in vane. Just when I was ready to give up, after the exact amount of time that I had been away, Bandit showed up on our (upstairs) doorstep haughtily waiting to be let back in again. Other times after I'd been away, when she didn't feel like being bothered by disappearing, she would take her revenge by biting me in the middle of the night for as many nights as I had been gone. Bandit liked her creature comforts. I like to pile my bed high with pillows - 4 fat, king-sized pillows and 7 small throw pillows. Bandit would climb on top of that huge mound and nap peacefully on the softest spot in the entire house. She would curse me out every night when I made her move off of her throne in order to unmake my bed for sleeping. However, she did forgive me upon our nightly ritual of a complete body massage, brushing with a soft baby's brush, and scritchin's for at least a half an hour before she deigned to settle down to some serious sleeping. Bandit had the most indomitable spirit of any cat I've ever known. When she was 15 years old I took her in for a routine teeth cleaning. The vet was using a new "rice" warming sack and the vet tech left the sack in the microwave for far too long. Bandit was burned on over 60% of her body - burned so badly that the skin became gangrenous and started sloughing off her body. I didn't even know it had happened, she hid her pain so well. It wasn't until 10 days later that I saw the open wound on her belly that I knew she had been grievously injured. It took three surgeries to remove the dead skin and close up all the wounds on her belly, back and side. For weeks and weeks she was in the most unimaginable pain any creature could endure, yet she still came to me each night to be petted and brushed. And when she went to the vet to get the last staples taken out, it took two vet techs and me to hold her down, and she still managed to slash and bite two of us (me so badly I had to get antibiotics and a tetanus shot!!!). In the last year of her life she was blinded by the tumor in her brain that eventually brought the end of her life. Yet she never backed down from the challenge of living life to the fullest. She walked boldly across the floor (and often, just as boldly, walked into walls or furniture) - but was never afraid. When anybody got "in her face", or in her air space (she resented any other creature breathing *her* air), she would hiss and yowl and violently swat the air in front of her (said intruder having wisely backed out of range), and then sit back to lick herself in triumph. Bandit loved me more than anybody else on this earth loved me. She loved me totally, unconditionally, and steadfastly. Any time that any part of her body was touching any part of my body she was purring in contentment. She snuggled close to me every night and let me hold her like a teddy bear. She trusted me to always be there for her as she was always there for me. When I was feeling moody and being so bitchy that everyone else avoided me, she came and rubbed herself on me and purred until I was feeling better again. When it seemed like everyone in the world was conspiring to crush my spirit, she licked the tears from my face and let me know that even if everyone else in my life left me alone and in pain she would stay by my side and ease my sorrow. Bandit will be more sorely missed than any other cat I've ever known. After 17 years I feel so lost and alone without her that the pain sometimes takes my breath away. I'll forget for whole minutes at a time that she's gone and then something will remind me (everything reminds me!) and the realization of her loss washes over me again with the same force as when the vet whispered, "She's gone now." Bandit left behind three "sisters", all of whom I love dearly. And there will probably be other cats in my life whom I'll love as well. But there will never be another cat who has that special bond with me that Bandit had. There can never be another cat who could take on the world with her spirit and courage and grace. Her loss has left behind a hole in my heart a thousand times larger than the tiny creature who held my heart in her paws. My life will never be the same without her. Hugs, CatNipped "Gandalf" wrote in message ... It seems like the past 6 months there have been *so many* RPCA kitties going to the Bridge. By my count, no less than 11 RPCA cats have gone to the Bridge, just since June. I'm sorry to say that it is getting very hard to remember all of the RB kitties, so they can be properly honored. So I thought it would be nice to have a thread with all of the RPCA RB kitties names in it. I'll start. Both of my RB kitties have been gone for a long time, although I still miss them every day. They are buried in my back yard, under my lilac bushes. There are stone markers where I laid them to rest. My wonderful, outgoing, extremely friendly tuxedo lady, Lucky, went to the Bridge on June 9, 1999, before I found RPCA. She shared 16 years with me. My sweet, gentle, loving all white cat, Blizzard, went to the Bridge in April 10th, 2001. I was blessed with a long full life with her. Some of the old timers here may remember when Blizzard went deaf, and gave me advice to cope with her loss of hearing. In her last year of life, Blizzard began to have trouble jumping up on the sofa and my bed, and again I received very helpful advice from the good people here on RPCA to help Blizzard with her decreased mobility. I was very blessed in that both of my RB kitties lived long full lives, and suffered no illness, until the very end. Many other RPCA kitties have not been so fortunate, I'm very sorry to say. ~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Life without cats would be only marginally worth living." -TC, and the unmercifully, relentlessly, sweet calico kitty, Kenzie. How you behave towards cats here below determines your status in Heaven. - Robert Heinlein Life is very difficult. Once you understand that, life becomes easier. -Buddha |
#10
|
|||
|
|||
Rolecall: RPCA Rainbow Bridge kitties
I too thank you Gandalf for the memories.
My first cat went to the Bridge following a long, debilitating battle with brain cancer. Snowflake was a white cat (duh) who came to live with me when I was about 10. Our neighbors across the street had a pair of siamese and I had been begging my mother to let me have a cat. Then one night the teenage boy at the top of the hill ( a cul-de-sac) left work on a rainy night and his first discovery was that he'd left his window down. The second discovery was the young, white cat in his car. So Wayne decided to bring the cat home and give to his younger teenage brother. Except he didn't tell Mike what was happening. He left the cat asleep on Mike's bed. Mike woke up the next morning and touched the cat, got scared and shouted loud enough to scare the cat who went out the open window. Snowflake ended up next door at the home of siamese but they couldn't keep her. Therefore, my parents said that I could have her. What none of my neighbors or parents knew was that Snowflake was truly my cat. It just got lost finding my house. She slept with me, played with me, listened to my secrets, and played kleenex when necessary. She once got caught outside in the middle of a tornado. We tried to find her but when the storm went over we had to go downstairs. As soon as the eye was over us and we could go out and look we found her in a tree, looking totally woebegone. She came in before the other side of the storm passed over. When she developed brain cancer she had trouble walking. We lived in a split level house and she slept upstairs, her food was on the second level and she wanted to spend time with the family in the basement. At first she would try to go down but she would stumble and then roll down the stairs. Eventually she learned to sit at the top of the stairs for me to come get her. Although she was my cat, my mother had a mural of a weeping willow on one wall in the livingroom. Whenever my mother had her friends over for a bridge game, Snowflake would curl up at the base of the tree and sleep through the bridge game. Most of the ladies thought she was just part of the mural. Some would be very startled when she moved. She wanted to go outside. She never used a litterbox, her business had to be done outside. Unfortunately, one day she returned, or tried to return, to the back step having a huge chunk bitten out of her side. She looked up at me and mewed that heartbreaking sound that says, It's time for me to leave, help me please?" My father took her to the vet school who had been studying her over the year she was sick. A year before they had arranged to cover all the necessary vetting, including brain scans and CT scans, if at the end we would allow them to do an autopsy. My father gently gathered her up and while I had to catch the school bus she was taken to the vet school and never returned. She will always be my first and most special. Then there were several cats in my adult life but only a few that stand out. Snoopy was a siamese who loved me dearly and was my only friend as a newly wed to a man who traveled Sunday night to Thursday. Unfortunately, Snoopy liked to sleep on DH's warm truck tires and that's where he was one evening when DH rushed out, cranked the truck and left. He came back in soon and told me what had happened. I will always miss that cat. My second husband was given custody of all of our cats when I left him. We had four but Wolf Rabbit a fierce calico cat that once attacked the water reader man and Pandora a beautiful purebred siamese who lacked the classic look to warrant registration but at $25 she was worth every penny. In my current life, Selena is the only cat I have that's made the journey. Most of you remember her going in her sleep last year. It was apparently a peaceful passing as there didn't appear any stress nor any blood. I sure do miss her though. Especially this time of year. She was my Familiar. I think perhaps Barnabus would like to be my familiar as judged by the way he watches and learns from me, but he's waiting, giving Selena a respectful period of time before trying to take that place in my life. Julie |
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
15: Rainbow Bridge | David Stevenson | Cat anecdotes | 0 | February 11th 07 12:26 AM |
Rainbow Bridge | MoMo via CatKB.com | Cat anecdotes | 10 | January 20th 07 01:35 AM |
Are Rainbow bridge kitties feral? | Kittencloud | Cat anecdotes | 3 | January 30th 06 07:02 PM |
Rainbow Bridge | Bev | Cat anecdotes | 3 | May 25th 04 11:32 PM |
Rainbow Bridge | Bev | Cat anecdotes | 3 | April 5th 04 08:15 PM |