A Sad Day

Hi everyone. Been off usenet for a while, and nice to find an active
group in the pets.cats category.

Today was a tough day. A month ago I agreed to adopt a coworkers
feral kitten, one of the last of a litter that had taken over first
her garage and later her home. It is a gray, short haired sprite,
full of energy and affection in equal measure.

The reason I got it was that my work was taking me away from home 24,
36 or 48 hours at a stretch, and I thought my black, long haired
rescue, Martha by name, could do with the companionship.

To my chagrin, she didn't take to the new addition to the household,
although Syd, for his part, was nothing but affectionate to his new
'Mom.'

Martha just seemed to tolerate the little 10 week old, although she
got to growling when Syd got too excited or 'in her face.'

On hindsight, perhaps it was wrong for me to introduce another cat at
this stage of Marthas career with me. I was trying to do the right
thing, but I may have made Marthas life rather unpleasant.

Anyway, when I came home from work this morning only Syd greeted me.
It took a while to find Martha as she had chosen a spot beneath my
work chair, one of her favorite places when she was relaxing. She was
stiff, so I assume she died sometime in the night. She had one paw
around the chair leg, like she does when she's relaxed.

I will always remember her for being a gentle lady, always wanting to
please but never too familiar. She knew her 'rights' as a cat
included aloofness. I hope she didn't blame me for being unfaithful
or abandoning her to Syd. I never stopped loving her as the adorable
little black cat she was when I took her home from the pound. I will
always have her in heart.

Thanks for listening.

On Sun, 28 Sep 2014 19:43:31 -0700, Rockinghorse Winner
wrote:
Anyway, when I came home from work this morning only Syd greeted me.
It took a while to find Martha as she had chosen a spot beneath my
work chair, one of her favorite places when she was relaxing. She was
stiff, so I assume she died sometime in the night. She had one paw
around the chair leg, like she does when she's relaxed.

I will always remember her for being a gentle lady, always wanting to
please but never too familiar. She knew her 'rights' as a cat
included aloofness. I hope she didn't blame me for being unfaithful
or abandoning her to Syd. I never stopped loving her as the adorable
little black cat she was when I took her home from the pound. I will
always have her in heart.

Thanks for listening.

I'm sorry about poor Martha. She sounds like such a wonderfully
quintessential kitty girl. I'm glad that she at least had her last moments
in the home she loved.

On Sun, 28 Sep 2014 23:42:38 -0400, Takayuki
wrote:
On Sun, 28 Sep 2014 19:43:31 -0700, Rockinghorse Winner
wrote:
Anyway, when I came home from work this morning only Syd greeted
me.
It took a while to find Martha as she had chosen a spot beneath my
work chair, one of her favorite places when she was relaxing. She
was
stiff, so I assume she died sometime in the night. She had one paw
around the chair leg, like she does when she's relaxed.

I will always remember her for being a gentle lady, always wanting
to
please but never too familiar. She knew her 'rights' as a cat
included aloofness. I hope she didn't blame me for being
unfaithful
or abandoning her to Syd. I never stopped loving her as the
adorable
little black cat she was when I took her home from the pound. I
will
always have her in heart.

Thanks for listening.


I'm sorry about poor Martha. She sounds like such a wonderfully
quintessential kitty girl. I'm glad that she at least had her last
moments
in the home she loved.

Thanks for taking the time to write a reply. I'm hoping her last
moments included love for her adopted family

On 9/28/2014 7:43 PM, Rockinghorse Winner wrote:
Hi everyone. Been off usenet for a while, and nice to find an active
group in the pets.cats category.
Today was a tough day. A month ago I agreed to adopt a coworkers feral
kitten, one of the last of a litter that had taken over first her garage
and later her home. It is a gray, short haired sprite, full of energy
and affection in equal measure.

The reason I got it was that my work was taking me away from home 24, 36
or 48 hours at a stretch, and I thought my black, long haired rescue,
Martha by name, could do with the companionship.
To my chagrin, she didn't take to the new addition to the household,
although Syd, for his part, was nothing but affectionate to his new 'Mom.'
Martha just seemed to tolerate the little 10 week old, although she got
to growling when Syd got too excited or 'in her face.'

On hindsight, perhaps it was wrong for me to introduce another cat at
this stage of Marthas career with me. I was trying to do the right
thing, but I may have made Marthas life rather unpleasant.

Anyway, when I came home from work this morning only Syd greeted me. It
took a while to find Martha as she had chosen a spot beneath my work
chair, one of her favorite places when she was relaxing. She was stiff,
so I assume she died sometime in the night. She had one paw around the
chair leg, like she does when she's relaxed.
I will always remember her for being a gentle lady, always wanting to
please but never too familiar. She knew her 'rights' as a cat included
aloofness. I hope she didn't blame me for being unfaithful or abandoning
her to Syd. I never stopped loving her as the adorable little black cat
she was when I took her home from the pound. I will always have her in
heart.

Thanks for listening.

I'm so sorry for your loss. I'm sure she didn't blame you. You gave
her a good home and, I'm sure, made her very happy. True, she didn't
take to Syd as you hoped she would, but you were thinking of her when
you brought him home. You did do the right thing; it just didn't work
out as you hoped.

Joy
--
Joy Unlimited
Colorful Crocheted Critters
Photos at http://www.PictureTrail.com/joy9

On Sunday, September 28, 2014 10:15:14 PM UTC-7, Joy wrote:
On 9/28/2014 7:43 PM, Rockinghorse Winner wrote:

Hi everyone. Been off usenet for a while, and nice to find an active

group in the pets.cats category.

Today was a tough day. A month ago I agreed to adopt a coworkers feral

kitten, one of the last of a litter that had taken over first her garage

and later her home. It is a gray, short haired sprite, full of energy

and affection in equal measure.



The reason I got it was that my work was taking me away from home 24, 36

or 48 hours at a stretch, and I thought my black, long haired rescue,

Martha by name, could do with the companionship.

To my chagrin, she didn't take to the new addition to the household,

although Syd, for his part, was nothing but affectionate to his new 'Mom.'

Martha just seemed to tolerate the little 10 week old, although she got

to growling when Syd got too excited or 'in her face.'



On hindsight, perhaps it was wrong for me to introduce another cat at

this stage of Marthas career with me. I was trying to do the right

thing, but I may have made Marthas life rather unpleasant.



Anyway, when I came home from work this morning only Syd greeted me. It

took a while to find Martha as she had chosen a spot beneath my work

chair, one of her favorite places when she was relaxing. She was stiff,

so I assume she died sometime in the night. She had one paw around the

chair leg, like she does when she's relaxed.

I will always remember her for being a gentle lady, always wanting to

please but never too familiar. She knew her 'rights' as a cat included

aloofness. I hope she didn't blame me for being unfaithful or abandoning

her to Syd. I never stopped loving her as the adorable little black cat

she was when I took her home from the pound. I will always have her in

heart.



Thanks for listening.



I'm so sorry for your loss. I'm sure she didn't blame you. You gave

her a good home and, I'm sure, made her very happy. True, she didn't

take to Syd as you hoped she would, but you were thinking of her when

you brought him home. You did do the right thing; it just didn't work

out as you hoped.



Joy


Thanks for the kind words. They were much appreciated!

On Sun, 28 Sep 2014 23:31:01 -0700, The Other Guy
wrote:
Thanks for the kind words. They were much appreciated!


It's just as likely that Martha was telling Syd
that he was on his own, and he should get used to it.


It's unfortunate that most of the animals we take as
pets have shorter lifespans than we humans do, but
if you provide them with a good life, and love, it's
all you CAN do.

Thank you for the encouragement; I've needed it the past 24 hours.
Guilt is what catholics like myself dine out on. I'll just have to
get over it. Cheers.

On Sun, 28 Sep 2014 19:43:31 -0700, Rockinghorse Winner
wrote:

Hi everyone. Been off usenet for a while, and nice to find an active
group in the pets.cats category.

...
I will always remember her for being a gentle lady, always wanting to
please but never too familiar. She knew her 'rights' as a cat
included aloofness. I hope she didn't blame me for being unfaithful
or abandoning her to Syd. I never stopped loving her as the adorable
little black cat she was when I took her home from the pound. I will
always have her in heart.

Thanks for listening.

Sorry for the loss. When LuckyBoy died I brought home Espy to keep old
Nico company. They didn't really get along, and a few weeks later I
had to rush Nico to the vet and he had cancer and after a few months
of me torturing him with chemo he died.

The timing was just bad. He was around 15 and I guess wasn't up to a
young cat, but as much as I loved Nico, Espy turned out to be his
clone. Both were terribly smart and got into amazing trouble and
caused me no end of problems, but they were just so worth those
problems. What little personalities they had!

She doesn't blame you for trying to get her a companion, and was
probably already sick and that's why she didn't take to the newcomer.
Cats are so good at hiding anything wrong that there is just no way we
could possibly know in advance.

Condolences. Purrs and prayers that Martha has a safe journey to the RB.
She will be happy there.

Lily & her mama

lrulan
from the stars we come
to the stars we return
from now until the end of time.

"Rockinghorse Winner" wrote in message
om...

Hi everyone. Been off usenet for a while, and nice to find an active
group in the pets.cats category.

Today was a tough day. A month ago I agreed to adopt a coworkers
feral kitten, one of the last of a litter that had taken over first
her garage and later her home. It is a gray, short haired sprite,
full of energy and affection in equal measure.

The reason I got it was that my work was taking me away from home 24,
36 or 48 hours at a stretch, and I thought my black, long haired
rescue, Martha by name, could do with the companionship.

To my chagrin, she didn't take to the new addition to the household,
although Syd, for his part, was nothing but affectionate to his new
'Mom.'

Martha just seemed to tolerate the little 10 week old, although she
got to growling when Syd got too excited or 'in her face.'

On hindsight, perhaps it was wrong for me to introduce another cat at
this stage of Marthas career with me. I was trying to do the right
thing, but I may have made Marthas life rather unpleasant.

Anyway, when I came home from work this morning only Syd greeted me.
It took a while to find Martha as she had chosen a spot beneath my
work chair, one of her favorite places when she was relaxing. She was
stiff, so I assume she died sometime in the night. She had one paw
around the chair leg, like she does when she's relaxed.

I will always remember her for being a gentle lady, always wanting to
please but never too familiar. She knew her 'rights' as a cat
included aloofness. I hope she didn't blame me for being unfaithful
or abandoning her to Syd. I never stopped loving her as the adorable
little black cat she was when I took her home from the pound. I will
always have her in heart.

Thanks for listening.

On Sunday, September 28, 2014 11:31:01 PM UTC-7, The Other Guy wrote:
It's unfortunate that most of the animals we take as pets have shorter lifespans than we humans do, but if you provide them with a good life, and love, it's all you CAN do. ---

A very good friend of mine says "If you can't accept they won't live as long as you do then you shouldn't have one but if you accept that then just give them the best life they can have for as long as you have them"

I lost my Sarrasine (my heart cat) just under 2 months ago I still miss her but console myself with the thought when she was 8 weeks old if I hadn't stepped in she and her sister Redunzel would have ended up in a pet shop (and as black cats they'd have been in the cr*p) but I took them in and they both had the best food, love etc. Redunzel sadly crossed the Bridge when she was only 8, Sarrasine made it to 11 and died peacefully at home she had a good life and soon I'm offering her berth to a kitten I have a place and she doesn't need it anymore but some kitten does to me that's the best memorial she'll have-a home for another little waif

Lesley

Slave of the Fabulous Furnball

"Rockinghorse Winner" wrote in message Thank you for
the encouragement; I've needed it the past 24 hours.
Guilt is what catholics like myself dine out on. I'll just have to get
over it. Cheers.

My sincere condolences at the sad news.

Jay