Farewell, Percy

Percy went through a lot lately. I wrote his story and a happy limerick for him before all his troubles started, which you can find here. Percy and Eliot were cagemates and were adopted together. Percy was the oldest cat of the Cats Stephens and the most picked on. He was on the timid side and would rather hide from the other cats than fight with them. He tore a hole in the fabric under the box springs and made his own kitty hammock inside them. This was a great hiding place and made things rather difficult for his Mom when she had to give him medicine. Percy may not have got on well with the other cats, but he adored his humans and sought out their company for snuggles, naps and petting. Last year he developed a sore lump on his right forepaw and had to go to the vet. Percy really hated going to the vet. She determined that there was a growth there and there were two options. She could go in and get enough tissue for a biopsy, then determine what needed to be done next, or she could remove the whole growth, which might mean removing one of Percy's toes, then biopsy the growth and see if anything else needed to be done. To save Percy as much pain as possible, the family told the vet to remove all of the growth, even the toe if necessary. Once the vet got in, she decided to try to save the toe, but she didn't get all of the growth. The lump turned out to be nerve-sheath sarcoma, which can grow really fast and get very nasty in a hurry. Unfortunately, since she didn't get all of it, this meant that Percy's toe would have to be removed as soon as possible after he healed from the first surgery. Waiting too long might mean that Percy would lose the whole leg. As you can imagine, the family wasn't too happy with the vet and took Percy to another practice for his toe removal. In the meantime, the family decided to move to California, not too far from where Grandma lived. Since Percy would have a long recovery time and the picking on him from the other cats wasn't getting any better, they decided to take Percy along while they looked for a place to move into and leave him with Grandma. Percy loved Grandma and Grandma loved Percy and, best of all from Percy's point of view, she didn't have any other cats. Percy got spoiled rotten at Grandma's and he loved every minute of it. Unfortunately, after a few months of this idyllic existence, Percy got sick. They thought he had a bladder infection, but it turned out to be serious blockage, requiring surgery. Percy's kidneys were showing signs of failure and he just generally was not in good health. Rather than put poor Percy through yet another surgery, which might not buy him a whole lot of time anyway, the family decided that the best thing for Percy was to send him on to the Rainbow Bridge. The whole family is missing Percy terribly.

                                                 Percy loved to lie in the sun.
                                                 He'd hit the nip for a little fun.
                                                          To the Bridge he was sent
                                                          Because his health just went.
                                                 Now he can find plenty of sun.

Farewell, Dale

I don't know a whole lot about Dale, but I will share what I learned. Dale was the elder cat and he took Genghis Khat under his wing when he joined the family. He taught him how to hunt catnip mousies and, after Genghis calmed down enough to be allowed outside under supervison, he taught him the best places to hunt for bugs. Dale and Genghis enjoyed kitty wrestling quite a bit. Genghis like to play with Dale so much that he would wear Dale out. Then Dale would retire and snarl at Genghis if he tried to continue the game. Dale went to the Bridge on his own on the morning of August 13th. His family miss him very much.  Genghis is discovering that being an only cat can be a bit lonely.

                                                 Dale was the elder cat.
                                                 He taught Genghis to hunt so well that
                                                       Catnip mousies were found
                                                        In the house all around.
                                                  Now he's at the Bridge where living is phat.

                                            

Farwell, Jake

There's a note on Jake's blog not to copy photos, but his Mom gave me permission to pick what I wanted. I chose this one because you can see Jake's handsome blue eyes. Jake was adopted from a family who had a new baby and were moving and didn't want him any more. At first Jake was very timid and spent his first week in his forever home hiding behind a bookcase. He gradually got used to the idea that his new home was safe and welcoming and came out. He developed a very special relationship with his Mom. He always slept in the same room as she did. When she woke up in the morning, he would give a big stretch, then go into the kitchen for breakfast. His personality really developed when Micah was adopted three years later. Jake and Micah became best buds and Jake got confident enough to claim the post of Alpha cat. On October 3, 2008, Jake was diagnosed with CRF. His family took good care of him with medications, special food and fluids. Jake himself was quite a fighter, too. He got very sick in February. Finally the vet said that he could do nothing more for him and sent him home. His family was very sad, thinking that they would have him for a few days, then have to send him on to the Rainbow Bridge. Jake had other ideas. Once he got home, he rallied and got as completely well as was possible for him. Things went pretty well until early August, when he began going downhill. He went to the Bridge on his own on August 11.

                                            Jake was a fighter, for sure.
                                            He had CRF, for which there is no cure.
                                                  He fought whole-hearted
                                                  Until he departed
                                            For the Rainbow Bridge where joys are so pure.

Farewell, Joey L.

This is another really hard one. Joey L. and her brother Jimmy were a litter of two born on June 22, 2008. They were practically inseparable during their short life together. Joey would sometimes go off and find a dark hidey-hole for a nap alone, but that didn't happen often. They played together, ate together and napped together. Now Jimmy has lost his playfulness and appetite and may have to go to the vet for a checkup to see if it's grief or something else. The two of them were always full of mischief and fun. Criz had to keep a close eye on them, because they had a talent for destruction if left alone. Their favorite napping spot became in Criz's closet with his shoes. Joey was Criz's alarm clock.  She woke him up every morning at 8:3o without fail.  The only health problem I found that Joey had before she got so sick was that she had an eye irritation and had to wear a home-made cone for a while to keep her from rubbing it. A short time ago, Joey got listless and uninterested in food. The vet determined that something was wrong with her liver and Criz was still waiting on the results of the tests when Joey went to the Bridge. Criz is devastated. He had been syringe feeding her and keeping her hydrated and trying his best to keep her comfortable, but nothing worked.

                                         The time has come to say farewell
                                         To sweet little kitty Joey L.
                                               She would run and play
                                               All the live-long day.
                                          Now she's gone to the Bridge, has sweet Joey L.

Farewell, Riley

I tried to do this last night, but the limerick wouldn't come. I think part of me really didn't want to write this post, because now I have to really admit that Riley has gone to the Rainbow Bridge. He was far too young to leave. Riley and Tiki were born in a friend's garage on May 23, 2006 and joined their forever family 6 1/2 weeks later. Kesey, the dog, welcomed them. That's Kesey's pink pig that Riley is with in the photo. It's Kesey's favorite toy and he used to bring it to Riley sometimes. See, Riley loved his sister Tiki and his Mom and Dad, but he adored Kesey and Kesey adored him. Riley gave Kesey kitty kisses every day and Kesey sometimes gave Riley a bath. They played chase very often. I told Riley's story and wrote him a limerick here. The main thing that has happened to Riley since I wrote his story is that he discovered the joys of strollering. He got to go out whenever Kesey went for a walk. When the magic word "walk" was uttered, Kesey ran to his leash and Riley ran to his stroller. Tiki hasn't yet wanted to get in the stroller. Now comes the really hard part. Riley seemed to be having a little trouble breathing, so his Mom and Dad took him to the vet, thinking he had a kitty cold. The vet didn't like the sounds he was hearing from Riley's chest and kept him overnight for observation and tests. The next day, the vet decided that Riley had a lot of fluid in his chest and was inserting a drain when Riley's heart stopped. The vet got it going again, but by that time Riley had no brain function, so they let him go to the Rainbow Bridge. They vet now thinks that there was more in Riley's chest cavity than fluids, probably lymphoma, which could have been crowding his lungs and heart. This is terrible. Riley was such a loving cat, full of mischief and enthusiasm. He is leaving a huge empty space in his family.

                                      Riley was such a lover boy
                                      He filled the entire house with joy.
                                            The very air was fraught
                                            With the laughter he brought.
                                      Oh, how he'll be missed, this marvelous boy!

Farewell, Turnip

From what I have observed in reading blogs about cats, when there are four or more cats living together, two personality types always seem to appear. There always seems to be an Alpha cat (in the case of Turnip's house, there were two, Buddy and Charlie) and there always seems to be one cat who is so laid back that nothing ever bothers him. This was Turnip. Turnip was always the first cat to welcome a new cat into the family. When the very aggressive Charlie joined the group, it's like Turnip said to him, "Hi, you want to be the boss? Fine with me." Turnip's story started about 13 years ago when the Mom was teaching in an inner city school in Connecticut. She found an obviously uncared-for, but very friendly female cat behind the school and took her home and named her Matilda. Even though Matilda was younger than the other cats, she acted as though she wanted to mother them all. As it turned out, Matilda was soon to be a mother for real. She gave birth to five kittens, including Zorro and Turnip. Turnip got his name because daughter Amy said that she always wanted to have a cat named Turnip. The Mom kept all of them, save one which she gave to her son. By the time that the family moved to New Hampshire, only Turnip and Zorro were left. Turnip loved other cats, but was a bit shy around humans. He was also a bit timid about going outside. He always stayed pretty close to the house. Where Zorro is a very active outside hunter, Turnip preferred to hunt inside the house. Zorro discovered how to bring live mice inside and let them go and Turnip was always on them in a flash. Turnip had appointed himself the eradicator of intruders into the house. In the Vermont house, he sometimes found snakes in the basement. The Mom was once carrying an armload of bedclothes to make up the bed in the spare room for weekend guests and stepped on something wet and gooey. She thought it was a hairball, but when she could look down, she saw what looked like a wet red cord. It wasn't until she saw a few scales left on the head that she figured out that Turnip, who was resting on the bed, had caught and skinned a snake. When she cried out her disgust, Turnip gave her that look of utmost innocence that everyone who lives with cats knows well. Of the cats who go outside, Turnip was the most unlikely to ever get hit by a car, because he usually stayed within sight of the house, which is far away from the road. The one time that he ventured near the road, he got hit. I can only guess that he was chasing something, maybe another snake, and wasn't paying attention to where he was going. The family is hit hard, because it wasn't that long ago that Charlie went to the Bridge.

                                       Turnip was such a kindly soul.
                                       He welcomed new cats without a growl,
                                             But show him a snake --
                                             It's skin off he'd take.
                                        Now he's gone to the Bridge in the grass to roll.

Farewell, Charlie

I was behind on my farewell posts before my modem died and I am even farther behind now. I am not even going to try to do them in any specific order, but I will try very hard to make sure I don't miss any.

Charlie Taylor Sherwood was a 14 year old Devon Rex. He had lived since he was a kitten with a lady who lived in an apartment not far from the Sherwoods. The lady got old and had health problems and dementia. She got sick and was taken to the hospital, then to hospice. She was so sick that she couldn't say anything about Charlie being left all alone in the apartment. It was days, perhaps many days, before anyone remembered about him. I am not too sure about this next part. I know that the Sherwoods got an urgent call about a cat in desperate need and that cat was Charlie, but I don't know whether Auntie Deb and ML got him from the apartment or if someone else got him from the apartment and took him to a shelter, which then called them. I do know that they took him straight to the vet and he was in pretty bad shape. His kidneys had started to fail and he had a heart condition. Of course, he was also very dehydrated and starving. Then he got fluid in his lungs, sort of like kitty pneumonia. Things looked very bad for him, but he rallied and got to go to his new home. Things were a little hissy at first, but settled down fairly quickly. Charlie turned out to be quite the lap cat, taking to both Daddy Charley and ML. ML was delighted because she had always wanted a lap cat, but none of the rest of them was much for lap sitting. Things looked really good for a while, with Charlie making friends, or at least tolerating and being tolerated by the other cats. He was eating and drinking well and put on some weight. He was still going in for regular vet visits, to check his heart and lungs. He developed fluid around the lungs, but was still doing pretty well. Then he got sick again. He didn't want to eat or drink and he had trouble controlling his urine. He had gone into kidney failure again and it was time to say goodbye. The Sherwoods only knew Charlie from late April to mid-August, but he carved out quite a place for himself in their hearts. I don't know if the lady that he lived with for almost all of his life is still alive, but I think that a joyful reunion at the Rainbow Bridge has already happened or will happen soon.

                                                 Charlie had a great home of his own,
                                                 'Til his human got sick, leaving him all alone.
                                                        Taylors and Sherwoods found him
                                                        And to their hearts bound him.
                                                   Now he's at the Bridge, nevermore on his own.