Farewell, Jake

This is a hard one to write because it is so sad. Jake and Spot were inside kitties living with their Mom and two Kidbeans. They started blogging in 2006, but didn't blog very much at all. Then a boyfriend who didn't like cats moved in and Jake and Spot became outdoor only cats in the summer of 2008. The last we heard from them on their blog was that the Mom had gotten a doghouse, put it in the basement and put fleece blankets in it to keep them warm for the winter. That was September 2008. It must have worked because we didn't hear anything more until just recently. Jake was killed by a car. His Mom has lost her information to get into his blog, so it hasn't been updated since September 2008. She is just devastated.

                                                 Jake and Spot had to live in the yard.
                                                 They liked it fine, 'cept the door was barred.
                                                           A car hit poor Jake;
                                                           A trip he did take
                                                  To the Rainbow Bridge where nothing is hard.

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, Jake

I know I am late with this one. I think I have mentioned that doing a bunch of these in a row takes a bit out of me and sometimes I have to take a little break between them. Jake was all Mancat and very adventurous. He loved being outside and would lounge in his bed under the table on the deck, watching for anything interesting. He would nap under shrubs or race around the yard. He had access to a small woodland and loved to explore it. That's where he probably picked up the small bullet in his chest that was found when his chest was x-rayed to see if he had digit-lung cancer. Unfortunately he did. He also had a malignant mass in his small intestine. When it became obvious that Jake was suffering, his Mom made that terribly hard decision and took him for that last trip to the vet to be sent on to the Rainbow Bridge. Jake was 14 years old, almost 15, as his birthday was March 27th. Jake was a really happy cat. He loved to eat, up until he got sick. He adored catnip. He really liked popcorn and could catch thrown kernels in midair. He could also catch sparkle balls in flight. All in all, Jake had a great life and I am sure that he is enjoying himself hugely at the Rainbow Bridge.

                                          A very tough Mancat was Jake.
                                          Even a bullet he could take.
                                                    Digit-lung brought him low,
                                                    So he had to go
                                          To the Bridge to run and play did Jake.

Jake

This is Jake of the PB&J kitties chillaxing in his bed with his nip banana. Jake is a big fan of nip and really enjoys himself with it, especially the home grown that his Mom keeps in the refrigerator. She grows it in a basket which she keeps up out of the kitties' reach most of the time. She left it down one time and Jake and Bert took advantage of the situation. Jake is the oldest kitty, at about six years old. He crawled out from under a bush one day when he was about three weeks old. His Mom found him and his Dad said to take him to the SPCA immediately, but it was a Saturday and the SPCA was closed. Mom took him home and kept him in the bathroom and by the time they could take him in, they had decided to keep him. There were two other cats living there at the time, Purdy and Basil. Both had been named after characters in Disney movies and the Mom and Dad decided to keep up the tradition, but were having a hard time deciding on a name for Jake. Finally the Mom came up with the idea that since peanut butter and jelly was the Dad's favorite sandwich, they should come up with a J name. That was how Jake came to be named after the seagull in The Rescuers Down Under. Jake is an indoor/outdoor kitty and a good hunter, as are Pearl and Bert. Jake has many of the characteristics of a Maine Coon cat. Jake likes to wrestle with Bert quite a bit. Jake's favorite human is his Dad. Jake loves to play with anything that has a feather on it.

Besides his Dad, Jake's favorite thing is the refrigerator. He tries to climb in every time he notices that it is open. There is a saying at his house that he loves the refrigerator even more than he loves his Mom. He also knows that the nip is in the refrigerator, along with lots of other yummy stuff.

                                     Jake has a crush on the big cold box.
                                     His Mom all the goodies in there stocks --
                                            Like nip and treats
                                            And all the good eats.
                                     Jake has to learn how to open that box.