BS: Departed Pets

Subject: BS: Departed Pets
From: freda underhill
Date: 09 Jul 05 - 07:13 AM

A while back, my beloved cat, Dellie, curled up outside, right under my bedroom window, and died.

She was a lovely, gentle, affectionate cat, and I have been "minding" her for a young man, "jimmy" who is serving time in jail. Before Dellie came to us, she had only been with Jimmy, and his mother. Jimmy's mother died when he was in his late teens, he had no one else, got into trouble, and is now serving a few years in jail.

Dellie decided that I was her new mother. She followed me about when i was doing housework and curled up at my feet when i was still. if i was mudcatting, she would climb up and try to sit on the keyboard. so I pulled up a chair next to me, and she sat on that. When i came home from work, she would be sitting outside waiting for me, and if i walked over to my neighbours, or up the road, she would come too.

It was awful when she died, she had had the sweetest nature, but went downhill and became really old in the last three weeks.

we buried her in the back yard, under a tree, amongst the ferns. In memory of Dellie, I am starting this thread and the next post will be an article I read today about a dog who has has just died.

freda

Subject: RE: BS: Departed Pets
From: freda underhill
Date: 09 Jul 05 - 07:15 AM

Vale George! July 09, 2005; Phillip Adams, The Weekend Australian.

GEORGE is dead. For months readers have been asking, "How's George getting on?" And he was getting on fine.

No longer cowering when you reached out to pat him, he was even conducting tentative experiments in tail-wagging. For the first time in his miserable life he was having fun. And that's what killed him.

Over the years so many dogs have come and gone, but George's death is the most wrenching. It's not that we haven't lost dogs under equally dramatic circumstances. Annie, the Jack Russell, came off second best in a fight with a snake, dying beside me as I drove like crazy to the vets. Timmy, a kelpie, got run over by a neighbour. Willie, another Jack Russell, kept running under anything with wheels - trucks, tractors, ATVs - until he ran out of luck. But whether dying of misadventure or old age, like dear old Rosie, they'd had happy lives.

But not George. I won't tell the story again. Suffice to say that he arrived in our lives snarling, terrified, feral. A refugee escaping abuse and seeking asylum. Ignoring advice as to the hopelessness of the task, I spent hours, days and months trying to teach a dysfunctional dog to trust. If no-one else, at least me.

And it worked. Wherever I walked, he'd trot at my heels. When I went riding around the farm, he'd run behind. Twenty, 30 kilometres, it didn't matter. The only time he'd leave me was if Tommy, his new best friend, would take him chasing kangaroos. Barking ecstatically, they'd be gone until dark.

Last week we'd yarded 200 head, cows with calves, for weaning. It's always a sad day on the farm, with the mums loudly protesting the separation. We'd also rounded up 13 bulls. Time to separate them as well.

It was a bedlam of bellowing, all dust and drama. The trick was to put some distance between them. Cows from calves. Bulls from cows and heifers.

For the past five years we haven't had much feed or water. Though we've plenty of paddocks, many will be useless until the drought breaks. If it ever does. So, with limited options, we pushed the bulls across the sad little creek that used to be our river and watched them pushing and shoving as they lumbered over to a trough. Trouble is, they kept shoving and managed to wreck it. Water gushed from a broken pipe - and our biggest water tank began to rapidly empty. Disaster.

The bulls' paddock was only a few hundred yards from the homestead. So, because of the drought, a few dozen kangaroos were munching away in the olive grove. And while I was trying to save the water supply, the dogs started chasing the roos. Just for fun. They've never caught them, any more than Tommy catches the dragonflies he likes to hunt. But for the first time ever, the dogs managed to trap a whopper between the last remaining stretch of water - always known as "the billabong" - and a 20-metre cliff. I could see the big roo sitting back on its tail, towering over the dogs as they lay panting in front of him. With all three motionless it looked like a religious tableau, as if the dogs were worshipping a superior being. I yelled at them to leave the roo alone - but was too deep in mud to pay more attention.

As well as watering the bulls, the tank also supplied troughs for the calves and cows kilometres away. By the time I'd fixed the pipe, I was choc-coated in mud. And so was Tommy, who'd come bounding back ages ago. But where was George? In that instant I knew the roo had killed him. I searched and called for an hour but he wasn't coming home. I looked in and around the billabong for a drowned dog, then walked the gullies to find his body. I've known a male roo to kill another with a couple of mighty kicks, the loser hopping away to die from internal bleeding. So killing a dog is easy. And I've heard many stories from neighbours who've lost a favourite dog to a roo. Either kicked to death or drowned in a dam.

There's still no sign of George's body. Probably eaten by feral pigs. Poor little bloke. For the first time in his life he was having fun. I can't tell you how sad it is without him. But at least his death had an epic quality, up there with Burke and Wills and Ned Kelly. George was killed by the national symbol. Half the coat of arms. The trademark for Cinesound Newsreels. The "tails" on an old penny. Skippy's dad. And his ghost may be heard as you pass by the billabong.

Subject: RE: BS: Departed Pets
From: gnu
Date: 09 Jul 05 - 07:25 AM

My condolences.

Subject: RE: BS: Departed Pets
From: Shanghaiceltic
Date: 09 Jul 05 - 07:26 AM

Thanks for that Freda, a lovely piece of writing, not just the anguish over his dog but also over his farm at threat from the drought.

Subject: RE: BS: Departed Pets
From: freda underhill
Date: 09 Jul 05 - 07:36 AM

thanks gnu and Frank, yes, i thought it was something that everyone should read. he's a great writer.

freda

Subject: RE: BS: Departed Pets
From: Blowzabella
Date: 09 Jul 05 - 08:10 AM

I'm going to go and hug my dog now - you never know when it might be for the last time.

Subject: RE: BS: Departed Pets
From: ranger1
Date: 09 Jul 05 - 09:03 AM

We had to have one of our cats put down just a few days before Christmas. Kind of put a damper on the holidays. It's always a surprise as to how much empty space they leave in their passing.

Subject: RE: BS: Departed Pets
From: GUEST,ragdall
Date: 09 Jul 05 - 10:11 AM

freda and ranger1,
I'm sorry to hear about your losses.

I've just passed the first anniversary of the passing of my beloved 18 year old moggie. It's so sad to lose them, isn't it?

rags

Subject: RE: BS: Departed Pets
From: LilyFestre
Date: 09 Jul 05 - 10:32 AM

Sir Homer Augustus was born on July 13, 1992; the same day that we were married. We knew that the little black ball of a wagging tail and floppy tongue was meant to be part of our family.

While we have had (and still have) many dogs over the years, and I love them all, Homer held an extra special place in my heart. You see, a few years back, I was out walking Homer on an early summer evening. It was just beginning to be dark and out of nowhere came a Rottweiler. That dog first went after Homer and then after me...Homer saved me that evening, if not from losing my life, then at the very least, from sustaining some very serious injuries. Homer and I were both incredibly lucky on that day. I ended up with a pretty nasty bite on the back of my right hand and later I found no bites on Homer. He was, however, not the same after that. Homer became incredibly protective of me, not allowing anyone near me other than my husband. Homer was my protector and I never, ever worried when I was alone.

Weighing in at around 95 pounds, Homer was no light weight for a Black Lab. He thought he was a lap dog and would often cuddle with me on cold winter evenings...that big old head resting on my shoulder. We bought extra wide chairs so we could accomodate the dogs without being buried beneath them.

About a year ago, we noticed that Homer had lost his hearing. He no longer met me at the door as he always had. I could come into the house, unload groceries, walk right past him and he didn't move. Only when I stopped to pet him or stomped on the floor, did he wake up. Once awake, he responded to hand singles for come, sit, and speak. Then, 2 months ago, he started losing weight rapidly and slowed down tremendously. His spine and ribs were showing and what he did eat, he couldn't keep down. He showed no sign of being in pain and still would wag his tail and readily share his love with us and the other animals.

Early in the morning on July 1, 2005, around 2:00am I went to wake my husband up who was sleeping in his chair so he would come to bed. Homer was laying at his feet and he was gone.

We buried Homer in the morning with his two favorite pals, Abu and Amos, nearby. I still wake up in the night and expect to see him waiting for me at the foot of the stairs, or to hear his tail start thumping when his papa gets home from work. Sometimes I mistake the movements of another dog to be those of Homer.

I miss him terribly.

Michelle


Homer

We buried him beside the forsythia bush on a sticky July morn
His body in the shape of motion
His friends had come to say goodbye
Yet sat at a distance

He used to follow me everywhere, even in circles
Taught to speak on a lazy afternoon
Sitting together on the couch
Both of us laughing

He devoured a 5 pound block of cheese at all once
The hors d'oeuvres for the Christmas party
Disappeared with his passing
Innocent eyes denying

Always laying on the blue braided rug in front of the sink
While I tried to cook
Both of us waiting
For his papa

I'll forever remember his happy tail and spotted tongue
His love of "Bird"
And his love for us.
My Homer

Subject: RE: BS: Departed Pets
From: Mooh
Date: 09 Jul 05 - 11:58 AM

Rosie The Wonder Dog loves me so unconditionally it's frightening. She's at my feet right now, looking out the back door at her beloved back yard, but if I get up to do something else, she'll be around my feet, afraid to miss anything I do. She'll get excired when somebody visits, but otherwise she calmly looks over me, as I do her. What I'll ever do when she's gone I don't know, but in the meantime, she makes sure I'm never lonely. She's been a great comfort when human family members have died, reading our grief perfectly.

Freda, you have my sympathy. I wish Rosie was with you to help give you comfort.

Our hopes and prayers.

Peace, Mooh.

Subject: RE: BS: Departed Pets
From: freda underhill
Date: 09 Jul 05 - 12:16 PM

Ragdall, ranger1, Lilyfestre & Mooh - thanks for these stories.

freda

Subject: RE: BS: Departed Pets
From: Sorcha
Date: 09 Jul 05 - 12:33 PM

Several years ago I had to put down an old black cat. Blind, brain damage, slung blood from his ears, walked into walls....I still miss Amos Moses. Haven't had a proper cuddler since.

Subject: RE: BS: Departed Pets
From: Phil Cooper
Date: 09 Jul 05 - 01:37 PM

My first black cat, Hendrix, died of premature kidney failure when he was almost seven. I buried him in the back yard. It seemed like he would come to visit in dreams for years after that.

Subject: RE: BS: Departed Pets
From: kendall
Date: 09 Jul 05 - 05:11 PM

I posted this quite a while ago, but I think it should be refreshed. It was written by a friend of mine on the passing of his dog.

You keep your lofty abstract god, Myself, I choose a child of Pan, An ordinary yellow dog Who does for love what mortals can, Who stretches out her mortal frame Determinedly, although she's lame For one more walk beside her man. Whose ashes grace the forest way We roamed together yesterday. And, to the wilder god I pray: Give her soul some woods to run, A stick to fetch, a patch of sun. And near her, Pan, preserve a place For me, come frome a lesser race.

Wm. Levenworth

Subject: RE: BS: Departed Pets
From: Amergin
Date: 09 Jul 05 - 06:23 PM

I posted this elsewhere...but here it is again:

Boo Boo Kitty and Tobble Dobble



Boo Boo Kitty invades the space of his old friend Tobble Dobble.



He sees her lying there sleeping in the circular bed, dreaming of ice cream, hamburgers and other unearthly delights. He steps into the bed slowly edging himself beside her yearning to curl his feline body around her canine form. She growls. She growls as he gently kneads himself into position. Her growls gradually become louder, (telling him to get his stinking carcass out of HER bed and leave her the fuck alone!) with each persistent knead as he circles himself into position. He lies down next to her, his black and white siamese fur enmeshed with her brown dachsund hair. She growls louder. She growls as his eyes close drifting off into pleasant feline dreams, falling to sleep to the music of her ire. She continues to growl, hoping that he will awake and finally listen to her demands, but he doesn't. Instead her eyes slowly drift shut as she once more enters that magic land of ice cream, hamburgers and other unearthly delights, growling herself to sleep.



Some years later we find Tobble Dobble, lonely.



She drags her elderly weary form to the brown circular bed. She sits upon the dusty hardwood floor, staring at the empty bed. Canine tears slowly slide down her brown and white face as she gazes at the place where he use to lie, his feline form curled around her body. Sometimes if she looks close enough, she can still see his ghostly form softly purring in her ear. Oh the countless times, he would crawl in bed beside her, disturbing her delightful rest and her heavenly dreams of ice cream, hamburgers, and other unearthly delights. Oh how she would growl at him when he would knead his way into her bed, all the while knowing her true feelings for him. Oh how she loved him, how she cared for him like one old friend for another, all the years they shared, all the times they shared the same bed together. My god how she wishes he were still there to knead his way beside her, to hear his loving purrs again, to see the imprint left by his body. She takes one last tearful look at the cold empty bed and walks away to find another place to sleep.



Several months later Boo Boo Kitty comforts the sick Tobble Dobble as she lay dying.



She lies there in the bed she once abandoned, sick, barely able to move. Age is taking it's toll as her body betrays her, no longer able to control her functions, riddled with diarrhea and vomit. She feels his ghostly form lying there, curled up around her soft warm body, offering her the comfort only he can give, consoling her, healing her breaking heart. She knows she is not long for this world as she remembers how he would knead his feline body into the bed beside her, purring softly in her ear. She smiles to herself when she recalls how she would growl at him, vainly iding her true feelings, never letting him know how much he meant to her til after he had gone. God, those were happy days, but now that is over. Now she takes comfort in the knowledge that she will be with him again, possibly soon, possibly after one more luscious dream of ice cream, hamburgers, and other unearthly delights.



nt

Subject: RE: BS: Departed Pets
From: Scoville
Date: 09 Jul 05 - 11:33 PM

My first dog and first cat hated each other. The cat was there first and the dog knew he'd better not mess with her (she would claw his face) but it was tolerances at best. But when the dog died, the cat would go to all his favorite sleeping places, walk around in a few circles, and howl. It was just about the saddest thing I've ever seen.

Subject: RE: BS: Departed Pets
From: LilyFestre
Date: 10 Jul 05 - 06:50 AM

Awww Scoville, I can SO relate to that. My animals haven't decided just yet where their pal Homer is, they keep looking for him and are quite mopey.

I found howling to be a great release...at least for a little while. Last year, I had a major loss and one day while I was sitting in my chair, one of the outside dogs started to howl. I decided I was gonna give it a try...threw my head back and let 'er rip. In about 3 second's time, my cocker spaniel, Amos, was on my lap and howling with me...then came Abu and Homer joining in. With all four of us making those kinds of sounds that were coming straight from the center of my being, I really did feel better. I'm hoping it helped your kitty too.

Michelle

Subject: RE: BS: Departed Pets
From: Zany Mouse
Date: 10 Jul 05 - 06:26 PM

Rudyard Kipling says it all:

THE POWER OF THE DOG
                                     Rudyard Kipling

There is sorrow enough in the natural way
From men and women to fill our day;
But when we are certain of sorrow in store,
Why do we always arrange for more?
Brothers and sisters I bid you beware
Of giving your heart to a dog to tear.

Buy a pup and your money will buy
Love unflinching that cannot lie--
Perfect passion and worship fed
By a kick in the ribs or a pat on the head.
Nevertheless it is hardly fair
To risk your heart for a dog to tear.

When the fourteen years that nature permits
Are closing in asthma or tumors or fits
And the vet's unspoken prescription runs
To lethal chambers, or loaded guns.
Then you will find--its your own affair
But--you've given your heart to a dog to tear.

When the body that lived at your single will
When the whimper of welcome is stilled (how still!)
When the spirit that answered your every mood
Is gone--wherever it goes--for good,
You still discover how much you care
And will give your heart to a dog to tear.

We've sorrow enough in the natural way
When it comes to burying Christian clay.
Our loves are not given, but only lent,
At compound interest of cent per cent.
Though it is not always the case, I believe,
That the longer we've kept 'em the more do we grieve;
For when debts are payable, right or wrong,
A short time loan is as bad as a long--
So why in Heaven (before we are there)
Should we give our hearts to a dog to tear?

Subject: RE: BS: Departed Pets
From: Bobert
Date: 10 Jul 05 - 10:16 PM

Ahhhh, okay:

****Jackson Q Dufus Alias Cat: Died approx 1978 and was one cool cat... He was tan but no orange... Almost smoky in color and knew just who he was.... Great cat...

**** Critter: A perfectly onoxious cat who had at least a dozen litters and who lived until her 18th year...

**** Tayloe: I hated this dog... It stole my Xmas turkey that I was thawin' on the back porch... It got intyo my garbage cans every week and scattered garbage up and down the street... My happiest day is when it's owners said they were movin' some 10 miles away... My unhappiest day was about 3 months later when that obnoxious fleabag found it's way back to my house... Sniff... Lived another 7 years with us... I hated that danged dog... Sniff...

****Coe: Coe was a puure white German Sheppard I found in the basement of the ol' Richmond City Armory as they were tearin' it down and she had had pups that had apparently died and she was about dead herself... I nursed her back to health and she lived another 8 years as a happy and heathy dog... BTW, I had a friend who had a pure whire German Sheppard he called "Caine" and, well, my friend was into illicit substances which he was willin' to share with me since I was doing the mainainence on his vehicles and so I came up with "Coe" to go along with his "Caine"....

Yeah, there's been lots others but these are gthe cream of Bobert's crop of dead animal friends...

Bobert

Subject: RE: BS: Departed Pets
From: Kaleea
Date: 11 Jul 05 - 02:00 AM

It's always difficult to lose a loved one & a family member. Our critters are both. I still miss my little "Sis" whose little heart just gave out on her after 20 1/2 years. She's been gone for a year & a half. The hurt isn't as sharp now, and sometimes I go for days without thinking of her. They are with us for a little while, listening, comforting, loving. Then they go to their well deserved rest.

Subject: RE: BS: Departed Pets
From: Kim C
Date: 11 Jul 05 - 11:08 AM

We still talk about Buddy Cat and Zenith, who have gone to Kitty and Doggie Heaven respectively. Now Thumper is 15, and Belle is 10, while Sampson the Giant Puppy is only 2. Thumper isn't showing his age much - he's been a spoiled housecat all his life - but Belle is starting to. It seems like only yesterday she was just a little puppy. Even though she's older, she still has that same puppy expression on her face.

Subject: RE: BS: Departed Pets
From: GUEST,Skipy
Date: 11 Jul 05 - 05:46 PM

Walter.
In our garden now, has been for the last 6 years - THE BEST PUSSY CAT EVER TO WALK THIS EARTH.
Skipy (with a tear or two)

Subject: RE: BS: Departed Pets
From: LilyFestre
Date: 12 Jul 05 - 04:51 PM

Molsie, our 12 year old yellow lab was found dead this morning. We buried him in the woods where he loved to play.

Two dogs in 2 weeks...that's just harsh. :(

Michelle

Subject: RE: BS: Departed Pets
From: Charmion
Date: 12 Jul 05 - 05:55 PM

Oh, that's bad.

The summer my father died, I was bearing up bravely until the death six weeks later of Alexander the Great, a fine biscuit-coloured tomcat. That truly flattened me.

For humans, you have to organize stuff -- obituary, undertaker, funeral, will! -- so the weeping and howling part of mourning can get put off. When your cat or dog dies you just cut to the chase and fall apart. I took the day off work (death in the family?), got a shovel and dug the hole and buried Alexander myself, snivelling and grizzling the whole time. It took me all afternoon.

I had a hard time explaining it to my boss, though. Nearly got fired. Jerk.

Subject: RE: BS: Departed Pets
From: GUEST,.gargoyle
Date: 13 Jul 05 - 12:29 AM

Malcom - was shipped last week - after quaranteen - we will be together again.

Subject: RE: BS: Departed Pets
From: John Hardly
Date: 15 Jul 05 - 07:18 PM

Aspen is a "hot and cold" performer. He usually blows my wife off in the ring......saunters over, says hi to the judge and ring stewards, tucks his head against them (he loves buxom women. Yeah, who doesn't?) and rubs against them like a cat. But every once in a while he gets a wild hair and tears through an agility course -- he even won a high in trial one time.

One time, during a long stretch of lethargic performances, we overheard someone talking about giving their dog a shot of Mountain Dew before putting them in the ring. Hmmmmm, we thought.....

.....maybe Aspen....

Anyway, we gave him a can of Mountain Dew (don't tell on me -- I'm a past president of the local Humane Society -- no kidding), anyway, he started off on his usual lollygag around the ring until he came upon the crawl tunnel. He really didn't want to duck under it so, sorta half way through he just stood up, apparatus and all.

Well, at this the crowd busted out laughing and that's just too much for a Malamute to stand. He perked up, looked over toward the crowd and then put his butt down and started running the course -- my wife in tow (so to speak) trying to keep up......the crowd laughing all the more and building to this final crescendo of applause as he LEPT from about 8 feet in front of the final jump, clearing the junp by about a foot and landing in the finishing area (outside the ring). The crowd went wild -- we ran up to Aspen and praised him BIG TIME. HE didn't know he had not qualified (and we weren't gonna tell him!).

We've never done the Mountain Dew thing again (in truth, I don't think it really had anything to do with the antics).

Aspen lost the big fight last night. I'll remember the laughs.

Subject: RE: BS: Departed Pets
From: bobad
Date: 15 Jul 05 - 08:19 PM

A poem by Walt Whitman I have hanging on my wall.



            Animals

I think i could turn and live with animals ,

    they are so placid and self-contained

I stand and look at them long and long .

They do not sweat and whine about their condition ,

They do not lie awake in the dark and weep for their sins ,

They do not make me sick discussing their duty to God ,

Not one is dissatisfied ,

    not one is demented with the mania of owning things ,

Not one kneels to another ,

    nor to his kind that lived thousands of years ago ,

Not one is respectable or industrious over the whole earth .

Subject: RE: BS: Departed Pets
From: LilyFestre
Date: 05 Nov 05 - 07:20 AM

My Little Lily, aka Scooter died yesterday. :(
Lily was 12 years old, a small Silky Terrier who joined our family on July 13, 1993....our 1st wedding anniversary.
Although she was very small, she ran with the big dogs (all of our Labs) and bossed them around quite nicely.

Lily was my dog...a small dog just for me....one that ran to me instead of the Papa like all the other dogs.

This morning, before the sun was up, Pete and I buried Lily next to Homer and Molsy who died this summer. Amos, our cocker spaniel, brought Lily a toy and then ran in circles with Abu...rustling in the leaves. Murph, our newest kitten jumped in and out of Lily's burial spot, letting us know that it was indeed, a good spot for Lily. Geese honked overhead as the chickens clucked away with their morning gossip. The other dogs were howling as we covered Lily with a blanket and covered her with earth. It seems that we all are feeling this loss. :(

Michelle

Subject: RE: BS: Departed Pets
From: wysiwyg
Date: 05 Nov 05 - 08:35 AM

Aw....

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: Departed Pets
From: Amergin
Date: 05 Nov 05 - 10:44 AM

Wow, Lily.....those are the best/worst words I read on this thread....best because they are so heartfelt...beautiful....worst...because they are so heartbreaking....It is never easy.

We lost one of our own a week ago yesterday. little teasel...a cockapoo terrier mix...

Subject: RE: BS: Departed Pets
From: Ebbie
Date: 05 Nov 05 - 01:42 PM

So many loves. So many losses.

www.bestfriends.org is a site that will make you cry and it will give you hope for all mankind.

Subject: RE: BS: Departed Pets
From: Peace
Date: 05 Nov 05 - 02:20 PM

Dear Michelle,

I can add little to what Amergin said. What you wrote about Scooter is as beautiful a tribute to a pet as any I've ever read.

I am sorry for your loss, but happy you got to spend time with him and let him know he had your love.

Subject: RE: BS: Departed Pets
From: JennieG
Date: 06 Nov 05 - 12:57 AM

On 28th August this year our old cat Prickle breathed her last. If she had lived a few more weeks she would have been 18 years old - and we had her from a small kitten. She came home from the RSPCA with us aged 14 weeks; my son (aged 11 at the time) said from the back seat "Mum, she's very prickly!" which is how she got her name.

She now sleeps under the pink camellia bush in the back yard where she often used to lie, not far from Tiny who was her little friend for a short time several years ago. We had Tiny for less than 6 months but she grabbed our hearts in a way that our other cats haven't.

Even though we have 3 other cats we miss Prickle. For the last few Christmases I have said that I didn't know if we would still have her next Christmas - and now we don't.

So now we have Belle The Beautiful Neurotic Ginger Girl, Binky The Noisy One, and Bianca The White Bugger.

It doesn't matter whether a pet is big or small, they are part of our lives and our families and hold a special place in our hearts.

Cheers
JennieG

Subject: RE: BS: Departed Pets
From: katlaughing
Date: 06 Nov 05 - 06:33 PM

Michelle, it has been a tough year for you and losing dear friends. My deepest condolences and may the new year bring much joy, good health, and longevity to you and yours.

Last year, I lost two cats in one month, then my dad a couple of months later. It's never easy. I did some howling of my own and it did help!

luvyakat

Subject: RE: BS: Departed Pets
From: Sorcha
Date: 06 Nov 05 - 07:18 PM

I'm so sorry, Michelle.

Subject: RE: BS: Departed Pets
From: LilyFestre
Date: 24 Jan 06 - 07:52 PM

I am posting to this thread way too much.

Good night Sweet Ellie, my beautiful girl. I'll love you forever.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Subject: RE: BS: Departed Pets
From: JudyB
Date: 24 Jan 06 - 10:57 PM

My sympathy, Michelle - may the rest of the year be brighter for you and yours.

Hugs,
JudyB

Subject: RE: BS: Departed Pets
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 24 Jan 06 - 11:17 PM

My feline salt and pepper set died a couple of years ago aged about 18.

The black one went first, and for two days the white one went crazy. A few weeks later she got taken out by a dog fight, or maybe a possum - no marks on her at all. Maybe her heart gave out in the excitement.

A while ago Squeak arrived from a friend. A total blackie, she almost never miaows, but speaks constantly to me in squeaks, growls, barks, and other weird cat language. She rouses at me from time to time, and sometimes just calls to me to see where I am, not always wanting to join me, just to make sure she is not alone. She often is on the foot of the bed in the morning, and when I stir, I get greeted with a noise like a dog's yap.

She also like me, prefers to eat seafood - just inhales it of the bowl, compared to other types of cat food. She also loves her milk, and thoroughly enjoys raw chicken wings, leaving only a ting stump of the knob of bone.

She is just a mongrel, but according to a cat expert friend of mine, seems to have a lot of Oriental in her, especially the beautiful face and front legs.

Subject: RE: BS: Departed Pets
From: Phot
Date: 25 Jan 06 - 08:22 AM

Sorry to hear of your loss Freda, its always hard to lose a good friend and companion. I lost Gizmo, a long haired tabby, just aweek before Christmas 2004, poor little sod was run over by a car, he's buried at Mum and Dad's place next to Clyde (CQ, CQ, Clyde is asleep)

But you will always have happy memories, until you meet again.

Best wishes, Chris