My ex wife Julie and I had a large cat family in Pueblo, Colorado! For a while, we helped Animal Welfare take care of stray and feral cats...and quite a few became tame, and our pets! In November 2002, we were forced to leave our home! We had to find homes for all our cats...it was "heartbreaking," because they were our "family!" So I'm dedicating this section of my book to them!
A LITTLE ABOUT THEM!
Freya was the first kitty we got! In September, 94, a week after we moved in, we went to a cat shelter called "Fur Purries." While we were looking in the window at the cats, a women drove up, and was going to give her cat to the shelter. We told her we would take her! She was a yellow long hair kitten! Freya eventually had 8 kittens, that we found homes for! Boots came next. We heard a little kitten by the garage, and there was Boots! We took him in and made a bed for him in an open suitcase. He would "spit" at us, and Julie thought it was cute because he thought he was tough! I named him Boots, because he would sleep in my boots! He loved to go out back. We did keep him on a leash so he wouldn't run off. Every time we would rattle the chain, Boots would come running, ready to go outside! Julie called him "Umpals!" Stormy was Boots' brother. Julie found him in the rain a few hours before I found Boots. Siffy we got as a kitten. At first, Boots didn't like her. But they became best of friends! She almost died twice on us! The second time, the vet said she had FIP and gave her just a few weeks to live! She pulled through it just fine! Snoopy and Cocoa were kittens we brought home in a basket! Snoopy had a little black nose, and Julie thought it was cute! Mittens was a sweet little cat that we brought in and became very tame! Julie called her "compact kitty!" She was diagnosed with cancer, but she lived for 2 years after! Junior was her little boy. Julie helped deliver him! She called him "Fat Man" because he was the only one born and got all the milk! When he was 4, he had problems with his kidneys and died! We tried to save him, by giving him water injections under the skin, but it didn't work! He died in Julie's arms 8 months after his mother died! The 4 boys were Patrick, Teddy, PeeWee & Skadi. They had the same mother as Snoopy & Cocoa! We had to bottle feed them at first because they were taken away from their mother too soon! We thought Skadi was a girl at first. He was always the first to start on the bottle, and last to finish! Julie called him a milk hound! Teddy had half a mustache, and when I would point your finger and say "bad boy" he would rub against my finger! Julie said he was "suckin up!" Patrick was on of Julie's favorites, and PeeWee was named because he was small. He had a tumor in his nose, and the vet said it was cancer! We gave him antibiotics, and it went away! I made Julie a t-shirt of the boys! Bragi was part Siamese and an other breed, and called "Tonkanese." Julie called him "Pretty Face!" He once got lost, and came back after a year! Magni & Modi were Turkish Angora brothers. One was gray, and one black! They were very affectionate, and loved pop! Julie called Magni "Talking Squirrel!" Thomas was a big lovable yellow and white cat, who was first wild. We saw that he had some kind of growth on his neck! We took him to the vet and had it removed! He ended up being one of our best loved cats! One day, unexpectedly, he had some kind of seizer, and died in my arms! We had a 2nd Thomas who was a very loving yellow cat! Fergus was a Siamese, who laid right by our doorstep until we brought him in and gave him a home! He was a really sweet cat! Rosy was a loving cat that none of the other cats liked! Smudge (who we called Mudge) was Skadi's boy and extremely affectionate! Bodica, was his sister and was small and slept in a purse! Julie called her "purse baby!" Nanna, was another sister, who as a baby, looked like a walking ball of fur! Daisy was their mom, and very affectionate! Fluffy was a stray, who became very sweet, and always reached out her paw when you would walk by! Samantha, was a Siamese that Julie called "Sam Toes." Sigfried was a cat I found sitting on a sidewalk. I brought him home, and for the first few nights, he stayed between us on the bed all the time! He love to watch bird videos, and would try to chase them on the screen! Tabitha was a black longhair who got lost! She was around the house at the end...and if we didn't have to leave, she would have probably came back! Iduun was a fluffy girl who didn't like any cats, and only us! Blacky was the first cat who came near our house! He was tame, but always roamed the neighborhood! Tazzy was a yellow cat, that eat on our porch the entire time we lived there! She never became tame though. We called her that, because when she first came, she was so hungry, she acted crazy! Sunny was an ouside cat that would "help" Julie when she worked on her roses! He slept on a bed on the car! Ashes & Mama Cat were 2 gray kittens who first came in our back yard when we first moved in! Ashes became fairly tame. Mama cat never did. We found her dead across the street! Ashes was probably Boots' mom! Midnight, was a black cat that never became tame. We found him dead one day under the garage door! Peaches was a sickly kitten, that we got from the vet. She had two kittens that were stillborn! Zerk, was given to us outside a King Sooper store. We called him that because he acted so crazy, bouncing off the walls! Sabrina was a calico kitty that I picked up at a house that had a sign looking for a home for her! She was very affectionate! Snowball was Julie's favorite! I came out of a Safeway market, and a woman had a box with kittens in it! They were white Persian kittens! I took one and brought him home, and told Julie there was a "rodent" running around inside the car! When I picked him up and handed him to her, she fell in love with him! She called him "Little Man,"...and it broke her heart when she had to find him a home! Peanut was a calico, one of Freya's litter of eight. She found a new home. Nutmege was a stray we brought in. We also had other cats, whose names I have forgotten! All the kitties came running at "fish time!" We would treat them to jack mackerel at least once a week! When we rattled the trays, they would appear like a school of piranha! They also loved their whole chickens, that I got at Wal-Mart's! (It was when Junior lost his appetite for the chicken, we knew something was wrong with him!). Every Thanksgiving everyone inside and out, had a "feast!" Their favorite toy was "Laser Mouse!" It was a little red laser dot that everyone would chase till they were exhausted! We played it with them all the time! We even made a video of it! Most of them loved catnip...Sigfried especially! Thomas & Sunny loved the birds! I really miss them all!!!
IN MEMORY OF THE CATS WE LOST!
We buried Thomas, Mittens, Junior, Mama Cat, Midnight & Peaches' stillborn babies out in back of the house! Julie made little grave markers, which said they were now in the arms of the Goddess of Cats...Freya! The following I found on the internet, which I really thought was nice!
The Cats of Rainbow Bridge:
Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge. When our beloved pets die, they Journey to this idyllic spot. There are meadows and hills enough for all to frolic freely, and plenty of food, water and sunshine. Each and every animal is warm and comfortable. Those pets that have been ill or aged are restored to health and vigor. Those who are hurt or maimed are made whole and strong. Each is just as we remember in our dreams of days and times gone by. Our pets are happy and content at Rainbow Bridge, except for one small thing. Every creature misses someone special, whom they've left behind. The animals all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops, and looks into the distance. Bright eyes are intent; an eager body begins to quiver. Suddenly, running from the group, flying over the green grass, legs are going faster and faster. You have been spotted, and you and your special friend come together in joyous reunion. Happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head; and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life, but never absent from your heart. Then you cross the Rainbow Bridge together. Author Unknown
CAT PHOTOS: (Thomas & Mom), (Mittens, Junior), (Patrick, Teddy, Skadi, PeeWee), (same 4), (Magni, Modi & Pop), Freya, (Cocoa, Mittens, Boots), Bodica, Boots, Boots, Magni, (Sigfried & Mom), Snowball, (Snowball & Mom), (Snoopy & Mom), (Cocoa, Boots, Snoopy), Zerk, "fish time," Sunny, Fergus, (Skadi, Mudge, Bragi, Teddy, Freya), PeeWee, Junior, (Siffy & Freya), (Mudge & Mom), same 2, (Blacky, Tazzy), Fluffy, Daisy, Iduun, Nanna, Mudge, Thomas (2nd one), (Samantha & Mom), forgot her name, (Snoopy & Mom), (Boots & Siffy), (Freya & Mom).