We have another angel.

Another one has left us. Panther was having trouble pooping last night (30th-31st) so I sequestered him in the bathroom for the night (of course, with the usual food/water/litter box). Scott and I were going to make an appointment for him for Saturday, because he'd been losing weight over the last year. He was about 9 1/2 years old (would've been 10 around Thanksgiving), and had been with us since he showed up at our back deck at 1 1/2 years old with pneumonia. For those who know Cai von Kugler, this is the Panth she had for a while who came back to live with us again.

I stayed up until dawn with him, hanging out with him and talking to him (along with lots of pets, of course). I finally needed to get at least some sleep, so I went to bed. I was asleep for around an hour and a half, and when I woke up he had passed away. He was cross-ways in the tub, and Scott said it looked like he might've had a seizure and passed soon after I went to bed. I think he waited until I wasn't hovering.

The other cats knew what had happened, because they were all surrounding me when I got up. Sherbet, his littermate brother, is upset, totally understandable! When Scott got home, he buried Panth next to Heimdall underneath the pine tree. We have a single yellow rose blooming this year on the bush under that tree, and that's where most of our angel furkids are buried.

 Panther

Nov. 2012 - Aug. 31, 2022

A Gotcha Day anniversary, a Bridge Day anniversary, and a new angel

The PDX pride mama here.  This post is not one that I wanted to ever write.  I'll start with the good thing.  Today is Freya's & Heimdall's 12th Gotcha Day anniversary!  After Skylar went to the Bridge 12 years ago (that was on the 23rd), I was looking at kittens online at Salem Friends of Felines and saw Heimdall's picture.  I showed it to Scott, then he saw that Heimdall had a sister.  We knew then that they had been sent to us by Skylar & Lydia, because they looked so much like them.  Freya & Heimdall were 3 1/2 months old when we got them.

Now, the sad news.  Only Freya is here to celebrate.  Heimdall went to the Bridge on the 23rd, so he now shares a Bridge Day date with Skylar.  In April, Heimdall came down with a really bad double ear infection.  We took him to a vet we hadn't used before (mistake #1) instead of our regular vet because we couldn't get in to our regular vet in a decent amount of time.  The other vet diagnosed his double ear infection, gave us medication (actually four different ones) and we were told that he had a "mass" in his right ear that would continue to grow and had ruptured his eardrum.  Mistake #2, because the "mass" was actually an ear polyp which ended up shrinking back down without damaging the eardrum.  We were told that he would have chronic ear infections, a head tilt, and awkward gait for the rest of his life.

Because of this (mis)diagnosis, we didn't get him rechecked more than once after that initial visit (mistake #3).  He started going downhill fast the last three weeks.  He was very lethargic, had given up, and wasn't interested in food (although he was still eating, just more because he thought he should rather than because he felt he needed to eat).  He shakily climbed up onto the futon to snuggle with his daddy the last couple days of his life.  He wasn't grooming himself at all, even when he fell down in the litter box, since we took him in to that vet in April, and he started to resent me trying to clean him up.  He had litter caked in-between his toes that he didn't take care of, so his daddy and I had to.  We made the appointment to put him to sleep.

At his appointment (with our regular vet), we were told that his eardrums were intact, his ear canals had a lot of debris in them but that the vet could see the eardrums which didn't look damaged at all.  The vet said there were small polyps (probably what the other vet had called a mass) that were not impeding the ear canal at all.  However, because his sinus infection had blown all out of proportion due to being untreated (because we had thought the symptoms were from ruptured eardrums and the mass), his poor body was so weakened that he would've had a long, uphill battle to regain his health.  I made the decision to not put him through that and to put him to sleep instead.  I held him while the vet gave him his shots.  He growled at the vet and stuck his tongue out when the vet put his paws back onto my lap, but then he put his head down on my hand like he loved to do and was gone.

We brought his body back, opened the box, and let the others say their goodbyes.  Freya curled up in the box lid, so we had one dead tuxie twin in one side of the box and one live tuxie twin in the other.  She's kind of lost without him, since they have never been apart since they were littermates.  I had to lift her out of the lid twice so that I could hand the box with Heimdall's body to his daddy.  He buried him by the roses under the cedar tree in the backyard, near where Carbon and Rori are buried.

I just finished writing an e-mail to the other vet, telling them what happened.  So many mistakes on their part and on our part.  We feel so guilty for letting our boy down by not taking him for a second opinion.  We should've done more for him.  He should be here to celebrate today with his sister.

Heimdall with his favorite toy, a fishy potato chip clip

Heimdall Skylar

March 24, 2010 to July 23, 2022

Happy Birthday to the Twins!

 

 

 

 

It's Freya's (top) & Heimdall's (side) 11th birthday today!  We're celebrating with snuggles, games of red dot, and playing chase.  We're also going to get canned food for dinner!

A Very Special Gotcha Day Anniversary!

 

Rainbow writes:

Hi, everyone!!!  I'm glad to meet all of you!  Mommy didn't introduce me when I first came to live here, but I've been here a whole year now!  What a year it's been, too.  I'm so glad to have found my forever family.  Daddy took the picture above, because I am awesome!

This picture was from March 5, 2020, the day I was adopted.  I look a little out-of-it because I had just woken up and was also still recovering from my spay the day before.  I'd also just moved to the Oregon Humane Society from Bonnie Hays Animal Shelter.

*takes a deep breath to slow down a little*

Ok, I'll back up a bit.  I was born in September 2019 somewhere in Oregon, probably in Washington County somewhere.  Things are blurry until someone brought me to Bonnie Hays Small Animal Shelter in January or February of 2020.  I had a really bad upper respiratory infection and had to be in isolation for a long time.  Once I finally recovered from that, due to the awesome care I got there, I was transferred to the Oregon Humane Society.  I wasn't around other cats there, either, because I was only there for a day before finding my forever home!

The night before I was adopted, Mommy and Daddy were looking at kitty pictures on the OHS website.  They had picked out a senior cat with some special needs so they made plans to go meet him, but they were also looking at all the profiles to see who else was there in case their first choice wasn't right for them.  They saw my picture, and it said that I wasn't yet available and my adoption fee was more than the senior cat's one was because I was still a kitten.

Well, the senior cat needed to be in a home that was a lot calmer than here.  He wouldn't have done well in a home with other cats, especially not ones that can get as rowdy as we like to be!  After looking at all the kitties in the public adoption area, Mommy went to the display with pictures of other adoptable kitties.  There I was, and this time it said I was adoptable!  Daddy has always wanted another calico, since he had one when he was younger and loved her so much.  Mommy didn't have to do much convincing to get him to say yes to adopting me!  They went to a meeting room and the person brought me in.  At first, I wanted to stay around him, because I knew him and didn't know these two strangers who were in the room with us and who were trying to reach out their hands to me.  I finally went over to them and got petted, so I claimed them (as you can see from the picture above)!  That's Mommy that I'm claiming, and Daddy got claimed, too, and I was purring so much because I knew I had people of my very own!

I will share other photos of my adventures this last year, but it's almost time for my treat of wet food for my special day!  I'm going to share with everyone else, especially with my bestie, Shadow, who is only a little older than I am.  Oh, and I'm the "big kitty" (alpha cat) here now, despite being the youngest!  Panther told me I could be, once I learned how to be, and he says I've learned well enough.  I think I'm still kind of in training, though, because I know there's a lot more to learn!

*paw waves*

Oh, and I forgot to say that my name now is the same as it was at both shelters.  It totally fits with my coloring and with my journey, because Mommy and Daddy are sure that aunties Tabby, Rori, and Starla sent me to all the right places to find this home!

End of an era and many sads

We lost Tabby in September, Rori in November, and Starla in December.  This scrapbook page was made by Mommy using scrapbooking supplies from The Cherry On Top.

Shadow:  Uncle Panther, I has a sads.  I has many sads.
Panther:  Me, too, Shadow.  It's not just a kitten feeling.  We big cats have it, too.  Anytime we have to say goodbye to a family member, it's hard, and especially this past year.  We had to say goodbye to the three oldest.
Shadow:  But why?  Why did they have to run off to the Bridge?  I only just got here, and only just met them, and now not only Auntie Tabby but Auntie Rori and Auntie Starla are gone, too!
Panther:  Because no one lives forever, little one.  Not even aunties and uncles, or mommies or daddies.  We all will someday run off to the Bridge, too, but hopefully not for a long time.
Shadow:  I know they didn't feel well.  Is that why?  Were they all sickies?
Panther:  Yes, Shadow, they were all sick.  Rori and her sister Little Bit, who went to the Bridge before you came to live with us, both had seizures and Rori's were getting a lot worse.  She was so weak that she could barely move around, yet somehow she kept going when we thought we would have had to say goodbye to her a while ago.  I don't know how she had the strength to keep on going, but that's part of what made her such a wonderful Big Kitty.  I miss her, too.  I wish she were still here so that I didn't have to be the Big Kitty now.  Even though I'm in charge, I don't want to be.
Shadow:  Really?  But you're a great kitty to have in charge!
Panther:  Thank you.  But yes, really.  Rori was the best Big Kitty, even better than when Auntie Tigress was the outside Big Kitty.  Tigress doesn't want to be the inside Big Kitty, though.  She's done with that job now that she's inside.
Shadow:  Oh.  Was it just the shakes that Rori had that made her sickies?
Panther:  We don't know.  Not even the vet knew for sure, although they think that she had pancreatitis, too.  She had that for a while.  All we know is that Rori was very, very sick and one day she just couldn't hold on any longer.  She stopped eating and drinking, and then got so weak that she couldn't barely pull herself to the litter box.  She was begging Mommy and Daddy to help her, so they helped her to the Bridge.  She was hurting a lot.
Shadow:  I'm glad she's not hurting any more.
Panther:  Me, too.
Shadow:  But what about Auntie Starla?  She smelled bad.  She peed on the floor.
Panther:  Yes, she did.  She never really learned how to use the litter box.  Her original people were bad.
Shadow:  You mean they returned her like my first people did?
Panther:  No, even worse than you can ever imagine.  They didn't ever take care of her.  They scared and hurt her and wouldn't let her inside their house.
Shadow:  That's super-bad!
Panther:  Yes, and there's more, but I'll wait until you're a little older to tell you that.  So she never was taught to use the litter box like most indoor kitties.  She used the floor instead, although Mommy and Daddy taught her to use the floors that were easier to clean up.
Shadow:  And the tub.
Panther:  Yes, and the tub.  That was easiest to clean up!  But then she got really sick and forgot to use the easy-to-clean-up spots.  She used the new wood floors, which was a big no-no.
Shadow:  Is that why she ran off to the Bridge?
Panther:  No, not really.  Mommy cleaned up after her, and so did Daddy sometimes.  They didn't like cleaning all that up, but they knew that Starla couldn't remember to use the other places.  The reason she had to run off to the Bridge just before Christmas was that she got cancer.
Shadow:  What's that?  Whatever it is, I know it isn't a nice thing!  Mean cancer.
Panther:  Yes, it is mean.  It means she was very sick, as sick as Tabby was, but in a different way.  That's why she was so skinny.  Then, when she was too tired and sick to notice that she was peeing when she was sleeping, Mommy and Daddy knew it was time to help her to the Bridge.
Shadow:  What does Mommy mean when she keeps saying that it's the end of an era?
Panther:  Well, none of the kitties who are here now were the ones who moved here with Mommy and Daddy ten years ago.  I wasn't even born then, and neither were any of the others who are here now.
Shadow:  Not even Freya & Heimdall?  They're old, but not as old as the others!
Panther:  Not even them.  The ones who moved here were Tabby, Carbon, Skylar, Rori, Starla, and Spooky.  He looked like you and like me, but he ran off to the Bridge when he was a kitten.  Everyone else, everyone who is here now, wasn't even born then.
Shadow:  Oh.  I don't want anyone else to go away!
Panther:  I don't, either.  *licks the top of Shadow's head*

Very sad day

The PDX pride mommy writes:

I have very sad news.  Last night, we had to say goodbye to Tabby.  She was down to just under 6 lbs., had advanced dementia, and was falling off the places she chose to sleep.  Last night, she could barely get to her favorite recliner and then was very disoriented so she only stayed on her daddy's lap for a few minutes before coming in and climbing shakily onto my lap.  It was time.  We all said our goodbyes at home, then we harnessed her up for one last car ride.  She watched out the windows and knew where we were once we got to the vet, but then became disoriented again when we were carrying her into the building.  She fell asleep gently while air-kneading just before 10:30 pm, then was given the final shot and passed peacefully.  The above picture was taken while waiting for the vet to come in with the shots.  She looks worried because she was so disoriented that she didn't really know quite why I would be taking a picture of her there.

We brought her body home and buried her in the yard by her brother, Carbon.  The others got the chance to sniff her body and say goodbye once again if they wanted to.  The twins and Starla declined, but the others came over to pay their respects.  This was Shadow's first time dealing with death, and he still isn't quite sure what happened, but the others are helping him.  He gently touched her body with his paw, then lay down next to the box that held it.

Thank you for all the love you have shown our girl over the years.

Happy 14th Gotcha Day to Tabby!!!

Tabby says:

It's my 14th Gotcha Day today! I made it! I'm fading every day, but still hanging in there. I spend my days screaming, hanging out with my purrents, and watching Shadow. He's the new kitten, a new family member, and only 2 1/2 months old so he zooms around a lot. I think he looks a lot like my brother, Carbon, but he definitely smells different, so he's a bit confusing. And, yes, that's me on the top of the scratching post in this pic, and that's Carbon looking up at me. This was just after we got home to Daddy's from the cage on the front porch of the feed store in Clatskanie, OR. I was 4 weeks old and Carbon was 5 weeks old.

Yes, I did say THE NEW KITTEN!!!  Can you tell I'm excited?  Mommy and Daddy were going to wait until after I passed to get another family member, but then they thought it might do me some good to have a job to do again, in whatever time I have left.  I love him!  They went down to Salem Friends of Felines, the same shelter that Freya and Heimdall came from, also the same one that JJ's Scamper came from, originally to look at another kitten but that one had already been adopted.  They thought that Shadow looked so much like Carbon!  He loves ball toys, and he keeps on pawing the jingle ball over to me to bat back to him.  He also likes following me around the house.  We all are learning to love him, and he's so much fun to watch exploring and figuring things out.  We're all a bit happier because he's here, although everyone still is spending a lot of time trying to help me feel better by snuggling with me.

He was born on April 26, 2019, and we adopted him on July 6, 2019.  His shelter name was "Shrek," but he's not green or an ogre, so his new name is "Shadow," which suits him better!  Yes, we've had a Shadow before, the main semi-socialized feral girl at the green house in Portland.  I think she'd like that we have another Shadow who will live as an inside-only cat.  I've taught him to ask for pets like I do, and like I've taught everyone else to do!  He's so smart.  Here's a few pictures, including one of me watching him play with the Crazy Circle, and a video.  More pics to come, as both Mommy and Daddy are shutterbugs!