Miss Marble has flown to the Bridge

Miss Marble writes:

This is my last blog post.  Goodbye friends!  I will watch over every one of you from the Rainbow Bridge, and I will send down my love to you!

Last night, I snuggled with Mommy, Daddy, and my inside family, but this morning I wanted out again (as usual).  My purrents have a jingle bell necklace on the door to the other dimension (aka the front door), and I have learned to make that ring to tell them I want out.  I rang the bell this morning, so Mommy let me out, saying "See you later" as usual.  They never kept me inside against my will.  I was born feral, and they knew that I would never be happy as just an inside kitty, so they let me go outside when I wanted.

A few hours later, Daddy was getting ready to leave for an appointment.  He went out the door, looked at the road, and saw something.  It was I, lying in a pool of blood on the road.  I had been hit by a car while crossing the road.  I was killed instantly.

At the approximate time I was killed, my inside-mama-cat Freya (not my real mama cat, but she treated me as her kitten) had stopped walking for a few minutes and sat down, unfocusing on the household and focusing on something else.  Mommy thought it was very strange at the time, but she and Daddy now realize that she probably had heard me make one last cry.

Daddy collected me on a bag and buried me under my favorite cedar tree and roses, where my sister and I used to play as kittens and rest as adults.  Mommy and Daddy are hoping that my sister will come visit, but they haven't seen her since Panther took over the backyard territory.

I love you all very much, and that love transcends death.

Skylar's three-year Bridge Day anniversary

It's been three years since Skylar became an angel.  What a lot has changed in that time!  We still miss him every single day, but treasure the memories, especially as we see Heimdall & Freya grow into their adult selves.  When Freya carries her fuzzy socks around the house, meowing to them, we're reminded of Skylar's sister Lydia doing the same thing with yarn puffballs.  When Heimdall snuggles into our arms or gets a funny look on his face and dashes around the house yowling at the top of his lungs, we laugh and remember Skylar doing the same things.

Those years with Skylar grow ever sweeter looking back.  He was the mommy's first kitty, and adopted her before she officially adopted him.  He was almost five years old at the time of his adoption, fully his adult self, but still willing to start his life over with Mommy and Daddy, his littermate, and two small kittens (Tabby and Carbon).  Between that day and the end of his life, he was honorary uncle to many foster kittens, enjoying every minute of playing tails with them and teaching them how to play.  Mommy was his person, but he adopted Mommy Erin as his second person, then Daddy as his third person and (then baby) JJ as his fourth person.  He loved to terrorize his sister Lydia, but she loved putting up with it.  It was a game between the two of them.

Even at the end, old and crochety as he was, he would come over for a snuggle and a proffered lap to sleep in.  He loved being held like a baby.  He never lost his wonderful Siamese yowl, especially when it came to food, and was the official timekeeper of the household.

We love and miss you every day, Skylar.  Thank you for sharing our lives and letting us into yours!

Happy birthday to our daddy!!!!!!

 Happy 40th birthday, Daddy!!!  We all love you!!!

Happy birthday to Carbon!

Carbon writes:

Do you see me in the stroller, taking a birthday snooze?  I'm now 5 years old!  :)  I'm going to enjoy my birthday with naps, playtime with Tabby, laying by the sliding glass door, playing with my favorite catnip toy, running at top speed through the house, and maybe a snuggle or two from Daddy and sitting in Mommy's lap.

It's a happy day, but also a sad one.  Daddy brought little Spooky's body home from the vet's yesterday.  He put it on a blanket on the living room floor so we could all say our goodbyes.  I had been having fun with my catnip toy, so I wasn't keen on going to see what was on the blanket.  I was more interested in the box that Daddy had brought home.  But Daddy said I couldn't jump in the box, and wanted me to look at the blanket.  I didn't quite know why.  Mommy picked me up and placed me nose-to-nose with Spooky's body.  I was kind of afraid of him while he was alive, because I don't consider kittens to be cats until they are at least a year old, for some reason.  But I sniffed because I was that close, then realized what I was sniffing!  I looked at Tabby, who was right beside me, touched noses with her, then looked at Mommy and Daddy and walked away to the other end of the house.

After everyone had sniffed and said their goodbyes, conferring with the others about it, and even Starla had come to say her goodbyes (Mommy brought her out to see and sniff), Daddy carried the body out to the backyard.  He and Mommy buried Spooky in a corner of the yard, at a spot where you can see and hear the geese in the marsh next door.  We all love to hear the geese!

When Daddy and Mommy came back in, I claimed Mommy's boots (not raining at the moment, but the yard is muddy) and slept with/on one for a couple hours.

Photo Friday: The Family

Most of the family, sleeping!  The human is Daddy (aka Scott, the photographer's husband), the kitties are (from left) Rori, Starla (white, snuggled with Daddy), Spooky, Tabby, Skylar, and our foster Little Bit.  Not pictured is Carbon.

Photo Friday

Happy Gotcha Day to Meeeeee!!! :)

Today's my Gotcha Day!!!! Last year at this time, I was a scared outdoor kitty who had been living in Mommy & Daddy's basement after being abandoned by their neighbors. They brought me inside, then had me spayed the next day. As soon as I was brought home from my spay, Skylar curled up with me to reassure me and keep me warm. He looked at me, looked at Daddy, looked at me again, and snuggled close to me. Daddy said to Mommy, "Well, it looks like Skylar wants to keep her!" And that was that! :)

Now, a year later, we are in a new, bigger house, and I have a little snuggle buddy of my own: the new kitten, Spooky. I'm not sure what he wants me to do, but he snuggles close to me, and sometimes right up against me. I'm ok with that, but sometimes he lowers his head and Mommy says he wants me to wash him. I don't know how to wash another kitty, never having had the opportunity before. My purrents are sure I'll learn eventually.

I love my family!

Love,

Starla.

Wordless Wednesday

Thankful for Silliness on Thursday

Skylar writes:

Silly, silly day! First, I didn't get my medicine on time. Mommy and Daddy said that Dr. Bob didn't want me to have it! I kept begging for it, but I didn't get it. Then, finally, I got it when I was supposed to get my next dose. They completely skipped one of my doses!

Then, while I was begging for part of Daddy's hamburger, he was teasing me! See that picture above? What doesn't belong? I'll give you the answer at the bottom of this blog entry. Daddy said it helped relieve some of the stress of my blood work results from Tuesday's vet appointment.

I have anemia (17% red blood cell count) and my creatinine levels are elevated considerably. Dr. Bob told my purrents that this may be caused by too much methimazole in my system (my medicine for hyperthyroidism), but that it doesn't usually present in that way. It also may be a sign that the hyper-T was masking kidney disease.

Mommy and Daddy are both very sad about that, even though they knew that there might be something majorly wrong (which is why they took me in to the vet in the first place). The first course of action is to decrease my meds to twice a day, which is why they wouldn't let me have one of my doses today. They're hoping that it will do the trick and help everything within a week. If not, then it's more serious than just a response to my meds.

I go back in for retesting of my blood in two weeks, regardless of if I'm feeling better by then. If it is kidney disease, I won't be doing better by then and my creatinine levels will still be elevated, Dr. Bob says. Mommy and Daddy are praying that it's not kidney disease, because if it is then they say that it will be time for me to join my sister at the Bridge, because they wouldn't want me to suffer more (and for it to show up it would need to have been diseased for some time already).

So that's why we're having a silly time right now. It's so stressful around here, we need the laughter and smiles!

Did you figure out the silliness in the picture yet?

Happy anniversary, Mommy & Daddy!

Happy 1st anniversary to our mommy & daddy!