But, Mimi, Elaine H, Flo, jang*, emily and others have mentioned their cats. I think bluedaze has also mentioned her cats on other threads.
I was looking through old photos yesterday. So few of the husband and so many of the cats!
All of mine have been rescue cats. The photos brought back so many memories and so much more. They all gave me so much. I am so sorry for those who have lost their precious kitties.
Within the last few months especially my cats have kept their distance from H. His shuffling gait alarms them; so do his verbal outbursts. My beloved dog was euthanized earlier this year and H does not even realize she is no longer here.
Sorry, sorry, I did not mean to go there but want to send my love to those of you who are grieving the loss of these beloved companions along with everything else that we grieve.
My fur-babies have always helped me through life. I have 2 old cats and 1 old dog now. (plus one bratty young kitty.) It will grieve me as I lose them.
ABBY! With so much going on in your life right now..how very dear of you to think of us pet people as you have.
MY DH still misses Cookie and we have a memorial, at is request...first time ever he has felt this way about a cat, on the dining room table complete with a votive as well as framed photos of her...one really nice one of the two of them. Somehow Ebonie knows Cookie is gone though the two were never really friends...she tends to cling like a two year old. I am in the process of adopting two kittens..It will be awhile as two one is already 2# but the Tuxie is only 1.5#. I think they will be good for both DH and Ebonie...and I will have some entertainment and freedom from the demands of both hubby and Ebbie...The Tuxie will be called Cookie after our Cookie..per DH and the other will be Katie Grace..after the tech who fostered them...they were brought in the ER from animal control...I emailed the tech last night and she LOVES, as she said, the names...she was calling the Tuxie "Flower" and the other little girl Spike...Spike???doesn't look like a spike. She will be Katie Grace.
Abby, our dog, who loved my husband dearly, stayed away from him the last six months. She wouldn't even get near him. She stayed by my side, unless I was close to him. I don't know if it is an odor that they can smell and we can't, or if their senses know something we don't. Whatever it was, it didn't have to do with love, but with dying. There was a story of a cat in a nursing home or hospital that would go and get into the bed with a patient in their last 24 hours. How that cat knew, and the comfort it gave to that person is beyond our understanding.
Many of us lost our treasured pets along this AD journey. Some have acquired new ones, and some are fortunate to still have theirs. The unconditional love we receive from our pets help us immeasurably. Hearing stories about the pets here at Joan's has brought a lot of joy to many.
Our latest cat and dh are becoming friends. He really was attached to the big black tom that went visiting one night and never returned. Since it is much warmer at night now I didn't put Socks in the garage last night and she wasn't here this a.m. I didn't mention it because I feared she might not return either, but she turned up finally and I told dh she had been to a sleep over again. He said he didn't think so. She is with him in the garden and flower beds and he said he was going to rename her "intheway" because she was always in his face and he kept putting her aside and telling her she was in the way. He still has a sense of humor sometimes.
how true. without my pets i would not have made it thru this last decade. i still have my little guy chihuahua with me who has shared all perils and grief of our AD journey. they suffer as we do when our loved ones no longer know them either. its very sad for them as well. good thoughts for all of us who have sent our sweet pets to Rainbow Bridge. we will meet again one day. divvi
abby, yes our little furry family members make this easier at times. What I think is so sad in our case is that my DH not only can't tell the difference between the dogs & cat, but he doesn't remember that our cat used to sit on his lap as he watched TV & DH just loved that. Now the cat has finally realized that he can't do that anymore so he is doubly affectionate with me. He also keeps telling me that he doesn't have a dog (even though it was he who insisted that we buy the cute little puppy at the flea market 5 years ago).
Cats? During our entire marrage we have always seem to have at LEAST 8!
Every time one dies another hungry stray comes to the door and says meow! We say we are only going to feed it once . . . but . . . . . (I think they are being sent to us by the dead cats from the other side)
Our oldest is 20 y/o and was born in the back yard just after we moved in. The newest has been with us a year and a half. Wife doesnt recognize the new one as 'ours' (she has tried to chase it away) She remembers the name of the 20y/o but all the other names have evaporated and she referes to them by their color only.
Memorials? we have 6 or 7 bags of cat cremains on a shelf waiting for . . . ? Well, they are there for some reason . . .
Claude was always feeding strays - both cats and dogs. He would feed them and then take them back to where he found them.
There was snow on the ground one time. He found a cat out in back. He went and got it, fed it and took it back out. We watched from the window - he headed back to the house and the cat followed. He would stop and look back and the cat would hunker down. He would start again and the cat followed. As you can imagine, we added another cat to our menagerie.
They come and they go and they are true blessings. I too, have a memorial to the one who, although I love and loved them all, found a place in my heart and soul that I didn't even know I had.
Within the last couple of weeks one kitty, whom I have fed for years has disappeared. Sure enough, since then seen almost daily is a beautiful gray cat. Runs away from me but I prop open the side door to the garage and the kitty comes in to eat. Not all are ever going to be housecats.
Years ago I was shocked to see a tux in the yard. I don't think I had ever seen one in person. This one had a kind of rolled green collar that I had never seen before or since. Here for only a couple of minutes. A treat for me but clearly not a feral or stray so I just hope the kitty found home. I checked for signs, ads, etc, but there was nothing; only that moment.