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Sunday, July 16, 2017

A Sad Day

This was going to be my post announcing my birthday giveaway, but instead, we take pause to pay homage to one of our furry family members who passed away yesterday morning. This grand old gentle cat has been in our family since 2005 when we brought him home from the local animal shelter. We were there to pick out a cat for my youngest daughter, Hannah. She was fixated on a one year old, very sick black cat whom I was hoping she would not end up wanting. Then, one of the shelter workers walked in with a box of 2 kittens. One of them was this rambunctious little tabby.  He had been given up by his owner at the age of 14 weeks because he chewed on some wires (something kittens do!) He was such a cutie, we could not help but fall in love with him and he was the kitten who ended up steeling our hearts and coming home with us. 
He was the source of much entertainment. He loved getting into mischief!

Hannah adored him and loved to hug him and carry him around.
He grew to be quite a big cat -- well muscled, majestic. Very tiger like. He was a hunter! He often brought home his catch of the day -- so proud he was to show it off and let us know that he could provide for his family! 😊😺

Tired after a long day of hunting! Chillin' with his best friend!
It was impossible to keep him inside as his hunting instinct was so strong. On one of his hunting excursions about 5 years ago, he did not come home that night. We were worried about what might have happened to him. I put food out for him to see if it would draw him in. After 2 days, he arrived back home, but it was obvious he had been in a pretty bad fight. We took him to the vet to patch him up. He seemed none the worse for wear, but we began being more vigilant about not letting him get outside. He became quite ill, so we took him to the vet. After many tests including specific blood tests, we found out he was FIV position (shorthand for feline aids). It is assumed that he got in a fight with a feral cat who had the disorder. The vet said that while many cat owners would likely put a cat with this down, she said it was still possible for him to have a good life as long as he didn't get too sick again. We decided we would do our best to keep him as healthy as possible and decided to let him live out his life as long as was possible. 

For the most part, he has been pretty healthy and happy for the last 5 years. When he did get sick, we were quick to get him to the vet to get treatment. We continued to be vigilant about keeping him from getting outside. More recently, his health started to spiral down. He wasn't eating or drinking much and he hid in the basement of our home. He lost a lot of weight. He went from being a robust 18 to 17 pound cat to weighing in at about 8 lbs., 4 oz on his last vet visit. Since we had a previous cat who had renal failure, we knew that the signs were pointing in that direction. The vet confirmed that he didn't have much time left and suggest we NOT let him go into renal failure as it would be a very painful experience for him. We had no choice but to help him in his final journey across the rainbow bridge. As you can imagine, this was not a easy decision, but we made the decision to proceed as it seemed as though he was deteriorating very fast. 




So, we had to say goodbye to our old friend. We have spend the last couple of days coddling him and holding him as much as possible. By now, he was not more that a bag of skin and bones, so we know we had to act quickly to keep him from suffering. So, with a heavy heart, but with very good and cherished memories of him, Mittens passed away with assistance from the vet. There have been a lot of tears around here, but we knew it was the best thing to do for him. Goodbye sweet boy!

After things settle down here a bit and we take a little time to recuperate from our grief, I will be putting together the details of my birthday giveaway, so come back to see what the giveway item/items will be this year and the rules of the contest. My birthday was actually on July 13 and it was a big one! Should I make you try and guess what birthday I was celebrating this year????!!!! Nah, I guess I can tell you - I will be Thirty ssssssssomething! Not that is not it. I celebrated my 65th birthday! Yikes, that was hard to say/type! Since this is a milestone birthday, I promise the prizes will be big. There will be at least 2 lucky winners -- one in the US and one outside of the US. There will be completely separate drawing for each of these. 

Stay tuned, I will be back soon with more information.






20 comments:

  1. To bardzo smutne, kiedy odchodzi Ktoś, kogo tak bardzo kochamy.
    Czas leczy rany, tak mówią...

    Życie toczy się jednak dalej i trzeba żyć!

    Z okazji Twoich Urodzin przesyłam trochę spóźnione, ale szczere życzenia zdrowia i wszelkiej pomyślności! Ponadto spełnienia wszystkich marzeń!


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  2. I'm sorry for your loss. Losing a pet is never easy. He was lucky to have you as a family.

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  3. I'm so terribly sorry. I know what it feels like to say goodbye to our small friends and how we grieve for them when they are gone. He was lucky to have you, as Aubrey says. Sending virtual hugs to you and your family.

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  4. So very sorry to hear of your loss, Phyllis. Fur babies are still members of the family, so I know this must be difficult.

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  5. My deepest condolences, he was a beautiful kitty and well-loved.

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  6. I'm so sorry for your loss. As much as it hurts, you made the right choice. Thanks to you and your family, he was happy and loved for twelve years.

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  7. Phyllis, I am so sorry. I know the pain of loosing a loved fur baby. You made the best decision and Mittens didn't have to suffer as much as he would have. RIP Mittens.

    Happy Belated Birthday to you! I met you last year at IT Con and I NEVER would have guessed your age. You look so much younger than that. Anyway, I hope it was a fabulous one!

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  8. Mittens was a beautiful boy, Phyllis. I am sorry that he is gone, but it put a smile on my face to read about the joy he brought to your family while he was a part of it.

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  9. Wow that was hard to read so I know it must be torture for your family these days. What a sweet kitty! I am so glad he didn't have to suffer anymore.

    Lots of hugs and prayer for you guys.

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  10. Awwwww, I'm so sorry to learn of the loss of your sweet boy! My condolences to you and your family!

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  11. So sorry for your loss. Cats are surely a part of the family. My kitty lived to be 16.

    Belated birthday wishes :)

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  12. I'm sorry for your loss, Phyllis.

    Happy Birthday!

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  13. Phyllis, so sorry for your loss. I know how hard it must have been but I hope you a nice birthday.

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  14. What a lucky, handsome cat he was, your Mitten. I'm glad that he had twelve happy years with you - I wish there were more. My condolences on your loss.

    Hope you celebrated your birthday - and congratulations on passing that milestone! I'll look for your next post when it arrives. Take care. Hug.

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  15. I stopped by to look at your doll blog and came across this post which made me cry because I know how hard it is to lose a furry family member. I know you have happy memories of Mittens and the comfort of knowing you saved him from suffering. I'm looking forward to reading your doll posts.

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  16. I'm so sorry to read this Phyllis. My heart goes out to you and your daughter. Mittens was truly loved and you can see it. I'm glad he didnt have to suffer to long. Although it was the birthday post you intended, I'm still glad you shared his life with us.

    Happy Belated Birthday.

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  17. Aww Phyllis the story about your lovely boy brought a lump to my throat. It must have been so hard for you to nurse him through his slow decline - heartbreaking. But he seems to have been a real character and brought a lot of joy to you and your family - I just love the pictures of him with your daughter! I think you made the only decision you could but I know it will take some time for you to grieve. Take care of yourselves and share with each other your lovely memories of a great friend! Dolly hugs! Joc xxx

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  18. Thank you to everyone for all of the lovely thoughts and comments on the loss of our precious cat, Mittens. Because I know so many of my doll friends have pets that they consider part of their family, I knew I could safely share about him here! I find myself still putting out food for him when I feed our other can, Jasmine. It is obvious that she misses him as she goes over to the his favorite spots to sleep and meows! He will always be special in our memories! Thank you all!

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  19. Mittens brought tears n smiles to me it brought back memories of my kitty we had Seventeen Yrs. Together she was an Adventure also. I feel your pain Blessings to u n Your Family 😍

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  20. Oh, Phyllis, I'm so so so sorry to hear of Mitten's passing. It's never an easy thing to lose a pet and we went through that with our dog a few years ago which was devastating. Prayers that you all find peace and happiness in the memories of him. XO

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