Good-bye, Ponzo

Alas, Ponzo passed away from FIV-related complications on May 17th, ....

Good-bye, Quentin

When I googled my blog yesterday, a cute photo of a short-tailed kitten popped up--that was my Quentin nearly twelve years ago. Quentin, who'd been misdiagnosed with saddle thrombus at the age of two, was epileptic. Fortunately, his seizures averaged less than one per year over the course of his lifetime. (He was not on any medication for epilepsy.) But at the end of his life, Quentin was diagnosed with diabetes, and, most unfortunately, insulin didn't work for him because of something unknown. I do know he did not have kidney failure, FIV, or feline leukemia. Quentin passed away on March 29th. I had dozed off watching television, and when I woke up, my beloved Quentin was gone. Despite all the curbside vet visits, not to mention numerous omens, I hoped he was going to make it, but deep down I feared the worst. My only consolation is that my cat is no longer suffering. Still, his death hit me hard, very hard. I miss him dearly.

Good-bye, Karma

My cat Karma didn't live to see her seventeenth birthday. "My good Karma," as I called her, passed away on February 26th, after a long illness. She was an active girl until her last day. And after Godot's death years ago, I had become her special being. I truly miss my good Karma.

Squirrel or Hawk

"Why does the life of the squirrel matter more to you than the life of the hawk?"

"Because I know the squirrel. I don't know the hawk."

                                                    --T. Kat Darcy

Missing Striper

The other night, I opened the front door and Striper ran into the house. Too bad it was only a dream. Little Striper has been gone since November. I believe he was in the wrong place at the wrong time and got dumped somewhere as a feral cat. I posted his info on Pawboost and various FB pages for lost cats, in addition to visiting numerous animal shelters and posting flyers. I've checked out a number of Striper sightings, but they turned out to be similar-looking cats, not my Striper. It is torture not knowing where he is; there is no closure. I continue to hope that I shall get him back. It is possible that a cat colony caretaker is feeding him; perhaps Striper landed in someone's home. I just don't know. But I do believe that someone knows Striper's whereabouts, and someday I hope to see him again.

Thank You, Veronica!

Last week, my next door neighbor showed up at my door with beautiful flowers; the delivery person could not drive down my snow-covered driveway, so she asked him to give me the bouquet. Well, my first thought was that these flowers were sent because I had lost Yoda, but I couldn't imagine who would have sent them. What a nice surprise to receive flowers, totally unexpected, from a person I'd spoken to briefly, cancelling Yoda's prescription cat food delivery. It really made my day! Thank you, Veronica, for your thoughtfulness.

Good-bye, Yoda

Two weeks ago, on January 24, 2019, I said good-bye to my black cat Yoda, who left me with many wonderful memories. Three days earlier, the vet had given Yoda 1-4 months, which, needless to say, was heartbreaking. But I never expected Yoda to decline so very rapidly, especially since he had been eating well and was active until the end. There's an emptiness in the house without Yoda, my friendly boy, who was usually the first to welcome other cats into our household through the years.