Farewell Moogie-poo

Muguet left us yesterday morning after a short illness. She was probably 8 years old, though we don't know exactly, and Judith's clear favorite. 

Like many of our feline family, she came to us accidentally and brought four with her kittens. Louis, Clodie and Squeaks are still with us; Bridget sadly passed away last year, far too early.  

Muguet often tried to venture outside only to have a hard time finding her way back into the house. Last year she began making a habit of slipping out through the kitchen door to the garage. So, with the garage door closed, I often let her root around in the garage. I don't know whether she found what she was looking for but she seemed to be having fun.   I hope wherever she is now, she's finding whatever it was she was looking for.  We'll miss you Moogie-poo.

Bridget, Escapologist

Bridget bear passed this week away after an incredibly short illness. So short, in fact, that we didn't realize she was sick until the evening she died.  She lay down on the tiles in the dining room and within what was probably less than three hours had slipped quietly away.

Bridget was one of Muguet's four kittens. Unlike the others, particularly Clodie and Squeaks, she wasn't traumatized by having Terramycin drops put into her eyes twice a day for a week while Judith was attending a conference.  When she arrived, we kept her and her siblings in two pens in the living room for a couple of weeks to get them acclimated to the other cats - but she was determined to escape and explore and was quite adept at squeezing through the tiniest gap to get out.

Perhaps she used her escapologist skills to so easily slip the surly bonds of earth... and touch the face of god.  She was a sweet cat and an character; we will miss her greatly. 

Farewell Rat Boy

 

Yesterday I had to say a very sad goodbye to Rat-boy. He was 15 and had been suffering from a thyroid problem for the last four years.

Rat was our second Sonora rescue after Buddy. His early preoccupation was climbing into my waste-paper bin, a pastime he kept well into his second year.

He and Tab-tab were great buds until Tab-tab and Buddy began feuding and we had to find Tab-tab another home (where I understood from Judith he is the center attention and of is very happy).  Rat was a gentle soul, would come when called even when it wasn't meal time. 

Until his middle years, he was also a playful cat...   The last month he'd lost a lot of weight (yesterday he was down to 7lb 6oz) and was eating almost nothing despite all the varieties of tempting foods I had to offer. At first I thought it was just not wanting to eat with the others, but it became clear that despite being hungry he'd lost his appetite and could not stomach almost any of the cat or human food I tried to tempt him with.  Quite suddenly yesterday he had a terrible episode of violent convulsions and although he perked up a little and ate two tins of pate, Wes Whitman agreed that it was his time. So sadly he made one last very quite one way trip to Mono Way Veterinary Hospital. Usually he hated travelling but this time he was quiet; I think he knew this was his final journey. At 5:10pm he was put to sleep with his head in my hand, and went to join Mrs, Mookie, George, Bullwinkle, Buddy, Vic and Judith on the other side.

 

Bye-bye Buddy Bear

After several years battling increasingly frequent episodes of severe constipation, we had to let Buddy go in December. He was our first all-American cat, who we adopted shortly after we moved to Sonora. 

A diabetic, he put up with being poked with an insulin needle twice a day for 15 years.  He was a gentle soul. He'd walk up to me on the kitchen counter and if I leaned down, he'd rub his forehead against mine.

As the most senior member of the cat clan he took is job keeping the others in order very seriously. Whenever there was a fracas between any of the other cats, he'd run to break it up.  Like most of our cats, he'd come when called, though he made it clear that it was on his terms. 

Keep on taking charge Buddy. You were a commanding presence in the family and I'll miss you.