Its been a busy week at Rainbow Bridge. The vet put Hodge 'to sleep' this afternoon. He was somewhere over 14 (rescue cat).
Six months ago we were warned to expect the worst as he had a heart murmur that had increased over the last 6 months and he had become very very thin, but he plodded on until Tuesday when he refused to eat at all. I took him back to the vets but the prognosis was poor, and he was going downhill fast, so we took deep breaths and decided to do the kindest thing for him.
I will buy a Hellebore for him when I go to the County Garden Show next week. Strangely all our cats but one have died in the spring when its Hellebore season, so I have a little corner of the garden with white flowers for the boys and pink for the girls.
I'm sure that the 3 who have gone to Rainbow Bridge this week have all met up and are exploring their new home and playing in the sunshine.
{{{{{{Sally}}}}}} I'm sorry Hodge has gone to the Rainbow Bridge, but it was so kind of you to do that for him. I know you will miss him, but I'm sure he's thanking you for all you've done for him.
{{{Sally & Family}}}}}} AND they are inspecting quilts -- I'm sure they don't want their hard earned QI skills to get rusty waiting for us to show up! I'm at the point where I can't really read any more of these posts -- I just start to cry right away. I simply send my hugs because I know exactly how each and every one of you feel. Sorry but I need to hijack Sally's thread for a bit of a vent. Reno Black Cat has been gone for 15 months and I still miss her terribly. Bunny Sue (FAT Cat) and Ivy Jane (Garbanzo Brain Stealth Kitty) the two kitties I got 14 months ago are great kitties but..... There's always that but... Cassie (Old Lady Cat) has never adjusted to the new kitties and has been locked up in the sewing room so much that she just lives in there full time even when the lattice work door is left open as it has been since the first of the year. Poor old cat is scared of me whenever she leaves the room thinking she will get yelled at even if she has done nothing wrong! When I go in to comb her and love on her she hides in the corner of the sewing cabinet because she's afraid I am going to punish her. I, of course, am the one paying the price for keeping cat peace in the house. Used to be that Cassie always sat with me if I was in my chair, regardless of the time of day, she "helped" me go potty or take a bath or get dressed, she slept with me every night and was generally my shadow. That's all gone now. The only kitty loves I get is when I sit in my chair in the evening and Bunny Sue will jump up and sit with me for an hour or so. She's so fat and heavy that I can't let her sit on my lap because it hurts the arthritis in my knees :-(. Ivy Jane has settled in to the extent that about 3 days a week she will let me scratch the top of her head with ONE finger but ONLY if I stay behind the bar stool on the adjacent side of the counter. She also comes into the famiy room in the evenings once in awhile and will lay down on the rug in front of the fireplace but if anyone moves or changes position, she runs off. Then again, about every other day I find her curled up in my chair asleep on the quilt I leave there :-). They are all quite happy to have a kitty door that leads from the kitchen out to the screen porch. This means that if the weather is even the least bit decent -- and for these cats this is anything above freezing -- both Bunny Sue and Ivy Jane will be outside sitting on the wood pile looking at the critters in the back yard. Great fun for them at least. Unfortunately, this doesn't mean I have a kitty to love on or get loved by, just three kitties to take care of which is a lot better than no kitties at all. So -- I miss my Reno Black Cat, the love she always had to share with me and the peaceful happy kitty home I used to have. CiaoMeow >^;;^<
PAX, Tia Mary >^;;^< (RCTQ Queen of Kitties) Angels can't show their wings on earth but nothing was ever said about their whiskers! Visit my Photo albums at
I am so deeply sorry. Pets just don't live long enough and we're never ready to say goodbye. I think it is a sweet, wonderful tradition you have created with the hellibores Sherry
Sally I feel your pain and sadness. I had to have my beautiful gray Buster put to sleep two weeks ago and it's been a really hard adjustment. Harley is my only QI left out of 4 cats and 1 dog now. Two years ago it was Sarge, last year it was Comit and this year it was Buster. I'm hoping Harley sticks around for awhile. My hugs and prayers are with you.
So very sorry, Sally. I really felt I knew Hodge - and my doormat is 'the Hodge' doormat, so I think of him every day - still will. . In message , Sally Swindells writes
(((((HUGS))))) back. We were so lucky that Hodge really took our twin kittens under his wing (they were 3 months old when they came to us, now are almost 4 years old). We nicknamed him Great Uncle Hodge! He used to wash them, especially Mia who would always report to him when she came in, and neither of them ever had a cross word with him, though they do with each other.
They are getting lots of extra petting especially Mia who preferred Hodge to us (Kiwi just loves everybody!). I just wish we could explain to them what has happened.
Thanks for your condolences and HUG, and HUGS to everyone who has gone though/is going through losing a QI. Their friendship and enthusiasm is so special.
Yes he was 'a very fine cat, a very fine cat indeed'.
His original name when we got him was Rizla, like cigarette papers. I thought perhaps it had some oriental or mythological meaning, but no, it was cigarette papers, so we thought the name of Samuel Johnson's cat was a little more suitable!
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Apparently Johnson used to go secretly to buy oysters for his Hodge - ours liked fish, but never had an oyster!
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