Farewell to a Pet

[Richard S]

I lost a dear pet last night. My cat, "Tut," died suddenly but peacefully in his bed from what is thought to have been feline hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. He was 13 years old.

Since I had posted his photograph some years ago here on the Forum in a thread begun by Chris ("R9SCarry"), I just thought it appropriate to give the little fellow some recognition for a life well lived. I admired his attitude, for he always managed to occupy any place where he happened to be. I shall bury him up at Critter Creek, which he thought he owned, and I shall miss him.

http://www.rohrbaughforum.com/YaBB.cgi?board=news;action=display;num=1089580719;start=71#71

[kjtrains]

Richard.  So sorry for your loss of "Tut".  Pets are family.

[tracker]

I feel saddened by your painful loss, Richard.

[IOM]

Sorry for your loss.  Pets are truly part of the family and it's tough when we lose them.

David

[P7Enigma]

Checked out the link and that cat sure had a "regal" looking posture! He was probably waiting on Jamaican Blue Mountain over that Folgers stuff you were trying to give him.

Cheers to "Tut"....

[Richard S]

Thank you, gentlemen.

Strangely enough, I expect to be missing "Tut" particularly whenever I'm cleaning my firearms. He used to sit on my work bench and watch that process with great interest. I never understood what it was that he found so fascinating about the work of fieldstripping and cleaning a gun. It was almost as if he liked the odors of spent gunpowder and Ballistol. He certainly was a hunter. Whenever he would "harvest" a mouse at the cabin, he would bring it to me as if it were a trophy he expected to have mounted. More like a dog than a cat, he was truly one of a kind.

[MrsFosforos]

Did he really like coffee? We have 2 - Gaston & Belle, who will try to drink coffee -- we can't leave cups unattended around here!

I'm sorry for your loss. 13 years is a great testimony to a good life!!

[Richard S]

Did he really like coffee? We have 2 - Gaston & Belle, who will try to drink coffee -- we can't leave cups unattended around here!

I'm sorry for your loss. 13 years is a great testimony to a good life!!

Thank you, Mrs. Fosforos.

Yes, Tut would try to drink coffee if it were left unattended. I had to be careful to keep it from him. He also seemed to have a taste for green olives, which I also could not leave out unattended. Strange . . . a wonderful cat, but definitely a bit  strange.

My best to Gaston and Belle.

[tracker]

The loss of an unconditional bond is one of the most grievous and difficult.

[theirishguard]

Richard, I'm so sorry for the loss of Tut, the great and dear buddy. You will see him again when you go to the great hunting ground and he brings you some more mice.  Tom

[Richard S]

Thank you, Tom. It is strange how the death of a pet seems to leave a void in the rhythm of the day. I sat down in my leather chair this evening with a glass of wine and the newspaper and by habit braced myself for a solid grey cat to jump onto my lap. It didn't happen.  

[sslater]

Richard,
Your loss resonates in this household because my wife's cat, Miki, passed away last year.  She was 26 so we were prepared (we thought) for her to move on.  To this day, I swear that Miki is walking around and is going to pounce on me from a high perch.  If you look up "predator" in the illustrated dictionary, there is probably a picture of Miki.

Phyllis no longer has Miki to blame for my missing socks....

Steve

[Richard S]

Richard,
Your loss resonates in this household because my wife's cat, Miki, passed away last year.  She was 26 so we were prepared (we thought) for her to move on.  To this day, I swear that Miki is walking around and is going to pounce on me from a high perch.  If you look up "predator" in the illustrated dictionary, there is probably a picture of Miki.

Phyllis no longer has Miki to blame for my missing socks....

Steve

Steve:

For you and your wife to have had your cat, Miki, for 26 years is a great tribute to the love and care she received from you. The disease which is thought to have caused Tut's death, feline hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, is insidious in that it often displays no symptoms and can cause a cat to die suddenly after developing a blood clot in the heart. Such appears to have been the case with Tut.

You mentioned that Miki liked to be on a high perch. Tut confiscated a cabinet over the kitchen refrigerator which had been dedicated to little-used cookware. It is fully seven feet up from the floor. He figured out that if he jumped from the floor onto the kitchen counter and from there onto the top of the refrigerator, he could then open the door to the cabinet and rearrange the stored cookware to make a space for himself. Joyce finally relented, so we emptied out the cabinet and put his favorite cushion in there instead. It became his space.  

I hesitate to take up much more room on the Forum for this personal loss of a pet. However, since Tut was mentioned on occasion years ago during the early days of the Forum in exchanges of posts with Chris and our recently departed friend, R. J. Hedley (two other admirers of cats and their inscrutable natures), here is one last photograph of "King Tutankhamen" (a.k.a., "Tut"), in his private "hole-in-the-wall" hideout, plotting his next ambush:

{Good hunting, little buddy, wherever you are.}

[chameleon]

Richard and Steve, here is a little poem that RJ had put up on the Seecamp forum some time ago when another member lost a pet.
My deepest sympathy.

Rainbow Bridge
 
Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge.
 
When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge.
There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together.
There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable.
 
All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor; those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by.
The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind.
 
They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent; His eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster.
 
You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.
 
Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together....
 
Author unknown...
 

[Brenden]

Richard,
So sorry to read of your loss..