Angels

Our fur babies who have crossed over to Rainbow Bridge. We miss you and can’t wait to see you again!

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BOOTS (2004-2013)

Boots was only 9 years old when he was called to Rainbow Bridge. A very loving and loveable kitty, he was the light of my life. He was an amazing cat, always by my side no matter what my activity. I can’t count the number of times I was at work on the computer and had to stop to put my arms around him and kiss him on the head. Every night I lay down to sleep, he was by my side. Losing him was very, very hard. The weekend before he died, I had to take him out to the emergency clinic because he was breathing funny. Something inside me knew he was going. But, when he got there the vet said it wasn’t life threatening so I relaxed. Came home with some medication which seemed to help.  This was a holiday weekend, so I didn’t have to work on Monday, which gave me an extra day with him. (Thank goodness!) On the Tuesday morning, I went back to work. Boots was fine; acting perfectly normal, remember, I thought he was getting better. By the time I came home at the end of the day just five hours later, he was blind, stumbling around, and not at all acting like himself. Then he started to seizure. Back out to the emergency clinic we went, they tried to get him to stop and he just couldn’t.

I still think of him every day and miss him terribly. I now understand why he loved to be next to me all the time; he knew he didn’t have long here and  made it his mission to make every moment count. They did; I treasure every moment we had together. He was my special little guy and I am so grateful for our last wonderful weekend together; without it, I don’t what I would’ve done. Boots was not the first cat that I ever had, nor will he be my last; but he will always hold a special place in my heart. I will always love and forever miss him. I cannot wait until the day that I can see him again, until I can hold his soft little body in my arms. He is my inspiration for much of what this blog is about. I have never known an animal to touch my heart as much as Boots.

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SHORTIE

Shortie was the true first cat I ever had. He was the absolute greatest kitty in the whole world. He was so affectionate, always beside me, followed me around and even waited for me to come home from school. Yet, he was not my first choice from his litter. But, thankfully, some higher power knew better because he was my first best kitty friend.

A friend of my Mom’s let us choose a kitten from that litter. Initially, I chose a black and white kitten named Patches. Shortie (who at that time was called “Rufus”) went to someone else. A few months later, Mom’s friend asked if we would take “Rufus” in because the family that took him was abusing him. We said sure and “Rufus” found his true forever home. He showed the emotional scars of that abuse throughout his whole life; there were certain ways that he never liked to be touched and certain situations that always frightened him.

Eventually Patches had to re-homed and Shortie had to live with my beagle puppy Sarah. As well as dogs and cats can get along, Shortie and Sarah were friends. Though Shortie tended to follow me around and Sarah tended to follow Mom. Around 2002 or 2003, Sarah passed away. Unfortunately, Shortie didn’t live much longer either.

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TIMBIT (August 1998 – November 2012)

Timbit was the runt of his litter. His mom was a shepherd and his dad a red heeler (aka cattledog). His human daddy was drawn right away to the little unnamed puppy with red spots, one black eye and one white with only one white eyelash over his beautiful brown eyes.  After his human family adopted him, they took him to the vet to get de-wormed, his first set of shots and a check up. On the way to the vet, they stopped off at Tim Horton’s for a coffee, and as they read the drive-thru window menu board, Timbit (which are donut holes) seemed like the perfect name for their new little puppy.

Timbit was his daddy’s best friend. They went almost everywhere together: walking through the gully and returning home covered in mud, biking, hiking, swimming and camping. Daddy bought a bicycle buggy at a yard sale and transformed it for Timbit to ride in, which he loved! His family hiked a lot of miles with Timbit, usually off leash because he would always stay close by. Timbit was actually the reason his family began camping, Daddy couldn’t bear to leave Timbit behind. Ever since, camping became an important part of his family’s lives, which they now do religiously.

When Timbit got older his back legs began to give him trouble and he lost some of his strength in them, mostly due to arthritis. The long walks Timbit used to enjoy became short ones. Much to everyone’s disappointment, eventually Timbit had to be  left behind; walking became too much for him. Timbit still went camping, in fact his last camping trip was a few weeks before he “left.”

When it was time to say goodbye, it nearly broke Daddy’s heart. Mommy gathered up as many photos of Timbit as she could to remind Daddy of what an awesome life they were able to provide that scrappy little farm dog.  Their camping trips took them throughout the province of Ontario, from local parks all the way up to Thunder Bay. That beautiful boy changed his Daddy’s heart.

Timbit is now up in Heaven doing everything he loves best: hiking, swimming and camping and, of course, smiling down on his Mommy and Daddy.

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