The Magnificant Seven

I will double check, but I made it 23 candles in 5 countries lit for Scooter! THANK YOU ALL! We are going to round it up to £75 £100(!) for Colchester Cat Rescue.

Now, here are the promised biographies of the cats I've been lucky enough to share my life with:
 1983- 2000, Katie-cat, from Cats Protection sanctuary, age 18 months and tiny. They had rescued her from a bunch of schoolboys who'd been 'using her as a football'.

I can't seem to find a photo of Katie when she was very young. I think my Mum has them in an album :)

Katie could sleep in any place, in any position.

 We moved house and Dad got us a cat. No more dogs, he said, as losing them was too painful. If only he knew! Did he really imagine cats were easier to let go? He doesn't believe that now, he has had several over the years since... Katie-cat passed in April 2000, age around 18 1/2.
She was an excellent mouser and once took on a rat that was over half as big as herself! She was tolerant and welcoming, letting a neighbour's cat walk right in with her kittens in tow, when the neighbour neglected to feed them.

 Here's me, taking wee Katie to the vet for the final time. For the last few years there was no need for a cat-carrier, she was so trusting.

1991 - 1996, Sam, a stray who came to live with me in my first 'own' home. Little by little -at first he was too nervous to come into the house so I left food on the doorstep. Then he'd come in to eat, but only if I hid. Eventually he became so affectionate, so special. He would lie belly-up with his head on my pillow. He loved to snuggle up.

 Sam, my tabby prince...

Helping with the decorating in 1993

Loving the sunshine in the garden...

Cuddles with Mummy

A beautiful mackerel-tabby. My first real introduction to being a cat mama. He taught me lots. He passed in 1996, age about 8. Someone shot him with an air rifle. 
 
1993 - Mama Cat and kits-
Mama-cat, the most elegant black cat you ever could imagine. Have you seen The Aristocats? Do you remember the white cat, Duchess? Well Mama was a black version. You would believe she was a ballerina, she was so dainty, graceful and poised. HUGE golden eyes. She would sit up on the table near the kitchen door each morning and wait for me to give her a forehead-to-forehead rub, which, as all cat people will know, is really special.
 
She came calling at my back door in early 1993, in thick snow. She was obviously pregnant so I had to help her. I invited her in slowly, watching to see that Sam didn't mind. Gradually she settled, and gave birth in my linen cupboard to 4 beautiful kits.  At first I thought I should re-home them, so once they were a few months old I tried to find new owners. But I didn't trust any of the people who came to see them, and chose instead to keep them all.

Mama passed in 2003, from an inoperable cancer in her mouth. We were so sad, and her kits missed her terribly.

FIGS- March 23rd 1993- June 25th 2005 (I originally called this kitty Figaro, but then I discovered he was a she, hence 'Figs'!)
A black and white girl, SUCH soft fur. We now use the memory of that fur as a measure of softness. We touch something in a shop like a soft bath robe or cushion and we say, "Look! Feel! It's Figgy's belly!" 

Figs & Mama, grooming.

Their GOLDEN eyes didn't come out on film very often!

 When she was 3, Figs was shot with an air rifle and went blind in her right eye. It never held her back.

Figs climbing the curtain

Going worra-worra-worra with a catnip mousie

Look at that bellah!

VERY affectionate and silly and funny. She would lie belly up and let me blow raspberries on her tummy!
I had to say farewell to sweet Figgy in 2005, because of cancer.

WELLINGTON - March 23rd 1993 - ?
A black boy, Scooter's twin, EXCEPT he had much, much shorter hair, He was more 'snouty' and had an Oriental sounding meow. 

He could really talk to you, he sort of chortled. So full of character. But he kept going missing for days, weeks at a time. One time when he didn't come back I called all the vets. The PDSA had treated a cat of his description for a displaced hip, due to a road accident (5 or 6 miles from home). 
I contacted the man that had found him and had got him treated. He said that as Welly hadn't been claimed he'd been happy to take him home. 
Welly seemed happy when I went to visit but purred and purred and purred when I held him, so I tried to bring him home, but he wouldn't settle. So the man, Andy Bathgate I recall was his name, came to collect him and adopt him.
He went to live with him and his golden Labrador where Welly soon claimed the dog's bed and ruled the roost.
I missed him terribly, but I think he just wanted to be in a one-cat household. I often wonder waht happened to Scooby's brother, and hope he did ok...

Wellington(top) and Mama

FLUFFY -March 23rd 1993- December 13th 2010
When I looked in on Mama in the linen cupboard that morning, to check she was ok, I counted her babies... 1...2....3...oh, what a clever girl you are, I said. 3 babies! And there were indeed 3 kitties at her tummy. But Mama moved slightly and lifted herself up, and a little bundle of thin grey fur rolled out from under her chest and chin. This was Fluffy. Though it took a month before she was fluffy. At first, she was called Midge, as she was tiny and had only very fine hair. Mama had been keeping her tucked up warm.

 A few weeks old, at the bottom of the linen cupboard...little pairs of navy-blue eyes look up at me...
 

 I still have the rosette Fluffy won for PDSA 1993 "Cutest Kitten" photo competition

 Completely zonked on catnip

She would find the most beautiful poses.

Fluffy passed away from renal failure a couple of months before her 18th birthday. She was playful, mischievous and loving. Though she looked like butter wouldn't melt in her mouth, she was the only one of my cats that could actually growl!!!! - and did so at Scooter whenever he tried to get her off a chair or move from the fire. They would 'box' up on their hind legs like March hares but only really 'hit' the air in between them!

SCOOTER- March 23rd 1993 - September 17th 2011
My Best Boy.
I know others mean well when they tell me to take in another cat. I have given it some thought. But my heart is still brimming with love for this boy. I am crying as I type! It isn't time to move on yet, as there are still so many things I have to tell him. So many things to say to him. I cannot put that away on a shelf yet. (I can't even put his bed away, or his cushion from the windowsill). It's like there is unfinished business. I need to stay close to him. Maybe in the future I might be able to give a home to an elderly cat in need. I don't think I'd like a youngster again, not after the wisdom I knew behind Scooter's eyes.

Scooter & Wellington being 'bookends' -looking out of the gap of an old sash window in my old house.

 Sometimes we'd put the chairs up on the old table when we hoovered. They then had to stay there for hours because the cats thought it was a great place to climb and chill out... Scooter took up two chairs of course!

Um... yeah, drinking out of the kitchen sink!!

Best Boy, he of the secret smile....

 I miss that soft velvet bellah

I hope my kitties felt loved and safe. I know I made mistakes, it was a learning curve. I was a better cat-carer in the later years. I had to learn, listen, watch, read... but I grew into someone who would do anything for them. They loved me all along, they just waited for me to catch up. That's how it is with animals, I now think. They love unconditionally once they decide they can trust you. And you love them as much as you think you're able, but then you grow and learn, and maybe, with their example, you love them as much back as they love you. Not all pet owners take the time to do it. Not all think about it.

There's a story doing the rounds on Facebook. It's about the reaction of a 6 year old boy when his precious dog is put to sleep. The vet has not yet left, and the adults are all chatting, asking why it is that dogs have to have lives so much shorter than ours. 
The little boy pipes up, "I know."
They stop talking and look at him. "Why is it then? What do you think?"
And the boy tells them- 
"Because we have to learn to be kind and loving but dogs know that already, they don't have to learn it, so they don't have to stay as long."


**** *** **** *** **** ***

Love, tea & cake,  
Helena

Is it really two years?

Our last photo together, before we left for the vet......

I came across this series of photo's, taken a couple of weeks before. Scooter knew, I think, that his sister was leaving.....

 FLUFFY

gorgeous PRINCESS of cats

Wednesday March 23rd 1993 around 10am

to

Monday December 13th 2010 around 9.30am

You of the fluffy toes, the toe fur never trimmed, all cheesy,

you batted at your siblings as they walked under your chair and then looked like butter wouldn't melt in your mouth,

you stalked invisible assassins in paper bags,

and hugged behind my knees, under the sheets- sshhh! 

you played with the tinsel,

you lay belly up under the Christmas tree, cooing up at the twinkling lights.

Soft as the snowflakes you bit out of the air,

 if snow could ever be warm and lovely.

Rest in peace, in love, fun and sunshine, 

my beautiful sweetpea.

And so. 2 years for sweet Fluffy.
12 weeks, 3 days for Scooter.
Still crying every day.
Hard to believe there was ever a time I wasn't grieving.

A Christmas Dream

This is the dream Luvbug had the other night...

 Scooter and Fluffy, Summer 2010

He dreamed that I was giving Scooter his medicine. I had it in my hand and he was just licking it up, no trouble. Then, Fluffy walked towards us to have a look and I said,

"It's OK, Fluffy. You don't need these any more!"

And she faded away.

*** *** ***

It was her anniversary on the 13th. She has a little candle by her box of ashes, an angel, and a little box, decorated with cat pictures, containing her last collar and a clipping of her hair. This is all on the side near my chair, with Christmas cards around. She loved Christmas, the sparkle and twinkles fascinated her. She would lie belly-up under the tree looking up through it at all the glittering lights. I miss her, but I'm glad she isn't hurting any more. It wouldn't be Christmas if my friend were hurting.

Scooter now has 4 cardboard boxes scattered around the floor. Various deliveries have provided him with this choice. If I try to clear one up he wants that one :)

*** *** ***

Have a purrfectly happy Christmas, everyone!

About time I popped in here

I am just finding it so hard to get round to blogging. The times when I am actually free I seem to have to catch up on sleep! My latest med, pregabalin, seems to knock me out or make me soooo dizzy and whoozy all I can do is try to curl up somewhere.

Mum is doing really well, and so is fine nowadays if I have to say, look, can I see you later than planned cos I'm so dizzy?

My current worry (!!!) is Scooter, who has lost weight and is drinking more water than usual. He also has days when he won't eat.
We took him to the vet.... now, meanwhile, I had discovered that one of the antibiotics they gave Fluffy last year should never have been given to her as -and this is from the manufacturer's website- it should never be given to cats with kidney problems, especially if they are having trouble with passing urine. That is Fluffy exactly, but they gave it to her. I am left wondering if it is what sent her downhill so suddenly, because she changed literally within a few hours of that vet visit.

Anyway. I took Scooter to the same vets, but asked for the partner rather than a visiting vet. Scooter had a cold and was sneezing a lot. So the vet prescribed some anti-biotics..... and gave us the same ones. I queried them, saying I'd read they shouldn't be given to cats with poor kidney function (Scooter is 18 so he will have some, even if the symptoms aren't full blown yet). Well, this vet knew nothing about it and insisted there was no anti-biotic that couldn't be given because of kidney problems.

Hmm. I started to doubt myself and meekly came home with the tablets, thinking oh well, I must have got it wrong. Why do I do that??? I looked it up straight away and yep, I'm right, it is these same ones.

The vet was off on holiday next day. I gave the tablets to Scooter for a few days but not the whole course. He is a little better but drinking loads of water, which isn't a great sign.

I'm waiting to see someone this Thursday who recommended another vet to me in the past. I can't remember who she said, so I'm going to ask again and then take him there instead.

He is also FiV and on thyroid treatment- he should be having regular blood checks for these things and has only had one since last May with this vet, even when I ask about it.

AAAAARGH.

So it is back to my usual adage; if only people would do their jobs properly, the world would be a far less stressful place!!!!!

Thank you!

Thank you for so many messages following the loss of Fluffy. I was overwhelmed! I have never received so many comments. It has really helped, really it has. Thank you all so much!

*** *** *** *** ***

Mum is OK. She had a little cry but, thankfully, it hasn't hit her badly like I feared it would. Here is the Christmas card I made for her. Actually it's the second one as she lost the first (!!!)

 *** *** *** *** ***

 Here is a photo taken on Fluffy's last evening.... Scooter is taking a drink and Fluff is by the fire... if you look closely you'll see that she didn't have the strength to rest her head on top of her paws in that Sphinx pose that cats love- her head is resting to one side of her toes....

 Luvbug took this photo of us on her last morning.....

I have cried buckets this week and my arms ache to cuddle and hold her.

I keep thinking I can hear her in the house. I don't know if this is the auditory hallucinations that I get under stress with the Bi-polar, or if it's just normal grief. I think probably the latter, so I shan't worry...

 *** *** *** *** ***

This morning a special parcel arrived from Ginger Jasper! Look at the gorgeous card- GJ in his Christmas finery!

He send me a beautifully soft bear, and some things for making momentoes of Fluffy.....

 ...a little album, and an empty bauble- you put a photo in it and hang it on the tree.
 

I think it would be a lovely tribute to Fluffy, especially as she always loved Christmas sparkly things. She used to lie underneath the tree belly-up and daze up through the branches at all the twinkling lights. She also used to attack tinsel and go worra worra worra........

Thanks, GJ! I was very moved to receive these things. It is very kind of you. Look- your photo is now overlooking our crib!

 *** *** *** *** ***

 Here is Scooter by our tree...

We bought ourselves a little 3ft one! It has fibre-optic tips that change colour slowly and it's quite relaxing to sit and gaze at it! Scooter really enjoyed himself like a kitten when I got the decorations out.

Here is our mantelpiece lit up.

We bought little LED strings of lights that work by battery. I put a bunch in a couple of vases, which are the big glows in the picture. These are good lights as they don't get hot.

 *** *** *** *** ***
I am trying to keep my chin up and have a good Christmas- I have wrapped all my presents and all the shopping is done. It's difficult when others say how miserable they are though! Mum told me straight she can't wait for Christmas to be over, and Luvbug has been down over lack of work- the schools just haven't been calling in supply staff these last few weeks. I do see their point of view and I do sympathise, but mood is contagious, isn't it? So it is hard to keep plodding on at the moment. I am managing ok, but feel like I'm using my emergency tank, know what I mean?!

Farewell, sweet Fluff

 Fluffy, in the foreground, with her brother in the garden in July.

We took our princess to the vet this morning and she was put to sleep at 9.15.

Last night I lay by her box. Pretty soon her brother, Scooter, came and lay beside me. Whenever Fluffy stirred I stroked her to let her know we were there.

Early morning, she struggled to her feet. Her back legs were very weak and she could no longer manage more than 2 steps at a time. Her head hung down.

I lay down and lifted her onto my chest, where we had a final wee snuggle. She purred as I held her there and she snuggled her nose down into my jumper.

I took her to the vet in her blanket with her hot water bottle. The vet was very kind and gentle and I was allowed to hold her, talk to her, and her final moments were with me rubbing her eyebrows which was her favourite scrunch.

We will collect her ashes in a week or so. I'll keep them for a while, then, in the spring, when it's warm, I'll put them in with where her sister is buried, under some carnations at the end of the garden.

It is so hard.... I am 43, and Fluffy has been with me since I was 25. It isn't the years, it's the milestones. Young adulthood to the first steps of middle age. Boyfriends, jobs, even homes come and gone. She was there through it all. That's what makes it hard to let go. My poor, cheesy-footed baby. I miss her meow already.

Thank you all for all your kind support and loving good wishes....

Fluffy's last weekend?

Fluffy on Mum's lap in the week...

The vet rang on Wednesday with Fluffy's blood results. I had now been thinking anaemia, maybe, diabetes at worst? He said that her thyroid levels are now normal, so the new drug, Vidalta, has worked there. But her urea levels are sky high. Normal reading would be 10; in October hers was 20. Now it's 63. He said he was very surprised she is doing as well as she is with levels that high; usually, he said, when it is in the 30s they are giving up.....

He says this means that Fluffy's kidneys are shutting down. He thinks that the thyroid drug isn't being matabolised, i.e., it isn't being cleared out of her system. Perhaps, he said, perhaps if we leave off that drug for a little while, it will clear from her system and the urea will go down. So the plan last Wednesday was this: withdraw drugs and wait to see an improvement. If there is one, then we know that the high urea levels were only because of the drug in her system. If there isn't one, then her kidneys really are barely functioning.

Well, last weekend we started feeding her a super-palatable special food called Hills A/D and she loved it! Yum yum yum, we started to call it her licky-mush. More licky-mush? Yum yum.

By Monday it was becoming more difficult to get her to eat. Maybe she is just going off it, I thought. I started to heat it a little. She ate it.

The wobbly back legs recovered, which gave us hope. And I think you were all right about the meowing round the litter box- I think it used to hurt, so she was scared it would again, hence the continued crying. This still happens, but not for a as long.

But.....

I have been up through the night with her. She is refusing all food and I have to encourage her to drink her water. She gave up washing herself days ago; I am doing it with a warm, wet flannel. In the night, for a little while, her back legs went floppy and she seemed to have trouble lifting her head. It was flopped down and leaning to one side.

I stayed with her by the fire and got her to settle on my tummy for a while, with a blanket.

Now she is in her box with a hot water bottle. She has had a drink but refuses food. Maybe I should try to give her some with a syringe into the side of the mouth? But I do think i may be putting off the inevitable now........

I fear this is her last weekend, poor sweet girl....... she is a shadow of her former self. This isn't fair any more. I think if she were human she'd be on dialysis right now. I think she is feeling sick and yuck.....I feel so guilty to approach giving up stage, but I love her, and she trusts me, and part of that has to be being able to say, no more, that's enough now, no more.....