Tag Archives: Tribute to a cat

My Rescue Cats, Tributes

A Tribute to the Sweetest Cat in the World

A Tribute to the Sweetest Cat in the World

On March 8, 2023, I said my final goodbyes to the sweetest, most loving cat in the world, Maggie. Maggie spent her final hours laying contentedly swaddled in warm blankets outside listening to the trills, whistles, chirps and croaks of the birds waking up to the early morning sun, while she bathed in the warmth of the sun’s rays. Maggie was so relaxed and happy being in her favorite place on the patio. These were her last moments and they were good ones. When my veterinarian arrived, I brought Maggie inside. Still warm from the sun—the patio door wide open for her to still hear the birds, she seemed contented and peaceful. Lying on her favorite raised cat bed, I thanked her for all the unconditional love, companionship and friendship she shared so sweetly with me for the past 18 years. Through all the ups and downs of my life, Maggie was always there for me with her sweet love, the kindest eyes, and her loving paw that she would rest on my hand. While hearing my voice expressing my deepest gratitude for her, she quietly fell into a deep sleep and left us. Gone was the suffering, anxiety, pain and physical decline that she had been experiencing the weeks prior.

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Tributes

Tribute to Alex the Cat With Nine Lives

The old English proverb about “A cat having nine lives,” goes on to say, “For three he plays, for three he strays, and for the last three he stays.” Though only a proverb, myth, or legend—and not to be taken seriously—it could not hold more true for our cat Alex, who survived against all odds, lived some of his life on borrowed time, and cheated death multiple times. Through all of his challenges and near-death experiences, Alex beat the odds and lived a surprisingly long life until August 2020, when he had a fatal stroke that left him paralyzed and took his life, his ninth and final life.

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Tributes

A Tribute to my beloved pillow kitty, pasha

Pasha was a survivor. She was born fighting for her life, and her life ended the same way. Pasha was a fighter with a fierce life force and spirit to live, even when confronted with the most challenging physical problems to overcome. From the day Pasha was born in the drop box of the Martinez Animal Shelter, Pasha fought with all of her might to stay alive. She and her three newborn siblings and her mama were deathly sick with Feline Viral Rhinotacheitis (FVR), a common virus that spreads in animal shelters that can quickly devastate fragile, vulnerable kittens. When we brought Pasha, kittens and mama cat home to foster—one by one, the kittens succumbed to the virus following several visits to the emergency hospital to revive and treat them. But their tiny bodies could not defend against the virulent virus and they surrendered to the disease. Only Pasha survived along with her beautiful mother. Pasha had the life force of four lives in one. Now 18 years later, Pasha is fighting for her life again with every weak breath that is slowly taking her life and her vibrant, beautiful spirit with her. It is with so much sadness and heartbreak that we witness Pasha losing her battle to stay alive. In the last 24 hours, Pasha has developed rapid labored breathing, lethargy, weakness, and has stopped eating—as her physical body is letting go of life. And now, we are facing the toughest challenge, a day we wish would never come, the day we need to help our little Pasha go, to alleviate any further suffering for her.

A Tribute to My Beloved Pillow Kitty, Pasha
On Pasha’s last day
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Tributes

A Tribute to my Beloved, Beautiful Cat Marcello

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Just over 12 years ago, a beautiful, lean and well-muscled orange tabby boy skulked and slinked low to the ground into our back yard—and started visiting our home. He was hungry and living outside during an exceptionally cold, wet winter when we were visited with constant storms and pelting rain. For three nights in a row, this orange beauty slinked across our patio to where our feral food bowls were located, right in front of our French doors, and scarfed up as much food as possible, before pivoting and discreetly walking away as quickly and quietly as he came. My first thought was that this orange tabby was a new feral joining our small band of neighborhood feral cats that I had taken responsibility to feed outside every night. These cats had come to depend on us for their nightly repast for many years now. But on second thought, I knew it was even more likely that this adult orange boy had probably been callously dumped and abandoned by some thoughtless person who decided to move away with one less belonging—tossing this helpless creature to fend for himself, while she or he went on their merry way. It was evident that he had been living outside for some time, as the tips of his ears were well chewed on—healed scars and wounds from cat fights that left him tattered, but alive. He was extremely fearful of seeing us in the window—so his physical contact with humans appeared to be long forgotten and now we were something to be feared. We were enemy number one for this boy.

A Tribute to My Beloved, Beautiful Cat Marcello
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My Rescue Cats, Tributes

A Loving Tribute to My Dear Cat Dusty

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On Monday, December 3rd, we sadly said goodbye to our sweet, dear old cat Dusty. At 21 years of age, Dusty’s body had just given out. His health had been slowly deteriorating, and in the past two years he was suffering from arthritis, hyperthyroid disease in recent months, kidney disease, muscle wasting—but the final straw was an upper respiratory infection that he could not overcome with antibiotics. The infection worsened, and when Dusty started to have difficulty breathing—we knew we needed to let him go. But Dusty put up a hard fight, he had fought valiantly to live, and didn’t want to leave his loving cat mates and his humans—but his body had other ideas.

A Loving Tribute to My Dear Cat DustyDusty was the dearest, sweetest boy imaginable. He had a heart of gold, was gentle and kind to all of his cat friends, and was dearly loved by his best friend Angus who stayed loyally by Dusty’s side—licking him, cleaning him, care-taking him and cuddling him. Angus thought of himself as Dusty’s big brother even though Angus was many years his junior. Angus would hold Dusty in his arms, his legs extended cradling his body, and he would give Dusty this loving embrace for hours. Dusty could not have been happier and loved Angus back equally, and felt secure in Angus’s strong arms.

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