To My Very Primal Furry Friend
Mom Says Goodbye
Cletus (approx 1994 - October 23, 2006)
Bedraggled and a mess,
Hungry, fearful and in pain,
Neck bare with tuffs of mats,
Ears swollen shut with mites to blame,
That was so long ago now, you were so afraid
I tried to help, but I wasn't your friend. Not yet anyway.
Where did you come from?
Where had you been?
Who neglected such a potential friend?
You always looked worried and sad
And the other cats just made you look mad.
Or was it some intense fear that I saw in your eyes.
A fear so great it was impossible to disguise.
You harbored your secrets, you hid them well
Not even in the end, to me would you tell.
Mother nature gave you caution to constantly be on guard
She told you to mark the trees, the tires, everything in the yard.
She told you to eat furiously and fast
As this food on this day may be your last.
She gave you strong instincts to let you live free.
No house or its bounds could contain you happily.You were primal to the end
How undignified it was for you
To wear your britches of red and of blue.
I tried to bring you in and treat you like a cat
But this caused you stress to be contained like that.
As your heart got weaker
Blood clots hurt your legs,
You refused your food and even got meeker.
You weren't really a fighter, rather a screamer I'ed say
But maybe that was in hopes of keeping Yoube at bay.
Now you are free, from the fear that gripped you so strong
And your spirit flies upward where nothing is wrong.
Only love and peace and hope and cheer
Will hold you now, until we meet some coming year.
Goodby, my fluffy friend, soft fur glistening with the dew of the morning will always be in my memories as also the vision of you sitting in the driveway, or on the brickwall or curled up under the dogwood trees or waiting for me at the mailbox. Now your body rests under the dogwoods with yellow pansies to remind me of you. You were a good cat and I hope you had a good life here with us inspite of Yoube.
I love you,
Momcat
I don't really remember what happened to me before I found a nice house with lots of food and kind people that winter day. I do know that my ears itched like crazy, so much that I scratched and scratched trying to make them stop. The scratching just made sores under my ears and around my ears and it also made all my fur mat up and hang in clumps.
After I stayed at this house for a few days and ate good, Momcat started to look a little more friendly like she wanted to help me, so I let her put me in a box (after a bit of a fight) and away we went in the car. After staying in the hospital for a day or so, I did feel a lot better...even though something seemed to be missing. The itching had stopped and my ears started to return to normal size. The doctor was afraid I might be deaf, but I wasn't. Luckily, I found Momcat in the nick of time.
I heard Momcat talk about finding me a good home, but I had already found one, so I didn't understand that. I knew I had to do something, so I decided I'ed just spray everything in sight to tell the world this was my turf. Of course, she explained to me later that it was completely impossible to find me a good home if I sprayed everything. Who would want a cat that did that? I didn't understand why she thought it was so bad, so I just sprayed her once to show her it was just my way of saying she belonged to me! Boy did she ever look surprised!!! Anyway, I think that sealed my fate. I was HOME!!!
The only problem with this great home was another cat, who also didn't have a home when he came here. He's a big black and white tuxedo cat who looks like he never misses a meal. His name is Yoube and he just doesn't want me to stay, so he keeps trying to chase me off. The best we could work out is for the most part I stay in the front of the house or out on one of the decks. In the wintertime, I have a nice warm doghouse with a cushy bed in it and Yoube doesn't bother me there.
Momcat tried to make me a housecat at first, but I didn't like those housecats either and I got very nervous because I'ed never been penned up inside before. I got so nervous that I started having a problem going to the bathroom. I had to go to the hospital several times for all kinds of urinary problems. Finally Momcat said ok, this isn't working out. Maybe if I let you outside you will de-stress and get well. Which is exactly what happened. While I was inside I also had to wear clothes~ They were called britches, but I didn't like them much.
I was just used to being free outside, even though thats where Yoube stayed, I'ed rather put up with him then to be locked up inside.
Everything seemed to be going along fine until this fall I just didn't feel good, so I stopped eating. Momcat tried all kinds of things to give me to eat, but I just didn't want anything. She took me to the hospital and they gave me fluids and when I got back home, I did eat a little each day for awhile until one day I felt really bad and one of my back legs wouldn't work. I had to drag it and it hurt really bad, like pins or needles were being stuck in it. Back to the hospital we went and this time I had to stay a few days, sometimes in a special cage with oxygen. When I came home, I still didn't want to eat, but I did appease Momcat some and ate a little babyfood meat off a spoon most days. She made me a nice cage by the big kitchen window up high so I could look out at the lake and my yard and the other cats wouldn't bother me. Three or four times a day she would carry me outside and let me walk to the lake front and drink from the lake, then she'ed carry me back up the hill into the house. It was not a good way to live and my heart was getting worse and worse. They said I had cardio-myopathy, just like Nugget had. So Momcat said it was time, even though I wasn't too sure...I think she wasn't too sure either, but it broke her heart to see me like this and I was just getting worse. The last thing I remember is her voice telling me it was going to be alright and no cat or no person would ever hurt me again.
A TABBY AT THE GATE
In Heaven things were busy
Earth day was growing late
When St. Peter turned to God and said,
"There's a Tabby at the Gate."
"I don't know how long he's been there,
he didn't even mew."
"Let him in," God replied,
"And we'll see what he will do."
The gate was then swung open
And in the Tabby walked.
He looked around, blinked his eyes,
And to God began to talk.
"I wasn't sure you'd let me in,
There is belief on earth
That cats don't go to heaven,
That we're lacking in our worth."
God then gave a worried sigh
Of weariness and grief
And reassured the Tabby,
"There's no truth to that belief."
"Cats are sent to earth
To represent a key
To the unconditional, purest love
That comes to all from Me."
"For there are some people
Who need something they can see,
And feel and touch in order to
Confirm belief in Me."
"So I have sent all the cats
(and other creatures too)
To show how a perfect love
Can come to them, too."
So when in Heaven things are busy
And earth day is growing late
St. Peter is keeping one eye out
In case a Tabby's at the Gate.
Author Nancy Partney
Paraphrased from original. Complete poem can be found at
IF IT SHOULD BE
If it should be that I grow weak
And pain should keep me from my sleep;
Then you must do what must be done,
For this last battle can't be won.
You will be sad, I understand;
But don't let grief then stay your hand.
For this day more than all the rest,
Your love for me must stand the test.
We've had so many happy years;
What is to come can hold no fears.
You don't want me to suffer so
The time has come, please let me go.
Take me where my needs they'll tend,
But please stay with me 'til the end
To hold me close and speak to me
Until my eyes no longer see.
I know in time you will agree,
It was a kindness done for me.
Although my tail its last has waved,
From pain and suffering I'm saved.
Please do not grieve that it was you
Who had this painful thing to do.
We've been so close, we two, these years;
Don't let your heart hold any tears.
Author Unknown
GOODBYE MY GENTLE, PRIMAL CAT, YOU WERE MY LINK TO THE WILD,
THANK YOU FOR FINDING ME
AND SHARING YOUR LIFE WITH ME THESE PAST TEN YEARS,
I WILL
ALWAYS MISS YOU
Links to pet-loss sites
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Kat Karma and all my Old Friends
To My Old Friend Gumby's Memorial Page - He went before me to the Bridge on
May 11, 1998
To My Old Friend Ichabod's Memorial Page - He went before me to the Bridge
on July 6, 1998
To My Old Friend Henry's Memorial
Page - He went before me to the Bridge on October 9, 1998
To My Old Friend Slick's Memorial
Page - He went before me to the Bridge on September 13, 2003
To My Old Friend Nugget's Memorial
Page - He went before me to the Bridge on February 6, 2004