Memories
There have been many wonderful cats that have touched our lives. Unfortunately we don't have pics of all of them scanned into the computer yet.
McTavish
Mactavish (Mac) - Mac walked up the stairs of my house on Halloween night, the year I was four. I was just leaving with my mother to do the rounds and there she was a tiny kitten making her way up the stairs. My Dad wanted to call her Candy, but that didn't seem to suit her. She was a long haired brown tabby. She lived until well into her teens and then just disappeared one day. Dad told me much later that he had found Mac in the garage in a cardboard box. It was about a week after she went missing. She was all curled up and looked like she was asleep. He waited until we were out shopping with Mom to bury her in the back yard.
Muffin
Muffin - Muffin was bought from the SPCA, but sadly she was killed in an accident in the car. She was a sleek black kitten.
Samantha
Samantha - Sam was a beautiful silver tipped white Persian. I had always loved Persian cats and I deperately wanted one. One year my Mom surpised me with a tiny Persian kitten. I was thrill with her. Sadly she was hit by a car in front of our house when she was still young.
Ginger(Ginny) and Roo(Kangaroo)
Ginger and Roo - I found Ginny and Roo at the side of a road in Vancouver in the pouring rain. They were only a few days old and I had to bottle feed them. But they survived and lived to the ripe old ages of 17 and 18. Ginny and Roo became my Mom's cats when I moved out to be married. They wouldn't leave the house they were raised in.
Buffy
Buffy - Buffy was our first cat after we were married. He was a shorthaired tabby. He was the most wonderful cat you could ever meet. He had so much personality he was like a person. Buffy lived with us in our first apartment, which he hated. Then he moved with us to our house in Port Coquitlam, which he loved. He then moved with us to Kelowna and would go on camping trips with us. He also vacationed at the Empress Hotel in Victoria, where a lady mistook him for an ocelot! When our first baby was born, Buffy loved her and would cuddle with her and I at nursing time. He also loved our second daughter and made no favourites. Buffy moved with us to Tsawwassen, where at the age of 15 he passed away.
Thomas
Thomas - We found Thomas under a some stairs at a warehouse. He was a tiny white kitten and he joined us in our new house in Port Coquitlam with Buffy. He and Buffy grew up together. He was a quiet unassuming, loving cat. One of my biggest regrets, is that he became ill while we were on holidays one year and I allowed the neighbour to take him to the vet where he was put to sleep. I will always feel badly for not having the chance to properly say good-bye to my Thomas.
Tiki
Tiki - Tiki was given to me by my Kindergarten class. Unfortunately she was killed by a car, very shortly after we got her.
Beau
Beau - We got Beau from the SPCA. He was a cute black kitten. Shortly after we got him, he became very ill and it took several weeks for him to recover. I think his recovery was hastened by a very unusual treatment. One day after turning on the dryer, I heard a bonk, I opened the door to see a very confused looking Beau staring at me. He was only in the dryer for seconds, but his ordeal seemed to make him stronger and within a week he was well!! Beau went missing when we were on holidays a few years later.
Taffy
Taffy - We got Taffy from our neighbours, when their cat Tiffy had kittens. Taffy was a beautiful calico cat. She had long luxurious hair and was quite the princess. Taffy lived many years with us in Tsawwassen. In her later years she became quite frail and wouldn't come upstairs to sleep in the bedroom anymore. One morning I was on my way to school(I'm a teacher) and she was sitting at the top of the stairs. I petted her and said Good Morning Old Gal, unusual to see you up here. I went off to school, which was only a 10 minute drive. When I got there, there was a message to call home. My daughter was distraught, something was the matter with Taffy. I raced back home to find Taffy sleeping with her head on the doorstep, when I patted her, I knew we had lost her. We buried Taffy in the side yard of the house, the only place she had ever lived.
Teddy
Teddy - Teddy was an SPCA cat too. He was my beloved Teddy. My soulmate after I lost Buffy. Buffy trained Teddy in that job I am sure. Teddy and I were inseparable. I lost Teddy when he was only 8 years old. We had gone out to dinner and my daughter called to say Teddy looked ill. I wanted to leave right away, but by the time we managed to get out of the restaurant and hurry home, Teddy had passed away. My daughter said he crawled into my chair and just went to sleep there. Teddy is buried in the side yard of the Tsawwassen house next to Taffy.
Tigger(Tiggy)
Tigger - We bought Tigger from the SPCA for my daughter Brianne. He was her baby. Tiggy was a longhaired brown tabby and a very beautiful one. He was full of personality and had the most wonderful character. Tiggy passed away at home on Thanksgiving, surrounded by the people he loved. I was petting him and Brianne was holding his paw. Tiggie is buried in the side yard of the Tsawwassen house with Taffy and Teddy. When we moved from the Tsawwassen house, we went and took a little dirt from each of their graves and put it in separate jars. We took it to our new home and buried them in the garden so our kitties could be with us there.
BP(Bushpuss)
BP (BushPuss) - Beepers, was found with her sister Bikini(a sleek shorthaired black) at the barn where we boarded our horses in Tsawwassen. In November of 2000 when the girls were 7 years old, we moved to Langley to a farm of our own. Bikini however would not come with us and remained with our good neighbours Barb, Jim and Amanda. When we visited her, she still knew us and would cuddle up. Bikini(whom Barb had renamed Tina) passed away in 2012. Beepers, was a beautiful Russian Blue mix. She moved with us to the farm and loved hunting mice in the field behind the house. The summer of 2001, she went missing and we suspect the coyotes found her. We still hope that she just wandered to the other side of the field and got lost and found a new home over there.
Toby
Toby - My daughter bought Toby in September of 2000. He moved with us to Langley. He was the spitting image of Roxie. Two days after Beepers went missing, Toby went missing too. He probably shared the same fate as Beepers, but we hope he is living on the other side of the meadow with a new family too.
Cisco
I first met Cisco, when one of my students brought him to school to show me the kitten his dad had found in the warehouse where he worked. Cisco was his own cat and he eventually proved too much for this kind and loving family. They worried about his constant wanderings and finally in his second year, they asked if I would take him to live at our farm. We agreed and Cisco moved to the farm. He became great friends with Charlie and the two were inseparable. Early in the summer, Cisco did not come home for dinner and although we called and searched, we never saw him again. Charlie missed him greatly and so did the rest of the family.
Here is Cisco's page......Cisco.
Panda
Panda was found on January 29, 2002 in the middle of a snow-covered field. Brianne had been working in the barn and kept hearing a cat meowing, she couldn't find it anywhere and continued her work. Suddenly Cole, her Malemute, bolted from the barn and raced off towards the field. Brianne was furious with him, thinking he was just running off and she raced after him, thoroughly intending to give him a good scolding. When she finally caught up to him, he was sitting staring at a rock. On top of the rock was a very tiny white and black kitten. Brianne scooped her up and took a hasty look around for others. When I arrived home from work, Panda was waiting for me. She had cried so much, she had no voice left, she was cold and hungry. I spent the evening holding her tucked into my sweatshirt and feeding her watered down cat food. She slept and ate and slept and ate. Pandy never got over that traumatic experience, in that she did not trust anyone but me and she was never very cuddly, although she did like to be petted and scratched on her own terms. By the summer of 2006, she was beginning to like being scratched and petted and was actully sleeping on our bed each night. I loved that little girl so much, because of her shyness, gentleness and sweetness.
September 27, 2006 is a date I will remember. We were at the Elton John concert, when we arrived home Panda had escaped. I had to work the next day, so left the cat door open for her. By nightfall, she hadn't returned, so I left the door on "in only", but I closed the laundry room door to keep the rest of the cats from scratching at the door. Well, Panda came home that night, but she scratched and worked at the door until she broke it open. I always think that if I had left the laundry room door open, she wouldn't have done that, she would have come up to bed like she always did. Early the next morning we were awoken by the sound of coyotes in the next field. I knew they had found her. It seems ironic that she survived in that field as a tiny kitten and we saved her from the coyotes then, but they claimed her a mere 4 years later. Panda was always a bit wild, maybe she returned to the wild and is still living out there, wild and free. We don't hear the coyotes so much anymore, now that they built the housing development behind us. We have lost so many kitties to them, that I am not too sorry to see them go. I am sorry for the coyotes loss of habitat, but I am happy to see them move further away. Perhaps our surviving kitties will stand a better chance.
Here is Panda's page..........Panda.
Roxie
Roxie was brought home from the SPCA after the tragic loss of Brianne's first cat Toby. Roxie was the spitting image of Toby. Unfortunately tragedy struck Brianne again. On December 17, 2008 Brianne's suite above the barn caught fire. Brianne had gone to school that morning to write a final exam. By the time the neighbours saw smoke and came to get me, it was too late for Roxie. Our neighbour, who is a fireman, tried to go into the suite to save her, but he could not get up the stairs for the smoke and heat. I myself tried to go up, but I got halfway and could not go any farther, I called and called, but Roxie never came. The firemen told us later that she was overcome by the heat and succumbed to smoke inhalation, most likely before we even saw the smoke escaping the suite. We miss her so much, she was our little princess of the barn, she loved to come down to the barn and follow us around and meow, like she was giving us instructions, when we cleaned the stalls on the weekend mornings.
Here is Roxie's page...Roxie
Charlie(Charcoal)
We always said that Charlie was the only cat we had ever bought, but what a cat!!! Brianne bought Charlie as a companion for her cat Roxie, but it didn't work out they just never bonded, Roxie, Charlie or Brianne. However Charlie and I bonded, he was my snuggly little boy. On February 23, 2014, I noticed that Charlie's right eye was completely dilated. I took him to the vet but they could find nothing wrong. We kept a watch on it, but it wouldn't go down, however Charlie was his old self and running around enjoying life. On March 11, Charlie came wandering into the mud room and tripped getting into the litter box. I watched as he became confused as to how to get out of the box, so I lifted him out and put him down on the floor, he staggered and collapsed. I rushed him to the vet and they did tests, but again nothing. I took him home and the vet made arrangements for him to see the neurologist. In we went, Charlie was almost comotose. The specialist ran many tests and finally the MRI showed a tumor on his brain. As they investigated further it became clear to them that this tumor was causing Charlie's brain to swell. The tumor was inoperable. On March 14, 2014 I held Charlie in my arms and snuggled with him for a while. He passed away peacefully in my arms. I like to think his best buddy Cisco was there to meet him at the Rainbow Bridge and the two of them are running free in the fields. Charlie was a gentle soul, he liked nothing better than a good head butt and sitting watching me in the kitchen and stretching out a paw to tap me on the hand. He was a beautiful gentle boy.
Here is Charlie's page...Charlie
Boo(Bubastis)
In the summer of 2015, the heat was unbearable. The older kitties were feeling it terribly so I had fans set up in the study for them to go and keep cool. In August we had to leave for a family wedding in Germany. The morning we left, I went around and told the kitties where we were going and said Bye to them all. When I got to Boo I thought she looked very exhausted and I asked the girl who was taking care of the cats to make sure to keep an eye on her. On Wednesday, August 12, 2015, five days before we were scheduled to fly home, we received an email from the cat caretaker that Boo had taken a bad turn and had passed away that morning. It's always hard to lose a fur baby, but even more so when you are 5000 miles away. The vet had made arrangements to keep Boo until I returned. On the day we returned, I called the vet and went down to say good-bye to Boo and make her arrangements. I was so sorry for not being there for her. The quietest cat in the house was our Boo, very independent, but dependent. Tizzie chose her as her companion 18 years ago and they remained together until Boo had to leave.
Here is Boo's page...Boo
Ginger Tom
In March of 2017 we took a wonderful trip to Japan. When we returned home on March 23, I opened the door to find Ginger Tom just sitting there. He never moved as we carried in cases and walked around him. This was very odd for him. The next morning I took him to our vet. He was severely dehydrated and his potassium levels were high. He stayed in hospital for a week. I visited him daily and on the third day he got up and staggered to me. He had been too weak to move, but he started moving around and by the end of the week he seemed to have fully recovered. The vets had no idea what had happened and they had consulted a number of other vets in their quest for a cause. I happily took him home. Two weeks later he was back in hospital with the same symptoms, but now he was disoriented and kept bumping into things. This time the vet made arrangements for us to go that evening to the "Mayo" clinic for pets. Canada West Vet Services are a 24 hour care hospital and they have all the best doctors, equipment, you name it. They admitted Ginger Tom on the Thursday night. We were in constant contact with the doctor as to how the tests were going. On Saturday morning I got the call I didn't want. They had found a mass on GT's pancreas and they were 99.9% sure it was cancer. They suggested I take GT home for palliative care. When we got home we set up the dining room so that Ginger Tom would be safe and comfortable there. All he did was walk around the permeter of the room and when he met an obstacle he turned around and went the other way. This behaviour had made the doctors certain of their diagnosis and that it had moved into his brain. I watched him pace and then I went in and sat with him. Poor baby was exhausted and as I held him tightly he fell fast asleep. For the next two days I never left him only for the bare necessities. Even at night I slept on a mattress on the floor so that I could hold him against me to sleep. We put a gate up at the door to the room and the other cats came and went to visit him. He did still recognize them and when his BFF Michael came in he walked wobbly over to Michael and snuggled with him. Michael was bewildered, what had happened to his inseparable companion. It was a sad thing to see. On Monday at noon, our vet arrived as scheduled. On April 10, 2017 I held Ginger Tom in my arms, surrounded by family, human and furry, and friends, Ginger Tom crossed the Rainbow Bridge.
Here is Ginger Tom's page...Ginger Tom
Gabby
On November 1, 2017 Gabby joined her brothers and sisters at the Rainbow Bridge. Gabby was adopted by us from a PetSmart adoption center in 2001. She was so ugly and forlorn that she had been left in the shelter for at least 6 months, no one wanted her. Well what could we do, we took her home. Within a few weeks of good food, good companions, good brushin' and good lovin' she turned, like Cinderella into a lovely princess. She was gentle and wanted only to be loved. Gabby, and that name was so appropriate that we would never have changed it, was a very vocal girl, yakkity yak yak all day!!! As the years passed Gabby, as a senior cat, began to show signs of kidney disease and it was ultimately the advance of that disease that was impossible to stop, only able to treat it. On October 29 as the dogs went out Gabby who hadn't left the house forever, made a mad dash out the door across the driveway and into the horses' paddocks. I flew after her and as she ran she spooked the horses, panic was abound, human and equine. I finally grabbed her and whisked her out of the paddocks. I took her the next morning to the vet as she seemed to be walking funny. She was due for her blood test anyways, to see if the new meds we had added to her list were helping hold back the kidney disease. They weren't and they also found her dehydrated and with a seriously low red blood cell count. They gave her a special shot to reverse this and she was to return on Wednesday for the second shot. She was very weak and I served her dinner in her basket. That night I slept with her heated blanket basket on the bed next to me. I heard a few meows in the night but she didn't move to get out of the basket. In the morning I moved the basket back down to the study and I knew she was very bad. I had to run and pick up my grandson and told her I would be back as quick as I could and we'd go to the vet for her second shot and more hydration. When we returned she was still laying in the basket. My grandson said Hi Kitty to her and went off to play trains in the family room. I sat with her and held her paw, stroking her head. About 10 minutes later Gabby looked up at me and looked as if she was stretching up and then she fell silent. She passed away naturally with me holding her. She had waited for me to be with her. Gabby was always a considerate girl up to the last minute. She will be missed.
Here is Gabby's page: Gabby
Tizzie(Tismet)
Tizzie came to us in the summer of 1996 as an eight week old kitten. We quickly calculated the date of her birth which brought us back to the begining of May. As my Mom had just passed away I gave Tizzie my Mom's Birthday, May 3(then we found out Mom's actually birthday was May 2 as she was a twin and she was born on May 2 and her twin on May 3 and they always celebrated on May 3). Tizzie became my soulmate. She was a beautiful girl and had the "Princess" looks and attitude. She was the ruler of the house, but she was a kind and gentle ruler. Any kitten that arrived at our house was immediately taken under Tizzie's wing. She was a great mother to them all.
On November 17, 2017 Tizzie left us. She had contracted pneumonia in August of 2017 and had successfully fought it off. On the morning of November 15 we were preparing to leave for a trip to Disneyland and Palm Springs with my daughter and her son. I noticed some wheezing going on with Tizzie and I called the vet, Dr. Machine. She said she'd be right down to check. The penumonia had returned so Dr. Machine said we should go on our trip and she would visit Tizzie everyday to give the medicine and a little check up to cure the penumonia again. Our neighbour was going to be taking care of the cats and dogs and so a plan was formed. That was a day I hved lived to regret. I should never have left. Thursday's reports from the neighbour, the doctor and my other daughter were good. Jillian, my daughter who sounds very much like me said Tizzie was alert and she cuddled her and left her snuggling down for sleep. The next morning, November 17, I got a frantic call from my neighbour. Tizzie wouldn't eat, or drink and seemed very weak. She had called the doctor and she was on her way. When the doctor arrived she immediately called me and sent me a video of Tizzie. She was in distress and I said I would be on the next plane back, but the next plane was 3 hours away and a 2 hour plane ride home. Dr. Machine said, she wou't make it until then and she is in distress. My neithbour video called me and when I spoke to Tizzie she turned towards the phone and tried to get up. It broke my heart to think I had deserted her when she needed me. I had sworn to myself I would be with her and I was gone. My neighbour sat on the floor and put my jacket over her knees and held Tizzie so she could smell me on the jacket and held the phone up to her so she could hear me talking to her. Tizzie passed away quictly listing to me talk to her and tell her how much I loved her. I don't think I will ever get over leaving her. I truly thought she would respond to the treatment as she had before and be there waiting for me to return home to her.
I loved that beautiful gentle soul so much. I don't know how to get over this loss. Twenty-one and a half years is a long time to be constant companions and soulmates. So I will close with Tizzie and my little bedtime routine, complete with kisses and snuggles:
Goodnight Tizzie, Queen of the world and Princess of all, yes you are
Mommy loves you, yes she does
Night, night Baby Girl, are you coming to bed?
Tismet, who was always known as Tizzie
May 3(2), 1996 - November 17, 2017
Here is Tizzie's page: Tizzie
Spider
Spider was a case of mistaken identity. I thought he was the neighbour's cat Spider so I took him over to her. Nope wasn't Spider, but she kept him anyways. Well, he took up with a cute little barn girlcat and in three days time he was back at our house with his girlfriend. Within a month the happy couple had moved into our barn. By 2016 they were full fledged house cats.
Sadly, Spider, who only ever wanted to be a house cat, had only two years of his dream come true. Spider passed away, at home, naturally, January 16, 2018. Three weeks earlier he had been diagnosed with Lymphoma. It was so sad, how quickly he succumbed. He was his old self until three weeks before he passed. I noticed he seemed lethargic and suddenly felt very skinny, with his big winter coat on it was hard to notice until one was petting him. I took him to the vet the next morning and blood, tests, scan, and x-rays showed a large mass in his large intestine. Further testing by the specialist hospital confirmed what we feared. Spider came home with some meds for palliative care. He was great for two weeks and then he began to decline swiftly. He began having seizures and I called the vet to say that things were getting worse. The night before he passed away, I brought him to bed with us and he layed on his bed between us and never moved. The next morning he was not responding to me at all and I called the vets to confirm our appointment. Suddenly he began vomiting and convulsing. I held him through it and he looked up at me, looking horrified and helpless until he passed. He wanted to live and his body fought to stay with us, but the disease had taken too big a hold and there was no stopping it. My vet told me when I called her and said we didn't need her to come, that cats were like that, you never know if they're sick until they're really sick and often it's too late. Spider was a feisty but very loving kitty. Minnie misses him greatly. At least he enjoyed two years of house cat bliss. RIP Spider, you are loved and missed.
Here is Spider's page: Spider
Michael
Michael was a very dapper cat in a complete Tuesdo. He was part Maine Coon. When Ginger Tom finally decided to give up the singular feral life, he and Michael became the best of friends. They were like the Odd Couple Ginger Tom a rough, ragged eared guy and Michael the polished, perfectly preened gentleman. In 2017 when Ginger Tom became ill, Michael was upset. When he went into the Dining room to visit with his buddy, Michael just couldn't understand why G.T. didn't want to play and wouldn't stop bumping into him. Michael became quit upset when he was with G.T. When G.T. succumed to his illness, Michael was completely lost. He would not stop meowing and following me around. When I sat at my computer he would sit directly in front of me and stare at me, as if to say what have you done with my BFF. Two years later in November of 2019, I noticed a large lump on Michael's neck. In he went and our fears were confirmed. Michael had Lymphona. He came home for palliative care. Three weeks later Michael and I drove to the vet's office. The vet practice we had been with for 20 years had been sold and our fabulous ver had been given her walking papers. She had been treating Michael and she called to check on him and said that she would come to our house to help him cross the Rainbow Bridge if necessary. I was advised by the vet who had just sold the business that he couldn't allow her to do that, he would come. On the day that I knew Michael needed our help, the vet wan't there and the new owner could not come to the house. So Michael and I met her, she was very nice and compassionate about the whol thing. So on the cold November day Michael and I cuddled and he slipped away to find Ginger Tom waiting for him at the Rainbow Bridge.
Here is Michael's page: Michael
