Goodbye, Sweet Pea

  Yesterday we had to say good bye to Sweet Pea--it was the hardest thing I've ever had to do. Last Thursday he was fine, started to get sick Friday evening and by early Thursday morning, we knew we had to let him go. As hard as this is, I wouldn't trade my time with him for anything. He was our family, our friend. There are so many things about him I will miss and my heart breaks everytime I go into a room and he isn't there to greet me. He came to me on July 5, 2003 when he was one day old. I have always done anything for him and loved him with all my heart. He knew he was well-loved and my husband and I got to be with him until the very end. It may take me a while before I can be back online full-time while I try to deal with losing him. Although it was a shock and he was still young, I don't think I could have ever been prepared for this.

Where do I start?

 I can't believe I haven't  blogged  in a month! I have been meaning to  do it every day,then every day I get busy   and another day has gone by. And so much can happen in a month! I had the roof for my studio delivered last Friday. Of course it rained all weekend and even SNOWED. (All  I had to do was  buy a roof to get snow!) Its warm this week,  but supposed to rain  again all weekend so I  don't know  if  we'll get it put on, but at least I am one step closer! CJ (the pretty blue-eyed kitty above) has started staying on the porch of my studio all day. I guess he noticed how I spend more time here now, so he moved  over  here  with me.  Then  he walks  me home at  night when I get ready to go home.

Such a gentleman!

Little Bit is starting to come around....she has eaten snacks from my hand and I can pet  her if she has her back turned. (I think she does it on purpose!  ha!) She is still  tiny--she hasn't grown much taller but she's filled out and looks really healthy. I guess she'll always be tiny--I didn't know that when I named  her Little Bit, but the name fits!

We had another kitty show up on our front porch a few weeks ago.  I was sick and in bed when my husband went to work. He came back inside & woke me up to tell  me about a pitiful little cat on our front porch. He said, "you migth want to go check on it." I knew it  must be pretty bad if he woke me  to tell me about it...Before I went outside, I called the vet to see if she would take him in her shelter. I knew I'd want to keep him  if I didn't  see  him first. But I was  not prepared for what I saw...this was the skinniest  cat  I have  ever seen. His  ears were black (what I later learned  was  frostbite),  you could see every bone in  his body, his eyes looked terrible, he had a huge abscess on his foot and he was  dirty. What made it even sadder was how friendly he was. I thought he was a kitten, maybe a couple of months old. When I took him to  the vet and she examined him, she said  he was at  least  9 mo. old because he has all  his teeth. I couldn't believe he was nearly grown and still  the size of a kitten! She tested him for Feline Leukemia & FLV....we were surprised it was negative  because he was in such bad shape. She told me she'd never  seen a  cat in such condition that acted like he  felt so good. He wanted everyone that came into the room to pet him. The vet  said she'd give him a few days to see if he improved. She also told me that a cat would not get  that skinny unless it was trapped or locked up somewhere. Hopefully he just got stuck somewhere--I hate to think someone would leave one like that to starve. It appears he has been neutered at some time too, so its a mystery....I've been checking on him when I am there, or if I'm  close by, I just stop in for a visit. He's still skinny, but he is actually starting to improve! He shocked us all....and I hope to see  him healthy and a normal weight one day. I have to go tomorrow so I'll check on him again. Its been over a week  so he should be looking pretty good by now!