May lose a good friend tonight.

Yeah, I'm like you guys, a sucker for every stray that comes along. BTW, I do feel really good about the outcome of one situation I mentioned recently. A couple of months ago I went out of the shop to dump some garbage and there was a little cat eating out of the Deli dumpster next to our shop. I went back in and got some of our cat's canned food and put it down for her. I walked away and she came up and started to eat it. That night she ate two cans.

We continued to feed her every night, and she would show up around dusk. Always ate two full cans and was starting to gain some weight........she was really skinny in the beginning. After a while some Mothers who drop their Daughters off at the Ballet School next door started to notice her and one put a dish out there and would also feed her every night. It got to the point where the cat was so full by the time I got there she didn't want any more food! :LOL:

Long story short, I kept telling these Moms that someone should adopt this little cat, she had a terrific personality and loved attention. She had to have been someones cat at one time because she loved and didn't fear people at all. Finally, we noticed the cat was not around for a few nights, and feared for the worst. But then we learned the lady who owns the Ballet School adopted her and took her to Naples Florida to live with her. They said she took the cat to the vet to be checked and she was healthy and had a chip installed to identify her from the previous owner. They tried to contact them, but couldn't so now Mia (the name the lady gave her) now lives in a nice home and has someone who loves her.

Nice to see one more little cat off of the street. You can't save them all, but even one more life saved is a victory. Here are a couple of pictures of her taken after she had been coming around for a little while.

Don

she is a beauty. what a great story.

Great story Don, and it is nice that she now has a home. You can't help but feel sorry for them when they are hungry and out there to trying to survive.

Richard

We just put a chip in Pretzel when we got Teva. She already had one, so if they get lost, hopefully someone will scan them and return them. Great cat stories!, One of my coworkers retired a few years ago. Her husband got very sick and died only a few months after she retired. She was devistated. Around that time a Parrot showed up in her back yard. It would talk with her, and keep her company. It really helped her through a tough time. She posted flyers around the neihborhood and in the paper for the bird's owners. In the end about six weeks later, they found the bird's owner and returned him, I believe, and I am not making this up, His name was Robbie(the same as her recently deceased husband).:)

I've read your post and the sincere kind replies you received were heart warming to read. I can feel the sadness you feel. If I could I would like to share with you a similiar situation I had, our family cat named Mittens. I had never had a pet until my daughters wanted one, once they left home for college Mittens adopted me as his best friend. I swear I could carry on a conversation with him. I could talk to him and most of the times he would respond with a sound. Don't know what he was "saying" but he would respond. When I had to have him put to sleep, he was 17, I took a half days vacation and spent a couple hours with him before taking him to the vet. Leaving the vet's office I was in tears and I was 58 years old! The next day at work I fellow I work with asked me what I did on my half day of vacation, I told him what I had done. The next day this guy came to my office. I need to describe this fellow, he is my age and he was/is a Harley biker before it was cool, he has tatoos, pierced ears, swears like nobody you have ever heard, he hands me a paper and says he is sorry to hear about my cat. On the paper was a poem, the poem was about loosing a pet. I always remember this as a very simple gesture but an exceptional show of kindness from the last person I would have expected it from. A pet can bring out the best in people. Like someone earlier said, no matter how crappy your day is or how good or bad you may feel they are always there unconditionally for you. We as people could learn allot from pets!

I didn't want to beat this thread more than I have already, so I kind of have left it lay, but I feel I have to respond to those of you who have posted recently and all through this ordeal. First off all, thank you to everyone for your very, very kind and comforting words. It is obvious that not only are all of you very nice, kind people, but you also understand what it means to have this happen to someone else.

I still second guess myself.......did I leave Scooter down by making the decision too quickly to let her go? I will never know the answer, at times I say it was the right decision because of how sick she was, and at other times I feel we should have tried anyway. I would guess every person who has been put in the position of having to say those words has had the same doubts.

While I am better than I was a week ago when this happened, I still have to look away when I flip through the pictures in my computer and one of her comes up. She was a unique cat, as all pets are, and every time I go to the shop I expect her to be greeting me at the door, or to be stealing my seat. I'm like you all too in the respect that I am not ashamed that I have shed some serious tears over losing her..........hell, I'm teary eyed just writing this. When you have a pet for years they become a big part of your life.

I look at the other cats differently now too. Sniffy is getting old, actually a year older than Scoot, but she is more active and probably in better health. However, I know the day will come when she isn't here. I hope if anything good comes out of this we all take a little extra time to be with our living pets, and maybe appreciate them a little more.

Thank you again everyone.

Don

Never much liked cats until I married my wife she had two. Now I can't imagine not having a couple around. I rescued one from a jobsite where he and his siblings had been dumped off. He was so sick and scrawny. I cuddled and fed him all that day and called and made an appointment to get him into the vet for after work. I named him Merlin. He was truly a Majic cat. The vet put him on medication including steroids. Merlin was "my" cat followed me everywhere, slept next to me at night. We'd talk...I still don't understand cat.
he sailed with us to Mexico and back, great boat cat, he'd always bring us flyin fish he found on deck, drop them right on the bunk we were sleeping in. He was the best pet I've ever had. With all his steroids when he was a kitten he grew into a 20lb big cat, always cuddly and wanting scratches.
After we came home from our little sailing adventure he adapted to land life again. Then tragedy struck some asswipe in our neighborhood was putting out poisoned food, cats and dogs were getting sick and some were dying. Merlin was one of the unfortunate ones only 8 yrs old, he got real sick and there wasn't much the vet could do his kidneys were failing fast. I cried like a child when we put him down..still brings to tears to my eyes. We have other cats now but none a special to me as Merlin was.

Cats are just cool as hell, have at least 3 around all the time, some say not friendly and aloof, I say they will read the persona of a person and know right away if the person is good enough for that cat to connect.

I have had to put a cat down and it HURTS, but in the end I knew it was the best, did not want to see the little guy suffer, some of the hardest decisions are the best in the end. It is a kind thing not to allow the cat to just willow away slowly, if the cat could talk he would have thanked you for your kindness. The fact that you give your cat a good home, 3 squares and shot of catnip is the best we can do, and the cat had the best life you could offer, it was appreciated.

The best thing a cat does is purr what a great sound from a fuzz ball that will make you laugh and reward you with a head butt .......... crazy little creatures, glad they are here for us to have as pets.

Be sure to get another cat as soon as you find one you like, they are great helpers in the garage, hold down a lot of stuff by laying on the stuff, hell I have had all kinds of body panels and things that would have just flown all over the garage if had not been for that cat laying on them holding stuff down... A fact, when I come in from a run the cat goes over and sniffs the side pipes, funny as hell, must get off on the fuel smell or checking the tune on the motor.

Good luck Don, you sound like a person that deserves a cat and I hope you find another soon .....try and get a calico they are smart as all get out.. mine is named Turbo and it fits that crazy girl....

You know G.R, I came out of the boating business and knew a lot of sailors like you who had cats (and dogs) who were very good sailors themselves. In fact, my Son Don went through a divorce a while back and he moved onto his '32 Chris Craft for a few months. Dan and I begged him to come move in with us, but he preferred living there, and he had his cat Sassy with him the whole time. She loved it there, felt safe in the cabin I think. He said when they moved to a house later she didn't seem as happy as on the boat. :D

Sorry to hear about Merlin's fate. People who do that kind of stuff are really scum IMO.

pepi, I've never understood the thing about cats being aloof either.......ours are more like dogs, and come when you call them and climb up and fight for a spot to take a nap with you on the couch. Lucky has become a little jealous since Sniffy came to live at the house with us. He was my afternoon nap buddy, but Sniff likes to curl up in the same spot, so I have two of them vying to curl up against my legs and doze off.

Like I said before, it's nice to see so many people on here who share the same love of animals that I have.

Don

I have 3 kittens, what a riot those goofballs are. Also the cat that got struck by lightning is doing real good. He stays in the hay bales in the barn mostly and has never came back to the house after he left but I go feed him canned catfood everyday. After 6 weeks he is walking pretty good and ventures out now. His fried tail finally fell off and his rectum area is still raw meat but he is a happy camper.

We have six cats and seven dogs- mostly in our house. We rescued a newfie-border collie when he was 2 weeks old,and had to put him down Sat because of cataracts in both eyes. The other dogs were starting to get into it with him when he would walk into them. I would have prefer to take one in the groin than to have to do that again. He was my buddy.

Don I'm sorry to reply to this so late but I just got back from the Hospital. Awful sorry to hear of your sCOTTER. I've gone through the same with 2 cats and it really hurt me badly for days as they were my family as my wife and I couldn't have children. You did the right thing . I held my Mitsie in my arms as the vet put her to slep and cried like a baby. It's hard and it takes awhile to get over the loss, but you will and probably find another Scotter.

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Originally Posted by bigdude

We have six cats and seven dogs- mostly in our house. We rescued a newfie-border collie when he was 2 weeks old,and had to put him down Sat because of cataracts in both eyes. The other dogs were starting to get into it with him when he would walk into them. I would have prefer to take one in the groin than to have to do that again. He was my buddy.

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Bigdude, I love animals too but 6cats and 7 dogs living in the house can't be healthy.

You cant tell we have that many-2 cats outside all the dogs in. People that come over cant believe we have that many dogs because they are well mannered and know their place in the house. Plus they are only in the house all together at night. (we also do rescue work)

Good on you for then rescue work. 2 of my cats were rescue cases. One was abandoned on my vets doorstep and the other I got from a foster home for the shelter. The lady was really nice and loved animals but the smell of animal urine coming from her screen door was overwhelming when I got within 10 feet of the front door. I got a Manx male from her and he is my coolest cat. The cats do come up in the house but get shut in the garage bathroom at night or when I'm gone and I keep my bedroom and bathroom doors closed because I don't like critters in my bed and my towels.