Madison 12/92-12/16/96
You were abandoned and abused when we got you, but you grew into a gorgeous girl. Your beautiful eyes melted our hearts, even when you were getting into trouble. We know now, so many of your troubles were because of an illness we could not have helped you with. We'll miss you always, our "Sonezy".
Submitted by Laura and family

We lost our sweet Thumper on 12/28/96.
Although she was only 8 months old, she touched our hearts so deeply. She was the cutest bun there ever was and her untimely death has left a hole in our hearts.
We take comfort in knowing someday we again will meet up with her and all our other fuzzy friends that have passed before us.
Submitted by Laura and family

February 18, 1997
Tribute to my cat Sammy

Sammy, we had 9 and half wonderful years together, you lit up my life
with your affection, love, playtimes, companionship.
I miss you so much, my darling kitty. you may be gone from this
world, but you will always be in my heart and
memories. I love you,Sammy. you were my very first
kitty, and you were so special. and you will always
be special to me.

Diane

Robin, a beautiful seal-point siamese, was a gift from my parents for my eighth birthday. She was from a litter of siamese that was born at a neighbors house, and the were selling them for only $50 each because they had no papers even though they were purebred. My mother and I went to look at the kittens when they were only 7 weeks old, and when my mother entered the room Robin approached her immediately and sat on her lap and fell asleep. I, being only eight , wanted one of the other kittens who was more rambunctious, but my mother insisted and so two weeks later when I went to pick up my kitten I brought Robin home. I named her Robin because I reasoned, with childlike simplicity, she had eyes the color of robin's eggs.

Robin was my constant companion from the minute I brought her home. She slept around my neck and head at night. She would sometimes lick my face and eyes till they were sore, but I didn't protest becuse I loved her. She liked everyone and would sit on any available lap but if I entered the room she was by my side and would abandon anyone for me. Robin was with me through elementary school, middle school, high school, and college. Robin was even present in my life for the first 2 years of my marriage. My husband use to comment that I loved 'that cat' more than him, and I would respond matter-of-factly that he was probably right. But he had to consider that she had been with me for 16 years and that we had only been married for 2 and together for 4 so there was a space of 12 years where Robin was ny emotional anchor and constant.

In November of 1994 Robin began losing weight, and by the end of the month she was down to about 4.5 lbs, which for a cat that only weighs about 9 lbs to begin with is devastating. Robin went to vets office and they kept her overnight, she was given an enema (I wouldn't want to be the sucker giving a cat an enenma), and they took x-rays. She was only eating about 2 tbsp of food per day, but she was drinking water fine and was otherwise acting normal. On Christmas Eve day when I went to pick her up from the vet's office they gave me the news that she had cancer in her abdomen and would probably only live another month or so. I was devastated and could barely drive home. Since my husband and I only lived about 7 miles away I was at my parents home with her everyday (It wasn't feasible to have her with me as we had other cats and if we took Robin we would have to take her mate of 15 years and they would not adjust to the change well).

The vet called and wanted to do a third set of x-rays at no cost to us so we brought her in. The could not believe that about 75% of the mass had disappeared! When I brought Robin home and told mom the results, she felt it was probably due to the Therapeutic Touch she had been giving her in the mornings when Robin would lay on her lap. I was astounded, because I hadn't even realized that mom had been doing this. Robin had been on no medications so that was not a factor. The vet said she wanted to exploratory surgery, but after much discussion my mother and I felt it best to not put Robin through that (my mother is a nurse practitioner, and I work in a nursing home and have seen what surgery can do to an old person).

Robin was pain free for about 4 months and one day before I had gone to see Robin mom called and said that it was time. Robin was a normally talkative cat, as most siamese are,but that morning mom said she had sat in the middle of the hallway by the bathroom door and let out a horrible cry to mom, who was in the bathroom. Mom said she knew Robin was asking to please help her and that she was ready to go. She was not even able to drink water from the bowl or the sink, one of her favorite things. She tried very hard but could not get it down, she wanted absolutely nothing to eat, she was dehydrated. We decided to go to the vets office rather than having her come to the house. Mom went with me because I knew I would not be able to drive afterwards. In the exam room I held her, I knew this would be the hardest thing I had ever had to do. For everything Robin had done for me in my life and for everything she had taught me the very least I could do was to be there to hold her, I wanted her last image and thought in this world to be of me and how much I loved her and was going to miss her. When the vet went to find a vein she had a hard time because Robin was so dehydrated, and when she finally did and she was about to plunge the needle the vein collapsed because of the dehydration. The few drops of the pink liquid that entered Robin was enough and she slipped away and as she closed her eyes I wanted to scream "NO!I take it back." But she was gone and I knew the best friend I had ever had or ever would have was gone.

My husband had had a special oak box made for Robin, it had a brass latch and her name and dates affixed to it also. My family and I had a small memorial service for her, and in the box I placed a letter to her thanking her for everything she had given me amd taught me, along with a picture of us I had taken not long before she became ill. I played a song by Melissa Etheridge for her called "I've been talking to my angel" and I read two poems for her. It was a beautiful day.

Robin's mate, Scout, sat on her grave for two days after her death and even now occasionally sits with her.

submitted by melissa falcone