It's always busy time!

So here, I've made time to blog.  I'm not even going to deride myself for not doing it sooner!  It's been really busy (as always), and that's ok.  There's always more cats to save.  There's always more that need help and rehabilitation. 

Look at this terrifying cat (Heart).  Grr.

Right now, we have a few of the longer-term babies still that are ready for homes but haven't found them yet for various reasons.   The lovely Heart is still with us, but she doesn't travel well at ALL, so it's difficult to get her into carriers to move her to events.  Hard for her to go home if she can't travel to events.  Hopefully, we can figure something out and find her a place to be.  She's a lovely, sweet, affectionate girl after everything she's been through.  She definitely deserves it!  Such a cute little chunky monkey! :)

I got an update from the woman who adopted Rameses as well.   She is SO thrilled with him.   She has a few other cats now, and not only does he get along with them, he also loves her boyfriend!  She says he's one of the nicest cats she's ever met, and I would tend to agree with her.  Of course, she sent me the text message while I was at work, and I'm sure my co-workers thought I was nuts or pmsing or something when I got teary-eye randomly at work.   How can I not be emotional about this guy?  He has the ULTIMATE outcome!  A wonderful forever home with a wonderful person who will NEVER let me know fear or sadness or hunger again.  THIS is why we do rescue!! 

We still have Meggie.  She's a little tortie who came to us from another rescue.  She was DEATHLY ill when she was a bottle feeding kitten, and despite the fact that she was being saved, she didn't know it, and the act of medicating her traumatized her to the point where she would bite or scratch anyone who came near her.  After lots of work and patience, we can now touch her, but we still can't touch her head.  SOON!  Hubby has said it's his mission to make her his buddy, and I think it's working!  He managed to touch her first.   I'm good with that.

We also have Humphrey.   Humphrey came to us as a cute little kitten... Or I should say, a small demonic vicious kitten who would rather eat you than look at you.  He's definitely been a challenge and taken longer than I ever would have imagined.   In fact, he's still not ready by any stretch of the imagination.  I've realized though he is RIDICULOUSLY intelligent, and I tend to find that the really

The Regal Humphrey aka "Humpy" LOL

smart ones don't let go of their reservations quickly.   Funny story about Humphrey though....

So he wasn't neutered.  He DEFINITELY needed it.  We'd started calling him "Humpy" because he was humping everything.  The problem was that balance between getting the neuter and not wanting to ruin any progress we'd made with him.  So, deciding to deal with whatever came, I managed to get him crated up and didn't die in the process, so it was off to Dr. J to get the deed done.  Now I warned EVERYONE at the vet office that Humphrey was NOT going to co-operate.  They couldn't just go in on him because he would either panic and run, or he would panic and bite, and neither one of those situations was something I wanted to happen.  Great!  Everyone's warned and all will go well.   Until... reality hits.   So the vet was pretty confident he could handle Humphrey.  Even though he was warned by myself AND the tech (who told him repeatedly "Treasure said DON'T go in on him go slow"), he decided to go on in and grab Humphrey for his exam. I bet you he'll never do that again, because Humphrey showed him EXACTLY what I was talking about.  He promptly dodged past him, trashed the back end of the clinic, then managed to somehow get the EXTREMELY heavy door to the front open, trashed the front of the clinic, and they were sure he would dodge out the front door too...  Thankfully they managed to get him scruffed just before that.   At which point Humphrey promptly peed ALL OVER the vet.   When I came to pick him up later, the story was relayed to me with much laughter, and I couldn't help but giggle.  To this day, the vet remembers Humphrey.  Bet he will never forget him, either!   Anyways, Humphrey has made immense amounts of progress now that he's finally neutered.  He still won't let me touch him by going in, but he lays on the bed with us, and will come up and "tap" us with his paw, wanting us to know that he's acknowledging us.  I'm in no rush.  I enjoy his pretty face and his antics, and he gets along great with the other cats.  He will come around when he's ready to.

Bailee has made some AMAZING progress as well.   It's very obvious to me the longer I work with him that he WAS badly abused, however, at some point he WAS a very sweet and loving boy who enjoyed the attention and affection of humans.  He has another little girl, Tux, in the room with him, and when she runs for attention, I can see in his eyes the conflict between wanting some of that too, and being paralyzed with fear. He doesn't poop when we come in the room anymore.  In fact, he doesn't even run.  He moves away and watches, intensely curious.  It's awesome because I know it means it won't be long before he comes around. 

Alfalfa

We had a bit of a surprise with one of our kittens.  We got him when he was really small.  He and his siblings were fully feral.   Terrified, and not afraid to bite if you scared them.   Well Alfalfa was the one who seemed to come along the quickest...  He was liking people and not running away anymore.   I booked an appointment to have him neutered, but he ended up with an eye infection.   I treated the infection, and booked him again.  The day before he was due for surgery, guess what... another eye infection.  Rinse repeat several more times, and I finally just asked the vet if it was ok to bring him in anyways. He said sure and that he would take a look at it.   During this time, his progress seemed to backslide.  He was getting sketchy and hissy and even struck out a few times.  I could NOT figure out what the heck we were doing wrong, but managed to get him crated up anyways with him hissing, then growling for the ENTIRE car ride to the vet.  He was a mean and nasty little booger the whole time there...  But the vet made a discovery that explained a lot.   Alfie's eye infection was more than that.  He was going blind.  The vet estimated that he had about 20% vision left and was probably only seeing shadows.   Well that certainly explained a LOT!!  No wonder he was backsliding... the signals he was getting would be TERRIFYING for a cat.  For anyone, for that mater.  Armed with that knowledge, we took a different track with Alfie, calling out to him long before we touched him, giving him a lot of verbal cues.  Moving more slowly to allow him to recognize shapes... And suddenly our sweet little boy was back, where he's been ever since!  If anything, he's become MORE sweet and affectionate.   Unfortunately, until he's fully blind and really adapted to that state, he can't really go anywhere.  It would confuse him a lot and would likely regress him.  it is going to be much easier to let him get used to his state and then find him a home.  That's ok, I rather enjoy the little fellow, as do we all, and we're all happy to support him until he's ready.

I'm more than a little pooped now, but I hope to do a new post with some updates on some new baby additions soon! 

As always, if you are interested in any of the cats and kittens I discuss in my blog, please contact NCWL. 

Keep calm and rescue on.

A Day We Thought Might Never Come

As always, I'm going to berate myself for not actually posting more.  I keep telling myself I should, but then reality strikes, and I barely have time to sit and contemplate half of what's happening to actually translate it into a blog post before the next thing comes along.   I'm just going to have to face the fact that I can blog when I can, and otherwise, I can't feel guilty about it.  

That being said, I felt I really had to share some news and updates.   After the loss of Houdini, I was a little lost, but had to quickly get myself back on track so that we could charge ahead and help more cats.  We've had all kinds of interesting cats come in.  Like Twyla, who is a young mom who was pregnant and scared, so scared she would pee herself when she was touched.   She's had her babies and is now the sweetest cat ever.  She was an easy win.  

We got some new touch cases.  One from a local Humane society again - Bailee.  A cat who is older

Bailee

and was very obviously the victim of some traumatic abuse.  Like our boy Ramses, he would pee when people came in the room, but he one-upped that by pooping too :(  He's made some significant progress though although his abuses are obvious, just this morning or the first time his eyes are totally calm and he was giving me lots of slow blinks.   I think he is recoverable, but will definitely need some more time.  He's a cutie with a chubby little face and at least deserves a chance.  

We also got a terrified ginger tabby from another rescue named Chance.  This poor fellow ended up with a family that neglected him and didn't even bother to get him fixed the whole time they had him, then returned him because he was "stinky".  Seriously?  Of course he smelled, he was spraying!   No adoption process is 100% and unfortunately some slip through the cracks... Thankfully the family returned this fellow to the rescue, and when they saw his behavior wasn't something they could handle, they got in touch with us.  He's still in the early stages, but I think he can come around too.  Now that he's neutered his hormones have the chance to calm down and that should help bring him around.  

We had another sad incident on a personal level.  One of our amazing cats, Duck, who has been a huge help with many of our problem cats, has left for the rainbow bridge.  He fell very ill and unfortunately there was little we could do for him, so we had to make the right choice and let him go.  We've all been extremely upset about this, and even Quark was extremely depressed for a while.  She refused to eat and spent hours searching the house for her buddy.  It was incredibly heartbreaking.   Duck will be greatly missed.   We have placed his remains with Lou's, so that he can be with his spiritual mother for eternity.  RIP Duck. :(

Ramses, cuddled up on the bed.

The one story I really wanted to share though is one that I almost started to think would never happen, and it's the one that reminds us of why it is we do rescue and work with the cats we do.  I'm sure everyone remember Ramses, the beautiful cat who was trapped and left in the trap so long, traumatized and injured.   We spent a lot of time and effort getting him to a place where he was no longer afraid of humans, and even loved people once again.  His fears melted away and he became the most loving cat you could ever imagine.  But I don't know if it was because of his difficult past, or what, but it seemed like anyone who was interested in him just never committed, and he never even got to meet any potential forever families.   We were all sad about it, but had sort of resigned ourselves to the fact that he may never get adopted, although we were happy to have him stay with us for as long as he lived if necessary.  This little boy would never see hardship again if we could help it. 

Extremely hopeful for his chances, and knowing that he'd made an immense amount of progress, I asked Hubby if he thought Ramses would be good to go to an adoption event.   Events can be very overwhelming for sensitive cats, lots of sights, sounds, people moving and wide spaces, foreign environments.  We had to know though if Ramses could handle it, so I packed him up with the other kitties and brought him along.  He quietly let me pack him up (he'd already passed a vet visit with flying colors despite being poked and prodded), so I was hopeful this was a good sign.   As soon as we got to the event, I put down his soft carrier and realized there was a puddle below it.  Of pee.  Ramses had peed himself from fear - uh oh.   I set up the pen and got the cats unpacked, worried about his reaction when I opened his carrier.   He quietly allowed me to take him out and put him in the pen, where he immediately hid (as did several other sketchy cats).  Not a good sign but I had to push things a little, so removed the top from the carrier they were hiding in and hoped for the best.   Eventually Ramses settled down to lay beside me, and started looking around, interested, not scared, about what was going on around him.  Hopeful, I soldiered on.

I got a call from Lori about a lady coming to see Bruiser, a big black and white fellow who is completely laid back and unflappable.  She had unfortunately lost her elderly cat recently, and wanted a cat who would not cause issues with her remaining elder.   Bruiser would be a good fit, so Lori sent her over.  I was waiting for her to arrive and dealing with many lovely people, adopting out several kittens and discussing the history of various cats.   When the lady arrived, I could sense she was a good person, and truly loved cats.  I pointed her to Bruiser and she went to visit him.  But then she looked into the pen, and saw Ramses laying there, looking gorgeous and regal with his lions mane and calm demeanor.  Through the day he'd been allowing strangers, even loud children to pet and cuddle him.  This really made me feel good about his chances, but I wasn't going to get my hopes up too high.... until this lady's eyes met his and I saw a spark.  She asked about him, and I told her his story.  She was shocked and saddened, and asked if she could go into the pen and visit him.  I said absolutely!  She climbed over the pen, approaching him slowly, and lowered herself to sit with him.  She stroked him a few times, then picked him up and put him in her lap.  He cuddled in like he'd been sitting there all his life!   I was shocked and pleased, and the wonderful woman proceeded to spend nearly TWO HOURS with Ramses in her lap, petting him, cooing to him, just enjoying him.  I had NEVER seen him feel so safe and happy.  It was like he belonged there!!   Finally, covered in cat hair, the woman said she would have to think about it and would be in touch with me.  But I could see her hesitation when she set him down, and my heart leaped a little, hoping that I would hear from her sooner than later. 

As the lady left with assurances I would hear from her, we carried on with the event.  It was wonderful and the people at the Pet Valu store were amazing to us as always.   About a half an hour later, though, I looked outside and noticed the lady coming back....   Already?  No, it couldn't be.   I excitedly greeted her as she came back into the store and came back to the cat enclosure.  She rushed up and said she couldn't possibly leave without Ramses.  She had to come back and get him.   My eyes misted over and I immediately got her the required paperwork.  Hearing her talk about her other cats and all the things she'd done for them, I knew that if Ramses went home with this woman, he would live the best life we could possibly wish for him.   She hadn't really planned on bringing anyone home today, so I let her borrow a carrier, anything just to make sure that Ramses would leave with HER.   The look on her face when we loaded him up and she turned the carrier to look at him told me everything I needed to know.   Ramses had found his home.   After everything, the months and months of work, at times when I almost gave up hope... it all led up to this day.  This amazing day where this boy, who otherwise would have had NO chance of life, found his home.   I was in a daze as we finished the paperwork and she paid her fee...   Any adoptions are good, but this adoption.. this was spectacular!   It made the entire day, everything, worthwhile.   I thought the day might never come, but the universe surprised me, and made us all  SO very happy.

Ramses.... working with you taught me so much about myself.  You challenged my patience, my abilities, and what I thought I knew about troubled cats.  You taught me so much that I will in turn use to help other cats who have come from backgrounds just like you, and I promise I won't give up on them either.  I mean this in the best way possible, beautiful boy, I hope never to see you again except in pictures of you being happy and cherished in your very own home.   I love you and I couldn't be MORE happy for you.  You DESERVE this!  All cats deserve this, but for all you've been through, you really really deserve this.  I'm sorry people were terrible to you, and I'm sorry that people can be cruel and heartless.  But I am glad there are also people out there like your new mom who can make you forget those horrible things happened and show you a live filled with love and care.  I'm glad I was privileged to have a part to play in bringing you back from the mental hell you were in, and to show you that it was possible to feel safe and loved.  The whole family worked hard to show you affection and to show you a different way.  Now, I can sleep knowing that for the rest of your days, it's the ONLY way you will ever know.  As it should be.  I'm so glad this day came.

If you are interested in learning more about the amazing cats and kittens we have for adoption at NCWL, please check us out on Facebook, or visit our website.   Thanks for reading.

Every One Deserves To Be Remembered

It's been a really long time since I posted.   I know I keep saying that I'm going to do it more, but, lately it just hasn't been possible.  Between work and tons of sick, desperate cats, it's been quite a haul and there's really been no time for anything other than doing what I have to do and sleeping.  There's been some awesome news.  Lots of progress with kitties like Heather, Ramses, Nightingale, and others.  But there's also been some losses... and those are the moments that make rescue really, really hard sometimes.

We lost quite a few cats.  My heart breaks a little with every one.  I try to be strong, but sometimes I have to just give in and cry it out.  If I don't, it all just builds up and comes out in ways I don't want it to.   The breakneck pace of things hasn't really helped, either.  Stress begets stress.  It's not a saying that I know of, but it should be.  But a few short days ago, something happened that forced it all out, like it or not...

It's taken me quite a while to even get the gumption to post this, I guess because I didn't want to talk about it, and I've been so busy burying my head in being busy, the holidays, and family, that I didn't really want to unpack this to deal with, but my baby boy Houdini really deserves to be memorialized.  A few weeks ago, we had to make the tough call to put Houdini down.   It was a Saturday night, and the family was watching a tv show together.   I looked over and saw that Houdini was having trouble breathing and when I went to investigate further, I knew absolutely that he was in trouble.  I made the call to Lori, and then I ran out the door with him and the girls in tow and rushed off to the emergency vet.  I could tell even then that the prognosis would not be good, but we had to do everything we could......  I'd become very attached to Houdini, and it had been tossed around in the family that he would be staying.   I guess to really understand our attachment to this little guy, I should share more of his story.

Houdini at the shelter.  Poor dirty scared little boy :( 

Houdini was in a high kill shelter, and his prospects weren't good.  He was marked as a feral (generally a death sentence unless someone steps up to rescue them promptly).   He was terrified, and we don't know exactly what he'd been through, but whatever it had been, none of it had been good.   Lori couldn't leave him there (as is her way, bless her!!), and asked if we could work with him.  I very rarely refuse her, and this little guy really needed the help.  She pulled him along with a few other feral kittens, and once he got to us, the work began. 

Houdini was SO terrified of people, he wouldn't even consider allowing touch.  He hissed, scratched, fussed, and ran away as soon as opportunity would arise.   As the other ferals rescued with him one by one drank the "people kool-aid", I wondered if we'd ever get Houdini over the hump.  Patience and persistence, and soon enough, he was allowing touch, and even beginning to enjoy it.  Once he was socialized enough, he went into a store, waiting to find his forever home.    Unfortunately, it wasn't meant to be then.   We got a call from the store that Houdini was sick, and could we please come and get him.  Of course, I headed out to collect the poor guy to bring him home and nurse him back to health.  Vet visit #1, prescription meds, and rest.   He got better, and back he went to the store.   Unfortunately, although he had some interest, he was overlooked time and again, and once again, we got a call from the store that he was ill.  Off again I went to collect him, and off again to the vet for more meds and more rest and care.   Not that we minded.  By this point, we had all really come to adore the little fellow.  He had a great personality!   So friendly, and most of all, amusing as anything!  He loved to play with the oddest things, and instead of holding his tail straight up, he held it forward like an arrow pointing what direction he was going in all the time.   He was chatty, too, and followed me around the house yapping up a storm.  He really bonded with our resident, Trouble, and aside from being buddies, he was something of a doppelganger for her.   It was so cute watching the "twins" play with their strange toys (among Trouble's favorite things being plastic beads and the lids from cans - we take them away but she always finds more), and generally amusing everyone.   

Happy-feet Houdini!

We started just taking Houdini to events, hoping that he would find his forever family at one of them.  He was always well-behaved, purred at the right times, was cuddly, but when we packed up and went home, he always seemed relieved.   I still hoped he would find the right place, but he was becoming more and more attached to me, and after events he was stuck to me like glue.  I expressed concern to Lori that he might be getting a little too attached to me specifically, and we discussed perhaps transferring him to a different foster just to see how he'd act... but it didn't happen.  Frankly, I had really come to enjoy him meeting me at the door when I got home from work, and HEAVEN FORBID I go into a room and not let him in.  The ruckus he made at the door was enough to wake the dead.   So he was my little Shadow, but we kept taking him to events and hoping for the best....

One event, we finally thought things had come together.  This wonderful couple was very interested in Houdini, and wanted to take him for a trial!   We were all SO happy!  He'd been overlooked so many times, and they were lovely people.  If he was finally going to have a forever home, all we could do was celebrate!  The couple did the paperwork, left their trial fee, and took Houdini home.  I hoped as I fell asleep that night to receive a phone call about how wonderful he was and how happy they were with him.  Unfortunately that is the complete opposite of the call I got.   The couple called and said that Houdini is a lovely boy, but he wouldn't eat, wouldn't drink, and worst of all, cried ALL NIGHT LONG.   It was beyond just being uncomfortable in a new place and needing to settle down.  The wife told me that the sound me made was like hearing a baby wail in pain or anguish.  They asked if they could bring him back.   Shocked, saddened and sort of disappointed for the poor guy (and for these lovely people, they certainly didn't expect that!!), I absolutely agreed for him to come back to my place, and I discussed them meeting some of the other fosters we had at the home to see if they felt someone else might be more suitable.   They agreed, and later that day, they arrived on my doorstep with Houdini in a carrier.  As they came into the front hall and put the carrier down, I called out to Houdini and he started FREAKING in the carrier.   I told the lady to just go ahead and open it, and I've never seen a cat fly out of a carrier to fast.... right past the lady and everyone else and up into my arms.  He literally put his little feet around my neck and hugged me like I'd never been cat-hugged before!   He was purring so loud and was rubbing on my face so vigorously I couldn't talk for a moment.   The lovely couple just looked at me and said that he looked like he'd come home and was happy there.   I realized at that moment that chances were that he would not be going to another home, and that he was home.   I was trying REALLY hard not to admit it though, but I think everyone sort of realized that that was the way it would be.   Time for a family meeting and to see what to do.  We already have residents, and although Houdini fit in with our little group, adding another cat is also adding the potential for more vet bills and responsibility, and it's not a decision to be made lightly.   We had to talk a little more and see how things went, but as far as Houdini was concerned, he wasn't going ANYWHERE.  

Houdini sleeping in one of his silly little ways.

After that, he was even MORE clingy and even MORE my shadow.  If he couldn't come into the bedroom at night to sleep with me, the ruckus and destruction he caused was unreal.   I let myself get comfortable with him being my little buddy, and how could we not completely enjoy this incredibly loving, wonderful, funny little guy!   The family all sort of agreed and we were getting ready to make the step and actually adopt this boy (we already had in our hearts, we just hadn't made it "official" yet, but anyone who knew us knew it was a done deal).   This is when tragedy struck.............

At the vet's office, they had rushed Houdini away for testing, xrays, and to give him meds to make him more comfortable.  The girls and I were pacing, trying to do anything we could to keep from fretting.  They were being really strong and good, it was me who was the mess.  When the vet came back to talk to us, putting Houdini's xray up on the display, my heart completely sank, and before he even said a word, I could feel the tears warming my cheeks, and I knew what he was going to say.   The diagnosis was FIP.... Houdini's lungs were so filled with fluid he couldn't breathe, and the pressure it was putting on his heart was causing him immense pain.   There was absolutely nothing that could be done to save him.   The vet called Lori and explained to her the situation, and she had to make the tough call I knew there was no choice but to make.... we had to agree to end Houdini's suffering.   Anything else would have been selfish, wasteful, and pointless, not to mention making him suffer that much more.  She gave me permission to stay with him (the vet requires this), and apologized several times for what she had to do.  I COMPLETELY understood, and would never blame her.  It was the right call, as completely heartbreaking as it was.  The girls caught the gist of what the vet was saying, and they were quietly crying too.  We all knew what was next.  

Houdini always smiled while snoozing.

The wonderful vet techs brought Houdini into the room with us so we could have some private time to say goodbye.  They were so wonderful and respectful.  The girls and I cried a bit, cuddled Houdini and told him how much we loved him.   In that moment, I was so choked up, but it warmed my heart a bit to see the look of complete love and trust in his eyes at that moment.  Yes, he was on pain meds and that was making him a little wonky, but he COMPLETELY trusted us and the situation and I could just tell he knew that we would do what was best for him.   The look in his eyes made me cry harder.  The girls cried harder...   But we calmed ourselves down because we all wanted Houdini's last moments on the earth to be a sharing of love, not sorrow.  Sorrow could come later.     I looked down at those loving, trusting pools of his eyes, and I couldn't help but remember the terrified, hissing, spitting, traumatized kitten he was when he came to us.  He would rather have chewed off his own foot than to spend even one moment in the company of people.   Now, all he wanted was to be around people, be loved, cuddled, played with, and he trusted us so totally.   I knew in that moment that he was good and understood with what we had to do, and that he was letting us know in that look. I had to go with that trust and honor it, and when the vet came back in and asked if we were ready, we all reached out and put our hands on Houdini so that he had love and contact.  He started to purr VERY loudly, and he kept purring right until he took his last sighing breath.  When it was done, we just sat with him, quiet, no longer in pain, and stroked his soft fur.   We all sobbed, more quietly now, it almost felt wrong to really cry loudly.   When we left and got into the car, I broke down completely, sobbing, crying, loudly, wetly.   The girls were sobbing too but I cried the hardest.  They touched me and hugged me and knew why I was sad.   I said goodbye to my cat.  He wasn't "my" cat, but really, in so many ways, he was.  So much time and effort went into earning his trust.  It just felt wrong and tragic for it to end this way.    I railed at the universe for a little bit, but realized quickly, I have a whole bunch of other cats who need me, just the way Houdini did.   They still need me to help guide them to trust, to show them humans aren't awful, to show them. It helped to solidify and remind me that this is what it's all about.  This little guy could have just died at the high kill shelter... scared, angry, alone, unloved, dirty and sad.   Instead, he died surrounded by love, care, and everything a kitty could ever want in his life.  He lived a GOOD life, as short as it was.  One filled with that love, filled with play, filled with care....   That MATTERS.   It was a short life, but we made a difference in that one life, all of us.  Lori by choosing to save him.  Our family by working with him.  The wonderful people at the stores we have our cats at, by promoting him, caring for him, doing their part to find him a home. Even that nice couple who tried to give him a home.  Everyone who'd touched his life from the moment Lori pulled him had made his life better.   This is why we do what we do.  This is what it's all about.

Houdini's final moments.   Love and Trust.

I think about Houdini a lot, still.   Our Trouble looks so much like him, and one of the fosters we have is also very reminiscent of him.  Sometimes from the corner of my eye I see her run by and I wait for his little chirps and chatter that said he'd found me in the house.....   It does hurt, just briefly, but then I think that we can make that difference for another cat.  And now, in my mind, every cat I work with that is in that awful place mentally, I tell myself that I am doing this to honor Houdini.   Every baby we save, everyone we help is a testament and an honor to him, his memory, and all the other cats who's lives have been made different and better by the work we do.  Instead of letting it keep me sad, I'm going to continue to embrace it as a motivation to keep doing what we do, even when it's hard.  Even when there's setbacks.  Even when sometimes we lose one (which is inevitable). 

Thank you, my little buddy boy.  My little chatter man.  My kitty "boyfriend".   Thank you for being in my life, and loving us, trusting us, and for reminding us why we do this.  Thank you for everything, little love, and we will see you at the Rainbow Bridge!  I know that you are enjoying life there, chatting, chirping and amusing just the way you always did and delighted us so much!   You will be missed, but most importantly, you will be remembered with love.