Originally written and posted shortly after her death, two years ago now.

I lost… a friend? a companion? a pet? a cat?

I dunno. Folks that have pets can understand. Your pets tend to be more than just pets. And cats, well, if you’re not a cat person, you probably won’t get it.

I love dogs, and wouldn’t mind having one again some day… but right now cats fit my life better. If I don’t get home till late, or want to take off for a weekend, I can without worrying who’s going to let the dog out.

So I got not just one, but two. Well, I got one first. And we lived with two others. So when I was ready to move on, I figured I should have another to keep the first company.

The first was Panther. She was an all black kitten with huge ears that I got from an animal rescue type place. Then I got Tanner. He was a stray at the humane society, a kitten. Long white hair with tan splotches. Yea, I got real creative with the names, but they fit.

Continue reading →

Another blast from the past…

A friend of a friend (well, he’s not really a friend, but that’s beside the point) had to have their dog put to sleep recently… and he wrote a blurb about it. Reading it reminded me of my own experience in putting a pet to sleep.

Rebel was a pure bred dalmatian, liver spotted, with one blue eye and one brown eye. I know everyone says this, but Rebel was one of the friendliest dogs ever… unless he had to play the protector, then you had to watch out.

We first got Rebel, actually, the man who would be my step-dad first got Rebel when I was about 7… he and my mom got together shortly there-after, so I pretty much grew up with him, and he was pretty much my best friend. Through grade school, middle school, and high school he was there when I came home, waiting by the door with that whip of a tail flying back and forth. (we had to make sure the breakable ornaments were above tail height when it came time to decorate the Christmas tree.)

Continue reading →