Heading out (updated: I am home)

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Sheila & Beau GA & Jeddie GA

Sheila & Beau GA & Jeddie GA

Member Since 2009
Will be back Sunday evening.

I will bury Jeddie either this afternoon when I get there (doubtful now because of forecast rain) or tomorrow morning.

Then I will spend the day with my mom, who is meeting me there tonight and leaves Friday morning. Friday and Sat. I hope to have some quiet time, kayak, and stop at my favorite yarn store.

"See" you when I get back.
 
Re: Heading out

I know how awful this is for you. I wish you comfort.
We grieve before they are gone because we know how much we will grieve after they are gone.
The only solace I have to offer is count every day you had as a blessing...
If you can count your blessings and give thanks, It will ease your suffering.
I don't know why it works, perspective , maybe. (similar to the thought of my glass is full, instead of my glass is empty)(perhaps)


It 's so very hard to do no matter how well we prepare ourselves.
You gave your love and devotion and it nurtured him.
I pray for your broken heart.
:YMHUG:
 
I am back

Thank you all for your good thoughts.

I got home at about 8pm. The place I went is where my family has a house. Behind the house, there are woods and that is where I buried Jeddie. It is where I have buried all my cats since 1986.

My grandparents built the house and retired there in the late 60s. It is a place that my grandmother had been going to since she was a girl. Her ashes are scattered in the woods because she loved them so much and requested it if we "weren't too squeamish about it". I like to think of her as watching over my cats.

Jeddie was buried curled up into a sleeping position with his head on the catnip pillow toy Venita sent. I placed a piece of knitted lace I made over him and a sprig of catnip and a catnip toy I made for him last Christmas in with him. He is wrapped in the fleece blanket that he used to cuddle with Beau on and he is lying in a basket woven with two shades of green to match his eyes. All of that was finally wrapped with the white towel that his former owner sent with him in his carrier when I got him.

I found a spot near my cats Murphy (2007) and Charlotte (2011). It had a single tuft of grass growing in an open area. I placed that tuft of grass back in the center and surrounded it with 13 stones. Actually, the 12th stone split in half horizontally. I like to think that represents the half of his 13th year he didn't get to finish. When I dug the hole, there was "red' sand down deep. I spread that on top and around the stones. It is nearly the color of his fur. The sun plays in an out of the tall trees and the birds chirp.

Here is his grave.............................................and here are the woods


and if you are so inclined, here is a link to a video of the setting:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/28246908@N06/7674254300/in/photostream

BTW, these are the same woods where I found and caught Beau in October 1999.
 
That site is absolutely beautiful and peaceful.

12 1/2 stones.

And that's where Beau came from.

I think you said Beau already had DM, was he feral? Did you have any idea how old then?
 
Dale, yes, Beau was feral. When I caught him, I took him to a vet up there and he estimated his age at 12-16 months so we split the difference and called it 14 months - which put his approximate birthday on August 8, 1998. He will be 14 in a little over a week. That is no small accomplishment given his 2-5 year prognosis when he was diagnosed with HCM.

He was healthy when I found him, or so I thought, but he developed chronic pancreatitis and HCM by the time he was 3. The HCM could have been genetic or could have developed from chronic inflammation in his abdomen putting stress on his heart. The p-titis could have been from bacteria he picked up in the wild, or from the dry food he ate after I got him. I used to feed half canned, half dry. The diabetes was a direct result of the weight management dry, steroids for p-titis, and the p-titis itself. He was diagnosed a few months before he turned 9 and has been OTJ since a month or so after his 11th b-day.
 
I see, so Beau was just *scrawny* from being wild when Charlotte first spotted him. I thought he must be HyperT from the methimazole mentioned on his spreadsheet.

Was Charlotte born up there?

Amazing Beau tamed down so well, maybe he was just "on the lam" from earlier humans.
 
He was scrawny alright - about 8 lbs I am guessing. His best weight was supposed to be 12-14 lbs, as he is a big guy. He got to about 12 before the p-titis/HCM scare that almost killed him. he dropped to under 10 lbs during all that. Then he ballooned up to 16+ on eight management dry food (Iams). When he started to lose weight because of the diabetes I thought, oh that food is finally working. :roll: ohmygod_smile and he dropped to about 10.5.

He "tamed up" nicely due to Murphy socializing him and my painstaking patience with him for a couple of years. Then the p-titis/HCM hit and he had dozens of vet visits and many tests and lots of handling by different people and that sort of "broke" the remaining feralness. He is still not a cat I would want children around or an inexperienced adult. Yesterday, when I got home, he did not want to come out of the car crate, so I had to reach in and scruff him because he was smacking my hand and trying to bite it. Good thing I trimmed his claws last week. Riding in the car upsets him. He isn't normally like that, but he has his moments. Other times he is on my lap or next to me purring away.

Charlotte was born here, in Chicago. I got her "free to a good home" from a stranger. I overheard someone at the ASPCA say he had a friend with kittens so I gave him my phone number and asked him to have them call me. Four days later I drove down to their home and got her.
 
What a wonderful resting place for your dear Jeddie! I hope that this finds you feeling good about all the things you did to help him, and that you have had some quality time for "closure" at this beautiful and special site. This was the perfect setting for him - and I like that Grandma is watching over him and the others.

:YMHUG:
 
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