Ingrid (1987-2005)

**Tubby & Peanut's Mom** · 09-30-2005, 05:26 PM

You write such loving interesting tails of your beloved Ingrid. I'm glad to hear you are opening your heart to another kitty, and possibly another one after that. I have two kitties - one male and one female - and I love the differences between the two and the different dynamics that each brings to our life.

As Barbara mentioned, I lost my Tubby boy last December and I was as upset about it all as you were/are about your Ingrid. However, I knew I had to get another kitty right away. Peanut - my female - is 17 so I knew I couldn't get a kitten who would terrorize Peanut to no end, and I was also unsure that I was ready for the antics of a kitten since it had been 18 years since I had to kitten proof my house. Therefore I chose to adopt an older cat. Cracker Jack is 7 so he is old enough to be settled down a bit, but is still young enough to be kittenish at times, and even though he's supposedly "older", he still terrorizes Peanut to no end.

You are right in that no two kitties are alike, and your new kitty will not only look different from Ingrid, she will act differently also. It will take time for you to get to know her as well as you knew Ingrid. If you think about it, you had many many many years to get to know Ingrid - and her you. It will take just as long with the new kitty. Sometimes CJ is so much like Tubby that I can't get over it, but then he goes and does something that is so totally not Tubby that I can't get over it, so it's just a matter of letting time take its course and us getting to know CJ and him getting to know us.

Like Barbara said, I miss Tubby terribly, and will 'til the day I die, but I know Tubby is happy that I have opened my heart to another kitty. I think Tubby would have liked CJ and if I have any regrets at all, it is that Tubby and CJ didn't have a chance to meet each other.

Good luck with your new sweety. You will both go through an adjustment period, but I'm sure that you will both learn to love each other as much as you and Ingrid once did.

**Barbara** · 10-01-2005, 02:53 PM

Thanks for the thread- yeah I know that it is possible. But Filou is not a mellow kitty. He is an Aby monkey and never stands still for a second.
At the moment ( we caught it kind of early) he has to go weekly for his fluids. Later in time I may try to administer them myself. I know that Medusa never thought it would work out with Puddy.
Filou has been a one-7,5lb cat-stampede this night

I am happy that he is still so well.

I'll be gone for a week. I am curious to hear whether a kitty will have come to join you.

Another story: friends of ours had a cat, Maunzi, a tabby who passed away at the age of 18. At 14 she had survived a severe case of poisoning (she never left the garden and they never found out what happened) and still lived a good life until she was 18. They were desolate. As they were in their 70s they said they didn't want a cat anymore because they weren't sure how long they would live. They live downtown Munich- some single houses close to some 5-6 storeys. One day, a cat came through the window. It was a tabby boy and he asked whether the job was still available. They had no idea where he could have come from but asked everywhere and tried to find his owners. He was 6 or 7 years old- said the vet- and had been well taken care of, he was no stray. They never found anybody who missed him. He came and stayed.

**davidpizzica** · 10-01-2005, 04:00 PM

Ingrid's dad, I'm david p. I think we are a lot alike. I'm a 57 year old bachelor living in Pittsburgh. For 22 wonderful years I was lucky enough to be a companion to Thai a bluepoint Siamese. She was my soulmate, buddy, and confidante. I loved her dearly and I still do. She lived from 1981 to 2003. In the last two months of her life I saw her get weaker and weaker due to the effects of old age. The day before I made the heartwrenching decision to put her to sleep, I had to hold her up so she could get a drink of water. I let her go to the bridge on August 23, 2003. About two monthsn later, I went to Petco on adoption day and there I met Nikki (she's in my signature) a beautiful tuxedo kitty. I adopted her then and there when they said she was so shy and I was the only one she wasn't shy with! So, Ingrid's dad, I know exactly what you went through and I'm sure that Ingrid and Thai are playing together at the bridge.

**Ingrid's dad** · 10-03-2005, 12:57 PM

David--

Wow, man! 22 is like 104 human years! That's fabulous.

-----------------------------------

I made the plunge. Saturday I adopted a long-haired cat. First long-hair who has lived with me. (Cat, anyway.) She was born April 21.

Aside from being a spayed female who likes her tummy rubbed, she has nothing in common with Ingrid. That's good. It would be unfair to compare them.

It was just way too lonesome around my place without Ingrid. I'm always going to miss her, and I'll never know anyone else like her, but the pain is beginning to ease, and that is as it should be.

This cat is very timid. Still prefers to spend most of her time under the bed. But if I lie on the carpet down there, she'll usually come over & venture out. When she gets petted, she purrs really loud and does the kneading thing (without putting out her claws--and she has huge paws) and rolls over repeatedly.

She cannot settle down on the bed. I adopted her from my vet's office, and it may be that in the past when she was up on a prominent exposed and flat area, it usually involved a procedure. She won't fight or hiss or growl, but she'd rather be elsewhere.

She was the very last of the batches of kittens they had up for adoption at my vet's from the summer (which lasts well into the fall down here in Texas). So she has spent lots of time in cages, I think, and getting used to big open spaces, carpet, and the absence of sounds from other pets of all kinds in nearby rooms is kind of a mind-blower. Very different. I'm going to wait a few days or more before I open the two larger bedrooms.

Her brother was adopted out within the last few days. Otherwise she might be kinda nutty.

She had never seen a television before yesterday. Sorta flipped her out. It doesn't scare her any more, but when the sound is on it's too much to handle and she has to go hide.

Also she had never seen a mirror before. I wish I had the dance she did there on videotape. The other cat was really fast in matching her every movement. But it didn't growl at her or hiss or try to fight.

I got her on the bed a little last night before lights-out, and she purred, but she had to get down. She even jumped up once or twice, but got down immediately. This morning when I turned on the light, she was beside the bed looking up at me, and her first reaction was to run back under the bed & peek out at me. Then as I showered up before I left for work, she dashed up & down the hall.

Wonder what she'll be up to today?

I know she can speak, because she cried real softly when I was carrying her from the vet's office out to my car, but other than that she hasn't said a word. Purrs really loud, and when I was patting the bed trying to get her to jump up there, she looked up at me and mouthed a meow but no sound came out.

She sneezes a lot. And wheezes. It doesn't slow her down, but I've gotta find out what's up with that. Maybe an asthmatic.

Unless you see her in direct sunlight, she's all gray topside, white on the bottom of her tail & her tummy. Copper eyes.

Her name will be Matilda. Lends itself to "Mattie" or "Millie" or "Tilly." Her coat makes her an easy "Fluffy."

Ingrid will always be my one and only Sweetie.

It sure will be nice to have somebody waiting for me when I get home.

**Tubby & Peanut's Mom** · 10-03-2005, 03:27 PM

I'm so glad you took the plunge!

Matilda sounds like a little doll, and I bet she has some Maine Coone in her. They are known to be big cats and they are also known for their tiny voices. My Peanut is either part Maine Coone or part Norwegian Forest Cat, and she sqeaks more than she meows - so adorable - and she has done the "mouthing" thing (open mouth but no sound) quite often and she is just adorable when she does it.

I'm sure that within a few days Matilda will be up on the bed and sleeping with you and she will have made your entire place her domain with no more hiding.

She sounds like a complete love and I'm so happy for both of you.

**davidpizzica** · 10-08-2005, 07:40 PM

Ingrid's dad, I adopted Nikki for the same reason you adopted Matilda, because Nikki is very different from Thai. Thai left me with enough love to have Nikki join me. BTW, I also adopted Daisy, a tortoiseshell kitty who is the nut of my house. Here is another story about Thai. I almost lost her when she was 5 years old. At the time my mom was into knitting. Thai got into the yarn and ingested about 3 feet of it! We rushed her to the vets and had to perform emergency surgery on her. It was successful and when we got her home, she could barely meow! It came out as a little squeak. I think that I loved her more after that. I still love her!