New member - intro

[tokolosh]

Thanks for all the welcome messages, everyone. I'm happy just looking at all the cat pictures in all the sig areas of the replies. I just LIKE cats, you know? They do something to my biorhythms

For those who asked, we don't have many pictures of Limpet in uploadable form. My kid took a gazillion of them, but mostly using an analogue camera. And then Limpet had one of her past-life-distress fits where she got scared we'd decamp and leave her behind, and she peed on them to remind us that she lived here too. . . just picture someone who was both unbelievably cute and mind-bendingly elegant, and then give her an adorable personality too. From everything I've read about Russians, she was an absolute classic case of all their good traits, plus the anxiousness about being left. We lucked out like bandits when we found her. The nice thing is, neither of us ever doubted for a second that she lucked out just as much when she found us. She was such a sweet-natured cat she probably would have been happy with anyone who had a good home, but with us I really do think she had about the perfect people among all the people who could have been hers.

For those who expressed their sympathy - thank you so much. I go up and down about it. Cried like a river off and on while she was sick and ached with missing her during her IV hospitalizations. Cried like a FLOOD when we put her down. But something about her being so perfect also seems to make it like the hurt is healing cleanly, if that makes sense. We had a month of warning, during which both of us just poured attention and loves onto her, simply in the process of trying to help her and make her comfortable. And she pretty much poured them back. I said we'd know it had stopped being something it was okay to keep fighting with when she stopped purring at us - sort of joking about how lovely she was through it all. But it ended up being the way it happened. As far as you can put a cat to sleep in a 'good' way, I guess we were lucky there too. But boy do I feel for other people who've lost their pets now. I have an intimation of how much it aches.

As far as where we are and who we are: I hope no-one minds, but I'm operating mostly with aliases. It's not like I have dark secrets or I don't trust anyone. It's just that I have a tendency to be real prolific and real outspoken when I get online, and somehow together with the fact that I have a rather 'distinctible' voice it all ends up making me feel kind of visible I work in the IT industry with my son heading in that direction as well, and in our town the 'geek' gene pool is surprisingly small and kind of incestuous. So the issue is more just that I like to be able to say what I want about stuff I wouldn't necessarily share with folks I work with, and NOT have to worry too much that the DBA from the next cubicle in my 'real' life actually knows a lot more about me than I would ever choose to tell him myself. They might work it out anyway but I like to preserve a fragment of deniability So ahem. @ kat: we live in Canada.

The other thing I wanted to say is, how happy I am to find so many replies from people who have rescue cats or are involved in rescue themselves. I feel kind of fiercely about it, considering that I don't participate in it myself. We adopted Limpet from the SPCA and if I do get another cat it will be a) another adoption, b) another adult and c) as far as feasible, the cat who needs us the most. So it's just nice to know I'm among people who are kind of on that wavelength themselves, for when I really start agonizing my way through the process of finding our next cat.

Again, thanks for the welcomes.

[Malibu's Mom]

Hi Lily,

I have 3 cats, a dog and 6 foster cats. All rescues. In this year alone I have lost my grandpa, my 13 year old cat, and my beloved budgie. In 2008 & 2010 I lost two cats far too early to heart disease. I know the feelings of grief all too well. The way your heart aches, the sickness you feel deep down in the pit of your stomach, the way it just rips you apart - it's absolutely horrible.

You have come to a good place to grieve. You will find a lot of supportive, generous and kind people here.

If I might make a little suggestion - there is a Cat Memorial forum here. If you wish, you could write a memorial for Limpet over there. I find it very cathartic to write about my animals once they have passed over the bridge, personally.

I am so very sorry about your loss. I hope you can find a new cat to love and adore, perhaps not in the same way you loved Limpet, but in a new, unique way.

[phesina]

Welcome, Lily! You have found a place full of other cat-lovers like yourself.

My name is Pat Murray, and I live in Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA with seven cats.

Deepest sympathy to you for the loss of your beloved Limpet. She is with you always and waiting for you at the Rainbow Bridge (have you heard about that yet?), where you will be together again, One Fine Day..

Welcome home!

[momcat]

Hi Lily and welcome to PT!

I'm Eileen from Trenton, New Jersey. My son Mike (aka Soncat) and I are owned by 10 year old Groucho who lets us live in the house. Groucho is a black and white kitty with a very sweet personality, he's everybody's friend. He adopted us when he was 7 weeks old and we can't imagine not having our Groucho around.

Words can't begin to tell you how sorry I am to hear of your loss. From reading your post, it's clear to see that Limpet enjoyed a life filled with love, care, and all the things every kitty should have. With you and your son, he had the purrfect furever home.

As you read through the posts, you'll get to know us and our pets. I look forward to hearing from you again very soon!

[krazyaboutkatz]

Hi Lily and welcome to PT!!! I'm so sorry to hear about your loss. I've lost 3 cats and it never gets any easier. PT is the best pet forum on the internet and most of people here are very friendly and wonderful people. All of my cats are rescues and I currently have Storm who is 15 1/2 years old, Sky who is 9 years old, Pearl who is 6 years old, Ziggy Stardust who is 5 years old, and twin brothers Alani & Blaze who are 1 year old.

When I lost my orange & white boy Sunny, it left a huge hole in my heart. I realized that I needed to adopt another male orangie but I knew he could never replace my RB Sunny. Well one turned into two and Alani & Blaze have really helped me to get over the loss of both Starr and Sunny. I hope that your landlord will let you have another cat to love and help heal your heart from your current loss. I hope you'll continue to post and enjoy your time here.

[tokolosh]

Hi Lily and welcome to PT!!!

Storm actually looks a lot like Limpet. I don't know much about breeds but there seem to be several types with that silvery graphite/hematite colour to them. I find any grey/silver cat automatically gets fifty free points from me, since Limpet. You're probably the same about orange and white after Sunny.

And I know what you mean about the orange/white temperament. Maybe its just hearsay or one of those myths that come to seem true because you always notice when something seems to fit it. But every orange cat I've ever heard of from their owners seemed to be that kind of easy-going laid back goofball. I call it the Garfield factor. Limpet was the opposite. She could be really funny because she was so earnest and intent and serious about everything she sometimes missed the point entirely. But I've always loved hearing about cats from the other end of the personality spectrum. I had a colleague once who had an orange tabby, and I used to practically turn her upside down and shake her to get BOSO stories out of her I could take home to my kid. She told me (in an apologetic whisper) that his name stood for Big Orange Stoopid One, but of course they never told him that. They let him think it was Japanese. And he liked it that his name was in CAPITAL LETTERS too

@Malibu's Mom - thanks for the suggestion about Memorials. I don't think I want to write one just yet - it's too formally 'over' to my mind when I do that. I'm probably gonna talk about her a lot anyway, just in a more 'regular' way. In real life I'm getting that effect from people that happens sometimes - they're so achingly sympathetic they completely avoid all subjects related to cats, so it's like she's just completely vanished.

[mrspunkysmom]

I thought I had posted earlier. I am sorry to hear about your loss.

You've mentioned kitty types. My Sam is a goofball, but he's not laid back. Jane is a Russian Blue and she is so serious. She does love to play, but always has that serious look on her face.

[Catty1]

I'm in Canada too, in the Western area. I am owned by three kitties - Oscar, Cole and Zoe, the latter a 10-year old girl who is a total wild kitten! I fostered her for the Humane Society last November, and she just moved herself in. Paying the money to adopt her was a mere formality!

Oscar


Cole


Zoe aka Wriggley Piglet!


I am truly sorry for your loss of Limpet. How did you come to choose her name? I found a photo of some limpets and they are striking:


Welcome!

[tokolosh]

I am truly sorry for your loss of Limpet. How did you come to choose her name? I found a photo of some limpets and they are striking

Lord, I don't know. My son has loved all cats and wanted one of his own from when he could first express himself. He had to wait 8 years until I finally felt we were stable enough to be fair to a cat. Somewhere in the middle of that time it came to our minds that when we finally did get a cat we'd call it Kipper. Don't know the reason for that one either, but it was another of my inexplicable left-brain ideas and we made a formal family pact about it. I guess I was thinking of someone like your Oscar there We had a grey tabby through my childhood who made me almost assume any other cat to enter our lives would be tabby too.

Anyway, move ahead several years and finally we're on our way home with this little grey wisp in its box on his lap and he's completely speechless with joy. I tend to keep promises, so I just found myself feeling uneasy and guilty as we got closer to home, and finally I came out with the confession I just somehow didn't feel like Kipper was the right name for her. All in the car agreed, and I said 'How about Limpet?' from left-field again, and it was done. She had the name before we even opened her box in the living room.

People tend to assume she got it because she must be clingy but it came to us before we'd even spent a whole hour with her. If I try to trace my logic at all, I think about the limpets I used to see on rocks in a whole other country. They were actually nothing like that picture so there must be many kinds. The kind in my mind were very small and neat and grey-blue in a grainy sort of colour texture. It was the smallness and neatness of them that did it. She WAS small, and just about the prettiest cat you ever saw.