Hey again, steemitizens!
Have you ever lost a pet that was really close to your heart?
I have several times, but the most recent time may have been the hardest time yet.
This was Lil'cat. He was the toughest little dude on my whole 17 acre spread in the mountains. Until he wasn't one day and didn't come home a couple of months ago. I haven't seen him since then.
My western North Carolina mountain location backs up to a large National Forest. We have every kind of predator here you can imagine from snakes and spiders to coyotes and bears. Many other's too. Birds, mammals and other things that can kill ya.
I miss my Lil'cat a lot. Raised from right after weaning to the end, he slept with me, kept up with my much larger dogs like he was just another one of them, and was very smart and special.
But you know what. After a couple of months I was starting to think I would never own another cat and get that attached again, when I saw a listing on facebook on a local yardsale page for a free cat named Aslan. That's the name of the Lion who represents God in the classic book, "The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe". The family was moving and could not keep this little 8 month old kitten.
I knew in 5 minutes Aslan was coming to live with me. In an hour, I had met the young couple at the local wal-mart and taken Aslan back to my place.
This is Aslan:
This is Aslan and Me, cat-napping on my office floor after an all-nighter of managing my off-shore software teams:
And this is Aslan's message to all of us who ever lost a pet:
This post is a tribute to Lil'cat, may he rest in peace till we meet at the rainbow bridge. And a welcome to Aslan, who will be in some of my future posts as sidekick, and co-star. Wait till you see Aslan play fetch! That's right, I said Fetch! A cat, raised with small dogs for his first 9 months, that acts like a dog! Video someday soon!
And with that, this post is finished, Full steem ahead, steemitizens!
It's hard to lose a furkid. Having had dedicated part of my life to puppy mill rescue I can definitely relate. #petsofsteemit
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It is indeed. I'm too much of a "farmer" to call them "kids" unless they are goat babies, lol, which I have also had at times in recent past on the place, and seen some losses there too. Even a mule, that got out of the boarded pasture I kept her in, and got hit by a truck. Sorry for that graphic detail, but I've seen loss at all levels on pets all my life. Somehow, Lil'cat was really the hardest. He was SO smart and special as a cat. Anyway. Thanks for reading. And thanks for saving the puppies! #petsofsteemit - nice tag! Yours?
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Yes my tag :) Feel free to use it!
And I understand, my grandfather was a cattle rancher it's different. And no worries about being too graphic, growing up around all sorts of animals and having worked in the medical field and mortuary business I've seen too much unfortunately. :)
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Got it! Thanks! Nice to meet you!
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An excellent post!
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Thank you!
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Wow, yeah... I'm still at a recovery stage after losing a three week old goat I was bottle feeding. Those 2.5 weeks I had him, he was the light of my life. In February, he died in my arms and it was not pretty. It was traumatic and scary. I have never cried that hard in my life. I still have to hold back tears and my depression took a huge downward spiral. It will be a long while before we get any goats because of this experience, golly, it was and is heart wrenching. Especially when it's on repeat in your head.
Sorry, didn't mean to make it about me!
I'm sorry you lost your kitty, but I'm glad that your heart was ready for a new kitty. It seems like you guys had a special connection from the beginning. You can tell with that pillow pic!
It's awesome that, since you own the place, you can bring the cat with you!! Amazing. :)
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I lost two new born goats last christmas eve eve *(the 23rd) either still born or frozen in the 15 degree overnight birthing and had to bury them that morning at 4:30am when I went up to check on them. So I get it.
Yes, the kitty actually lives full time at the office. It came as an indoor cat, and I'm not losing another one. This cat is great. Very different from Lil'cat, but great. This cat plays fetch, rather insistently in fact. Till your arm will fall off. Throw his jingle ball as far as you can. He'll be right back. Better than my labrador retreiver, that idiot. lol
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Oh I can see the full post and reply option here on my iPad, interesting!
Anyway, your cat sounds like a hoot! I have decided against indoor cats because... the last ones I was around, a roommate's cats, scratched the shit out of my furniture... and while I love them, I'm not sure I have the patience to train them not to do something like that! And the nail caps are so tedious to put on. Lol.
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Totally understandable!
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