The Adventures of Cato, Tara and Jasmine

OMG..... I am so sorry Jo.... Hugs to you  Give Mr C a hug from us all here at Chatter too .... 

We have both of our cats buried here in the garden with us... 

I've got tears in my eyes because since you have been blogging, I actually feel like I know him very well... 

So sorry Jo, so sorry xxxx 

RIP Sidney  

So sorry for your loss Jo, my heart breaks for you.

I've read so much about him I feel like I knew him for a long time, we will miss Sidney and his antic's as well as I know you will. I'll hold you and your family in my thoughts today as I know you will miss him terribly. 

 

OMG Jo I have tears in my eyes reading this and my heart breaks for you and your hubby. Please know you are all in my thoughts and prayers. I too had grown to love Sidney so much from your blog, I know this is a huge loss to you all. Hugs

Thanks All, am still in the shocked weepy stage myself.  However, we should remember how delighted he would be to know how upset everyone is.  It would make his day.

i just keep being thankful for 3 things (so far)

1. It was sudden - no lingering pain and anguish

2. It happened in his prime - he didn't have to suffer the ignominy of losing his kingdom to a new upstart

3. It happened at home - he didn't just 'disappear' and his last moments were in a safe place.  Though he would probably have preferred to be in central position on the Big Bed.  

i will look out some photos of him later, although sadly i don't have any of his rambunctious kittenhood.  It was so long ago i didn't have a handy camera phone back then.

So sorry to hear this...

Our Sidney,

As you well know little guy I am not a cat lover but reading your family blog I have grown very found of you. You were witty and full of spunk. I had good times laughing at all your tactics that you did day in and day out. I am going to miss you terribly as I enjoyed giving you your daily funnies but  you leave me with nothing but happy memories of the short time I got to know you. This was the next funny on your list for today.......so in Memory of Sidney........going to miss you little fellow.

                                                                   

 

Mr. C, Jo, Tara and Cato what a sad day for you all.  My heart breaks for you..........Hugs to you all. RIP Sidney..............

                                                                   

 

 

 

 

So sad to hear about Sidney but you're right on your previous post about the 3 points. Glad he was home instead of going missing and have you wondering... Glad you had 11 yrs with him and glad it was wuick and hoping painless. I know you will miss him but a part of him will always be with you. Hugs.

Oh No!!!  I'm so very sad to hear this! It is so unexpected.  I'm so sorry, Jo!  I feel like I know Sidney personally from reading so much of your blog.  My heart goes out to your entire family.  I can't help but cry because I feel like I've lost one of my good fur buddies.  I'm going to really miss Sidney's "take" on life there at your home with your paws.  I trust that he is patrolling his sunny patch in Heaven now.  

I'm sending many good thoughts and prayers for peace.  I'm so sorry for your family's loss.  

I too was going to say.....he gave you the ultimate gift.  He left in his own way, on his own terms and decided when.  

I will surely miss the stories.  I'm a cat lover though we haven't had one in a long time.  They have such quirky personalities and never let you think you have the upper hand.

Sid, when you get to the Bridge.....look for Patches.  A beautiful long haired calico who came into our home as a feral kitten and outlived 3 dogs until she was 21.  When she died at home, under the rocking chair, we buried her in the back yard by the fence under the Nandina bushes.  She loved to lay there in the sun, behind the bushes, glaring evil looks at the birds as they landed and  hopped on top of the fence.  She may not be too friendly.....she's a cat after all but I think you understand the type.

Some pics:

Sidney the New Kid on the Block, when he was about 3 and we had just moved here (and I had just bought a phone with a camera)  Young, quite earnest, and very affectionate.

A couple of years later, enjoying his leisure time between crushing the opposition:

Last summer, just before he did his 3 week disappearing act/psychotic break.  Very much in charge of his Kingdom, and his trained human servants:

Back home after the Walkabout - ecstatic to be back with regular food and even the pesky mutts.  Saggy middleaged belly starting to develop! :

Feed me!

Radiating disapproval

And

Make it stop raining!

Cato and Tara handled it really well.
Put Sidney on a towel in the living room floor and called them in.
They rushed in, wagging and excited to greet their best bud (Sidney rarely made an appearance downstairs with the rabble).
Charged up, delighted to see him, 'shall we play?' wag. wag.
er... hesitate... sniff SNIFF SNIFF
Eyes, mouth, bum
'oh. not quite right. No play then, OK'
Then they came and sat with me on the sofa.

This was repeated about 4 times each over the next few hours.
Tara lost interest first, as his smell shifted from Pack-Sidney to dead-not-pack.

In the end, Cato went and lay beside the corpse for a few mins, head on paws, just being there. Then got up and walked away.
After that, they both ignored him completely, so I removed the body.

Read to do this in a book, but wasn't really sure it was a good idea.
Turns out it seems to have been very useful for them.
In a wild pack, they would probably have stayed a while, taking less and less notice, then got up to hunt and never come back to that den.
Must be a very deep instinct.

Thanks for sharing what you did with Sidney to Tara and Cato. Over the years we have loss best buds to some of our Border Collies and I never thought to do this. I know when Max lost Josie and Gracie lost Nelly they were in a fog for a good week and I think if I had done what you did with Sidney maybe it would have been a easier transition for them.  I have no idea what goes on in the minds of animals other then I know from experience they have feelings and they know when a big change takes place......Hugs to you for doing this. This will be something I will consider doing when the time calls for it with my paws. 

Sweet pictures of Sidney.......put a smile on my face just looking at them. Will miss the little guy a lot.......

Don't you DARE let him hear you calling him 'little' !

 But you see I can do that cause I am the unfriendly cat lady and Sidney knows that I only say it to stir up his dander.  I do admit the one picture of him on the couch with Cato he looked like he had one to many chicken wings.    

Prosperous, the word you are looking for is that he was looking prosperous.

How did your husband take it?

Not great.

He sort of gets quieter and quieter the more upset he is.  He just sat for a long time.  Then he took T&C out for a walk.  Then he sat and stared at the computer, and at 8.30 he had to go to bed (without Sidney trying to push him to the edge all night) so he could get up at 4.30 for work.

Think it was easier for me, because i saw the last breaths and rushed to vets and stuff.  He just came home to a small er... prosperous dead body.  I couldn't tell him over the phone because his job is Safety Critical, and it would have distracted him from it.

When Toed, our other cat died 4 years ago, i mourned intensely for a shorter time.  Mr C hurt for longer, more quietly.

Must say, it has helped me tremendously being able to chunter to you lot about it.  He doesnt have that.

hugs to you all.

I was going to ask how your hubby is too...  I would of done the same as you, and waited until he got home... Something like that knocks you sideways. 

Hugs to you all 

You can chunter away to us anytime... 

Oh, and thank you for sharing some photos with us... Such a character ? 

Love the pics of Sidney he's such a handsome guy. I too had never thought of doing what you did for Tara and Cato, what a wonderful idea and I'm very sure it helped them with the process. Unfortunately nothing really helps us- I had a friend once tell me, you never get over it you just get through it...and boy was she right. Tons of hugs for you and Mr C. We're always here for you, talk away!! 

Thank you for sharing more memories of Sidney...... Hugs for you and Mr C

Wish I had done this when my first cat passed. I let poppy sniff her sister and then we took peaches away and buried her in the garden, 

Poppy was lost without her sister for weeks, it was really sad to see. 

So sorry, Jo.  RIP Sidney.

My deepest condolences, Jo. I was backreading and this totally came as a surprise. I was just admiring how handsome he is, very "manly". I will miss hearing stories about him. Thank you for sharing him with us. 

Glad that you were able to have Tara and Cato say goodbye to Sidney. I wanted to do that for Monkey when we lost our other dog to distemper and had to put him to sleep, but the vet was against them coming in close contact that due to him still being contagious even in death, so we headed directly to where we had him buried. 

Hugs to you and Mr. C.