The Rainbow Bridge

a photo is worth a thousand words.........

the best mate a girl could have

We found my beautiful Circe dead under a bush Monday afternoon... Not a mark on her, and we have no idea what happened. She was only 2 years old
I kinda think it may have been a congenital problem... she was always a strangely built cat; had a huge protruding sternum, couldn't purr (sounded like she was snoring when she tried,) would cough after drinking fairly often, and would shiver for no apparent reason, which I understand is sometimes a sign of a cat being in pain, but the vet could never find anything wrong with her. She was out chasing birds Sunday evening, perfectly fine (she never successfully caught a single bird in her life, BTW, hehe . She wasn't very good at sneaking.) She looked very peaceful the way we found her, I can only hope that was the case. She was a rescue cat and will be sorely missed.

so very sorry to read that Synirr
I feel for you and your family.

I can tell you that the pain and heart ache diminishes over time but I still miss Thomas
and always will.
It helps me to remember the funny things he used to do, things like sleep so close to the edge of the bed that he actually slip over it, then curl back up on the floor.

If you remeber circe then she will truly be forever with you.

I'm very sorry Synirr, I enjoyed the photos of her that you put on the forum, and it's very sad to know she's gone. My thoughts are with you.

sorry to hear Synirr
I've come to realise (over the years and losing pets) that it doesn't seem to matter how long we've had the company of our pets - it's still remains horribly gut wrenching to lose one

Thanks for the kind words guys... It helped a lot that I was able to give her a proper burial, my last cat just disappeared one night and we never found a trace of him. At least now I have a place I can go to remember her.
If anyone has any theories about what could have happened to her, BTW, I'd love to hear them . We honestly haven't a clue, and the parents didn't want to pay for a postmortem exam. Our vet couldn't tell us anything based on the information we gave him.

Without doing an autopsy, the only thing I'd possibly query or would have investigated, was the nails of the cat. When working as a vet nurse I often saw (dead) cats looking absolutely angelic with no bodily harm - but with horrific internal injuries. With the only outward sign being the severely damaged nails. If a cat gets hit by a car on a tarred road, the nails will be almost scuffed down to the quick and/or badly damaged and ripped. If it was a dirt road, you will see less damage on the nails but covered in dirt under the nails.

I guess your vet would have had a gentle "prod" to feel for obvious broken bones etc. and checked the nails, but if none of that was evident I guess it could only be poison or otherwise in this case it seems very much congenital.

Sorry to hear about your loss. She was a beautiful cat

I did check her nails (looking for blood to see if she had been attacked by another animal,) and my dad said he felt for broken bones as our first thought was she may have been hit by a car... but really, our driveway is so long she'd never have made it back to the yard if that had happened. She doesn't ever stray far and there's nothing around here that she could have gotten into that would have been dangerous. I really wish I knew what happened, but there were no obvious clues

Ruby died on 23rd September 2003 at the age of just 7. We were blessed to have her for as long as we did, which was a mere 11 months. A month after we adopted her she was diagnosed with terminal mammary cancer and given 3-4 months max. She fought for 11 months and we never let her suffer for a second. Sadly the cancer spread ultimately to her brain and she became confused and scared, and the time came to let her go to the Bridge.

Ruby's death could've been prevented if her first owner had spayed her before her first season. Wit each season she had, the risk went up, and it seasled her fate. She was dumped in the pound along with her four crossbreed pups to be PTS, as her owner couldn't make any more money out of her. She came all the way from Ireland to us, in a terrible state. Soon after, she was diagnosed, and although we only had her 11 months, she left an inpenetrable mark on us forever.


This photo was taken by the rescue that saved her from the pound - see how her poor body had been used as a puppy machine.


This is Ruby a couple of months before she passed away.


And this is Ruby as we'll remember her - safe, loved and utterly bonkers.

What a sad story, I was almost crying, then I scrolled down and saw her gorgeous smile When we were back in South Africa, we adopted a rescue dog. She had been rescued by a family who knew her previous owners, so she wasn't neutered when we got her. We had neutered within the first week of owning her. Her first owners had bred her since she was old enough to have puppies and kept her in dire conditions. She was so scared and timid. But only a couple weeks with us, and her beautiful little personality shone through. We got her the week I found out I was pregnant with our second child. When we sold our house to move to the UK, the new owners fell in love with her (a Jack Russell), as well as our 2 Rhodesian ridgebacks and German Shepard. We went back to SA for a visit a few years ago, and she was running around with their small dogs, having a wonderful time. It's wonderful to have a pet, but even better when you have a rescued animal. They seem to love you more.

Thanks AlexAndCarmen Ruby wouldn't have wanted you booing anyway - she was always the joker. Your story is so heartwarming!

My ferret Nero. Died on monday June 12,2006. I got him along with a little lady ferret 4 1/2 years ago. She passed away in January. He got insulinoma but hung on all the way. He loved to play in the water and was doing so up to his very last day. He was the best little guy ever, but he's finaly back with his best friend, Saki. These two spent all their time together, plottong how to eventually take over the house. They even succeeded once, locking me out of my bathroom. As sad as his death makes me, I am glad my ferrets can now be together again. They are quite the pair.

This is nero, a couple weeks ago. Looking dignified as usual.

christine said:

My ferret Nero. Died on monday June 12,2006. I got him along with a little lady ferret 4 1/2 years ago. She passed away in January. He got insulinoma but hung on all the way. He loved to play in the water and was doing so up to his very last day. He was the best little guy ever, but he's finaly back with his best friend, Saki. These two spent all their time together, plottong how to eventually take over the house. They even succeeded once, locking me out of my bathroom. As sad as his death makes me, I am glad my ferrets can now be together again. They are quite the pair.

This is nero, a couple weeks ago. Looking dignified as usual.

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sorry for your loss ,its never easy all the best donna.

I lost little Molly last June

Probably the worst day of my life so far as she was my little baby. Came to let her out of her cage and she was dead in the bottom of it, with her mate Mac. Autopsy indicated a heart attack and the vet seemed to think that it was caused from her stressing herself out when Mac died (of old age) and with the heat we were having this time last year her little heart couldn't take it

Little Molly was only a couple of years old when she died and it was just so unfair She'd had so many problems that she was just starting to get over and it just shouldn't have happened, and i guess if i didn't get Mac it never would have, but then he'd have remained homeless, so we cant really dwell on these things...

Anyway, here she is just days before she died, looking as moody as ever