My Best Mate

No doubt; it is as big a loss as any other family member....best wishes and sympathies.

 

My other best mate,KT Fatguts now running free with JJ Boofed & Honeydog, all sadlly missed.xxx

 

Sorry about your loss, they really are furkids

 

It really is the same as losing a family member, I'm sorry about your loss. This breed is well known for being friendlier than most and good with children but your dog looks extra friendly

 

We used to have 6 cats.....all rescues. In the space of 18 months, we lost 4 of them. It was a devastating! Three of them were 19 years old, and down they went, one at a time. One I bottle fed & two others who were abused. Even though you know their time is coming close to an end, it still hurts ever so much. Not long after these three left us one of my 'babies' had kidney failure & also passed. He was 12 years old! I swore that I couldn't do that again.

After a long healing period, I decided that I did want another, and as I've never had a pedigree cat, we bought a Bengal. She's beautiful & has a wild nature. She was terrorising my other two older cats, one who begrudgingly puts up with it, the other does not! Instead of getting another to keep her company, I've been fostering kittens.

What a ride that is! My Bengal runs around playing with them, my gentle old girl doesn't seem to mind one bit either, probably because the Bengal isn't trying to play with her as much. The only one that has an issue is my old boy....who growls at them & will give them the occasional wack when they decide to play with him.

For me, it's the best of both worlds. We never planned on having 6 cats, they just came into our lives, dumped & then we took them in. Once in the house, we just couldn't part with them, partly because they didn't have anywhere else to go, partly because the kids claimed each one as their own.

But this is different, I can love them & give them back. I know they are not mine & that they will go to homes of their own. They are only here for a short term, just until they get to 1kg in weight, so they can be adopted. I can have as many as I want, or as few as I want and I know that I'm saving these little lives, making sure they are happy & healthy & ready for their new homes.

I've currently got 8 kittens in care. Yes, that's right EIGHT of them. One litter of 5 who will be leaving me next week & a second litter of 3 x tiny 4 week olds, who just arrived yesterday. They're currently in quarantine in the laundry to make sure they don't bring any diseases into the house. Once given the all clear, they then become a temporary part of the family & have the run of the house and the 36sqm cattery attached.

 

You shall now be known as the "Crazy cat lady"..... lol

 

Ive been calling her that for years!

 

But.....I've only got 3!

The others are just little lives getting saved while it's kitten season. I'll probably only have one more litter, because they've all got to be gone before I go on my next holiday. When I get back, kitten season will be winding down.

Actually, I've got to share something funny. I posted this on the Facebook page for the foster carers. This was in the first week of having my litter of 5, while they were still in quarantine.

 

Very sad @James McIntyre.
Wonderful when they're all of a similar age but heartbreaking when they go. And the last one seems the hardest.
However much you and all the other animal lovers feel the loss, may I implore you to please consider sharing your love and expertise with another beautiful animal at the right time in the future?!
To all those who've had time to recover, it's most beneficial and healing to you to keep your love going. Also heartbreaking is how many are abandoned, now looking for or waiting for a home. Feeling heartbreak means love is there. Stay open.

 

So true! As a foster carer, you find out the true magnitude of the poor abandoned animals, both dogs & cats. The Blacktown facility is getting over 30 cats & kittens a DAY at the moment. I'm not sure the number of dogs, but they've got heaps of them too.

 

I must be getting soft in my older years?
I used to only shed tears out the back after losing one of my own dogs.
Yet here I am welling up just reading this thread.
All the best @James McIntyre

 

So sorry @James McIntyre , they leave such a huge space in your heart. Sweet Dreams KT.