NOTICE: (Updated March 5, 2010)

Beginning December 19, 2009, Books 'N Border Collies will be posting but only intermittently while I pursue personal goals. I plan to share some reading I'm doing, but there will be no reviews. I will, however, be sharing my exploration of vegetarian cooking and the cookbooks and websites I use to educate myself. I hope you enjoy it!

Lezlie



Monday, February 18, 2008

A Sad Day. . .


This morning we had to say goodbye to our little girl kitty, Cleopatra.

Fourteen years ago a friend came to me with a Persian kitty that was badly in need of a home. Her rescue group found her taped up in a box in a restaurant parking lot. They weren't sure how old she was. She was scared of everything, her fur was completely matted, she was a mess. Could I keep her? Of course I could! That was how she came to live with me, my dog Bagheera, and my tomcat Jack. It took a long time, but she became one of the most loving cats I've ever had. She was so funny looking with her smushy face, crooked teeth and her little tongue poking out half the time, but she always conducted herself with dignity and ruled the house with an iron paw, even when two border collies came to live with her. (Two!?!?! She was not happy about that, I tell you. . .) I have video tape of her smacking Max ass over tea-kettle the day after we brought him home as a puppy. Go, Cleo! My parents' 60 pound border collie Rowdy was petrified of her. And she weighed all of 5 pounds soaking wet! (Not that she ever let us get her soaking wet. . .)

She went quickly and without suffering. She was a good girl who had a great, long life. It's time for someone to keep all those dogs at The Rainbow Bridge in line until we can all get there. :-) (Rowdy better take cover!)

We miss you Little Girl!
Lezlie & Peter

8 comments:

Shelley said...

I'm sorry about your loss. It is wonderful of you to take care of animals in need. I know it's not easy!

Lezlie said...

Chain Reader ~ Thank you so much. Our dog Skye is a rescue also. There are so many homeless pets out there. Peter and I have made a pact that any pet we get in the future will always be rescued from somewhere. The end is always painful and difficult, but all the great years our fuzzy kids give us make it all worth while.

Lezlie

Somer said...

I'm so sorry. We lost our almost-14-year-old kitty, Andromeda, last week, too. Like Cleopatra, she went quickly (suddenly actually) and without suffering.

Pabast said...

I am sorry for your loss. It is a sad day when a pet passes on. I am sure she is keeping the dogs in line.

joanna said...

I'm sorry for your loss Lezlie...

Lezlie said...

Thank you, everyone, for you kind words and thoughts. And, Somer, I hope you're feeling better after your loss, too. It's never easy. What a great group of people I've found out here in the book blogging world!

Lezlie

Grilsgood said...

You made me cry, but also remember my own Luvee girl who died last summer, I had taken her in too, a himalayan who had missing fur, and everything under the sun matted into it. They traded her in on a dog. Took a long time for her to trust again, but when she did, I was so lucky. But only 2 months after she was gone, the pet store in town called me and said we have a vet with a 10 yr old himmy who is going to be put to death on Monday, her mom went into a nursing home and had to have her. She is sitting in the middle of a vet office and she lost the other 2 cats she grew up with...one to death and the other was place, but she is so old. So I rushed across town to get her, it has been a year and slowly she is learning to trust again. She is so cute and hardly seems like a 11 yr old cat, she can jump from way off and land on the bed, then jump from the end onto the bag she likes to lay on, looks at me to see if I am watching. They are such lovers.

Lezlie said...

Grilsgood ~ Thank you so much. We still miss her. And lots of hugs for you and your story!! Rescue pets are wonderful and thank you, thank you, thank you for taking them in!! One of our dogs, Skye, is also a rescue boy, and I know when it's time to add more kitties to our home they will be adopted, too.

Lezlie