by Jerialice
(Texas)

Beautiful Tootski

BEAUTIFUL TOOTSKI!

I had two elderly kitties. They are both 15.
I had just lost my buddy, Mr. Pantera Puss, last August and was hopeful that me and the girls would have some good days together... and we have ....sort of.

I got Toot in 1998. She was in a litter of kittens I met because my shiba-dog chased Toot's kitty mom up into the human's yard
(the "owner"). I was in the area looking at land and Meg was the first friend I made here, all because of dogs and cats!

There were two very cute litters of kittens at Meg's, and I wanted them all! However, being in the process of moving and having no idea where I'd end up, I had to resist.

As fate would have it, I ended up about 20 miles from Meg's and where Toot began her life. Meg and hubby decided they had too many kittens and so, at an early age, they were taken to a church in my new area for adoption. My neighbor's kids took the soon-to-be-named Toot home without permission. The kitten spent about a month there underfed, with no shots, covered in fleas, and being stepped on. Yes, I saw it all.

On the pretext of helping the kids with the kitty, I basically kitty napped her and rushed her to my vet in the nick of time. So she became my "original munch bunch" here on the ranch and snuggled, danced, purred, and loved me. I eventually got three more cats, one more rescue, one that moved in (Mr Puss) and one I actually asked for!

Toot has always been a little odd due to the flea toxicity and bad childhood, and when she got older she became grouchy Toot. But grouchy was okay. She was the best purr factory and was very devoted to me. She did not come out of her hiding hole for much of anyone else. She didn't much care for the other cats, but did end up liking my manx towards the end.

She always gulped her food and sometimes would throw it back up cause she ate too fast. She was also quite vocal about demanding her food and insisted she have plenty of it NOW! I tried for years to calm that down and started feeding her small portions more often for the last 6 months. I did have a physical done on them all about a year ago and there were no problems with Toot, except that she was grouchy. :)

About 6 months ago, it seemed she had extra weight on her belly, but she did not let me probe her much. She also had some rice sized knots near the kidneys/spine that I was fixing to get checked about a month ago I noticed her feet were colder than I recalled. I looked it up and that seems to be somewhat common as they age. She also started having tiny little shock-like tremors when she'd jump on my lap about 2 weeks ago. My plan was to take her in after the holidays, because of course these things always happen on the holidays.

Anyway, she was eating like a horse, ALWAYS hungry, always purring, and seemed okay. Last week, she would cry outside my door wanting more food in the middle of the night. I had to ignore that, since I knew I should not overfeed her. She has always had a decent diet for my budget, which was some Science Diet, mostly grain free, chemical free foods.

On 12/30/12 she came over, sat, and just looked at me and wanted to hang out at my chair, so I gave her extra petting and praise, and told her I hoped Jesus comes before you die so we can go together. I just had a feeling. I let her sleep with me too, which is rare since I have allergies. It was a wonderful weekend and I was around more than usual.

Monday she was really hungry and so I did her little "dabs will do ya" feeding and she would not stop begging for more. So I put her in the kitty condo around 11 a.m. to watch the birds and chill out. I also put my other kitty with her and they were both napping and seemed fine. Since I had my god-daughter coming to spend the night, I fed them early and left them out there until I could get us settled. They were both acting normal and happy.

At 6:30-7, I went out to bring the cats inside, and Toot was gone! She had never spent the night out and I was afraid she had somehow gotten out of the enclosure. It is very dark out here and I figured she would show back up on the porch like she always does. I did look around for a bit, but couldn't see well and it was misty that night. I just knew she would get hungry and come in! My cats have NEVER spent the night outside the house.

She never showed up. By midnight, I was a wreck but had to act okay for my little 10 year old visitor. I was very concerned, due to coyotes and bob cats, that she was out all night. She did not show up next morning either, so I took my god-kid home and was praying she would be back as usual on the porch when I returned. But no.

So, deciding I needed to seriously find her, I went all over to every building, calling, shaking food etc. You know how that is. I was still hoping she got scared by fireworks and was just hiding.

Then, I went back into the kitty condo and looked again, although I had looked before. There are three pallets to cover up dog holes, one of which I had blocked up so they wouldn't crawl under it or in it, because I had seen scorpions under there. The first night I did not look in that one place since I thought they could not get in there. Tonight I did, and when I pulled up the carpet & pallet, there she was!

I said, "Toot- where have you been???" I started to pull her out, but she was passed away already. I lost it. I was so shocked. Thank God my neighbor came over and helped me extract her body. We got her out and there was no indication of problems. She was just gone. Frank thinks it was heart attack. I thought she had gotten wedged in, but once we got her out I could see she was relaxed and posed as if sleeping. I stayed with her for 30 minutes to have our last physical time on earth. Even my old dog came and put his hands on her too. Bali, the other cat, is very quiet tonight.

I just love them so much, and God must love them more. Oh Toot, I love you and I love you, and I miss you already. See you later.