Goodbye To Another Old Friend, 2006 to 2018

2006 - I was volunteering at the animal shelter near Albany, New York and bringing home many fosters, both dogs and cats. One day they sent me home with an orange cat and her one orange male kitten, who had been abandoned in an Albany apartment. But before they sent her home with me, they also gave her a litter of orphans to nurse:

 2006 - Because I already had many dogs and cats in the house, I put Georgette and her kittens in a crate in my bedroom. I gave them time to explore and play outside the crate when I was there to watch them, but they stayed in the crate when I was at work or in bed, sleeping. She as a good mother:

 2006 - I was taking photos for Petfinder at the time, and I put the kittens online when they were old enough. This was her her biological son, George. He was the first to be adopted:

 2007 - When her kittens were all adopted, Georgette went to an adoption event, where she hissed and spit at everyone who came near her. A shelter worker returned her to me, saying "Georgette has decided she will live with you." So she became my cat and got along with everybody. This was her at my old computer table with Wally, a foster dog who also became my own:

 2009 - When an elderly foster dog, Gerry (for "geriatric"), passed away, Georgette took over his doggie bed:

 2010 - Georgette and my two other cats, Draco and Snoozy (also refugees from the shelter), had a large cat tree where they spent much time:

 2011 - The cat litter box was at the top of the stairs and fenced off from the dogs, making it an ideal place to hang out and watch the activity below:

 2013- I put vinyl runner over the carpeted stairs to keep the animals from destroying it. Georgette did not seem impressed - and she was right. The vinyl runner did not save the carpet:

 2014 - We moved to the farm when I retired in 2013, and the cats got a new cat tree which I put at the top of the stairs. Georgette claimed the top shelf:

 2015 -I took lots of photos of Georgette atop that cat tree, with the copper angel behind her. I called those pictures "My two angels:"

 2016 - Georgette was slowing down and spending most of her days lounging in various places:

 2017 - Georgette was sweeter than ever, purring loudly when I gave her any attention:

 2017 - Georgette decided that my kitchen table/desk was hers. I tried to dissuade her, but finally gave in and put a pet bed there. She resided on the kitchen table for much of the rest of her life:

 2018 - This year she moved to a pet bed on a rocking chair. She slowed down even more. One weekend she stopped eating. I was able to coax her to eat small amounts of canned cat food, meat flavored baby food and tuna - but I knew her body was shutting down. When she would no longer eat anything, I took her to the vet to be put to sleep, where she purred until she died. I buried her beneath the big hay bales outside the barn. Farewell, faithful friend. You will be missed:

Another Sad Pet Farewell

In 2005, I was living near Albany NY and actively volunteering at the local animal shelter. One day, toward the end of the summer, a litter of black and white kittens came in. They were all cute and friendly except for one who was gray and white. Another volunteer, a cat specialist, said to me that the gray and white kitten was unfriendly, unhealthy and would likely never get a home. She suggested that I adopt him, and I did:

I brought him home and named him Bramble. He was playful and happy, if not affectionate:

 I also fostered many dogs and cats. Bramble never much took to people, but he loved all other animals, and I have lots of pictures of him with various foster dogs. This was Bramble and Wally, who I eventually adopted also. Wally died in 2013, just before I retired:

 Bramble may not have been affectionate, but he sure was cute. I began submitting photos of him to the website, Kitten War! He did well, winning many of their cuteness contests:

Bramble never met a dog or cat he didn't like. Here he is in the middle bed of a cat tree in our old home, along with Snoozey (bottom) and Draco (top), both of whom moved with us up to the farm but have since passed away:

 Jump ahead to 2018 and Bramble was showing signs of aging. He had mellowed, and he began to enjoy human contact:

 But mostly, Bramble continued to like the dogs and cats he lived with:

 Unlike the old days, I never had to go looking for Bramble. He could nearly always be found in the kitchen corner or in his own personal bed atop a bureau in the living room:

 As time went on, Bramble forsook his personal dog bed and began sleeping on the chair by my computer. After awhile, he stopped sleeping there and spent all his time in the kitchen corner:

 Bramble continued slowing down. His spine began to protrude and his belly began to swell:

 He didn't seem uncomfortable, but I knew he was approaching the end of his life, so I let him be but kept a close watch on him. I began giving him canned cat food, a treat he loved:

 This was the last photo of Bramble I took. When it came time to bring him to the vet, I was told that his heart and kidneys were failing. So the vet quietly put him to sleep. I buried him outside, beneath where the hay bales had sat all winter. The ground was thawed and easy to dig there. The trouble with loving animals is that their lives are so much shorter than ours. Nevertheless, what would existence be without them?