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| Before I started trying for children I had a great love for animals. I grew up with a lovely black & white cat that I found when she was around 6 weeks old, straying in about a foot of snow. I begged my mother to let me keep her, she soon settled in and we called her Jenny. She had 2 litters of beautiful kittens before we had her neutered, and Jenny lived to a good old age of seventeen. When she died I was heartbroken, but I soon realised I could have cats again in my life. I currently own three cats, and they are the love of my life! I treat them all like children and they love it! In 1993 I chose a ginger kitten that my stepdaughter named Rusty. He was a bundle of fun and joy to us. In 1995 my fiancee and I decided to get married, we set the date for February 10th, a Friday at the local registry office. A few days before our wedding Rusty started acting strange, he went off his food and seemed to be tired all the time. The day before our wedding he was very sick, so I took him to our local vet. He had blood tests and I was told to bring him back at 9.30am the next day, the morning of our wedding. I nursed Rusty in bed all night, I was really worried about him, he wasn't himself at all. Next day I returned to the vet and was told that Rusty had two deadly diseases, feline leukemia and feline Aids. I was shocked and deeply upset. The vet said I should put Rusty to sleep right there and then. I wouldn't hear of it, not on my wedding day too! He gave me antibiotics to give Rusty, and I took him home, determined I would help him get well again. I asked my sister-in-law to stay overnight to take care of Rusty as we were booked into a hotel for the night, and after we were married I rang home many times to enquire how he was. Rusty hung on to dear life for the next few days, he mostly slept on my knee during the day. I tempted him to eat tiny bits of salmon out of my hand, he just couldn't face food any other way. Now and again he would drink milk for me, poor Rusty was trying so hard to stay with me. I used to cry into his fur and beg him not to leave me. Rusty had bad days and good ones over the following weeks. A neighbour told me during this time that I was cruel to keep him alive, he was so thin, but she was just a dog-lover, she couldn't understand how I felt. I was amazed that Rusty was still here after 3 months. He began to act more and more like his old self, playing in the garden chasing a little ball that I used to throw for him. His bad days were less and less, just one or two a week and he slowly gained weight. At 6 months to the day that Rusty was diagnosed I took him back to our vet for a check up. He was amazed that I had Rusty with me! He told me he was a true miracle, that no cat at that vets had ever beaten both diseases at once. He didn't know the power of prayer or the determination of a pet to live! The vet took blood to analyse and a few days later he told me that Rusty had fought off both diseases, he was in the clear and going to live, I was ecstatic, to say the least! Rusty went from strength to strength , and today he is very healthy and chubby! He will always be my big strong boy, my ever faithful feline friend. In 1996 I decided to get another kitten. My friends cat had a litter of four, they were so cute! I chose a lovely black & white one and awaited the day he was old enough to come home. When the kittens were 4 weeks old one of them got a virus and was very poorly. I was scared my kitty would catch it, so I took him home at just 4 weeks of age. I was afraid of how Rusty would react to it, he had been so spoiled by me, but he took to the kitten like it was his own baby! Rusty had a nickname of Lion King, as he was a big healthy cat, so we named the kitten Simba, he was Rusty's new baby! I hand-fed Simba and he had to sleep with me at night, he was so tiny, bless him. He has grown up to be a really big baby, he cries every time I leave him to go shopping or go to bed without him. He is Rusty's best friend, I call them brothers! In 2005 Rusty sadly passed away age 13 years. In 2006 Simba passed away age 10 years. Both are sadly missed and will be loved always.. God bless you and God bless all of our pets. |
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| Below Rusty age 5 years |
| Below Simba age 3 years |
| Music A Love So Beautiful |
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| Please sign my cat's guestbook! |