Anyone who has ever owned pets understands the pain and sorrow of losing a pet-- whether it be through an illness, an accident, the pet running away, old age, or circumstances that no longer allow you to keep your furry friend. I have lost a number of pets through different means. So, this is my dedication page to them, where I am going to tell you their stories. They live with me in memories now and always.




This was my little baby, Stoneya. Stoneya was an extremely sweet, intelligent cat. BUT, she was only sweet to select people. Some people thought she was so rude and others thought she was the most affectionate cat. It was really kind of funny! I was living in a house with 3 other girls at the time and, right across the street from me lived this guy one once lived across the hall from me in my college dorm. Small world! Anyway, Stoneya use to LOVE going over to his house. She would sleep on this couch they had out on their porch. She loved all the attention she got over there because they had parties all the time. If she wasn't in our house, I knew exactly where to go look for her.

She acted like a little princess and I treated her like one. She LOVED her Yum-Yums and pranced around in her purple collar that had a little bell attached to it. She slept all balled up in my elbow or armpit every night.

When she was 8 months old, I decided that it was time to go get her spayed. A couple of days before her appointment, one of my roommates pointed out that, when she picked Stoneya up, she felt a little bump in her abdomen area. So, I felt around the bottom side of the body and felt a few more. This concerned me greatly, but Stoneya acted like her same ole self-- didn't seem to be in any pain.

The morning arrived when I took her to the vet's office to be spayed and I asked the doctor if she could please look at these strange lumps. Then I left the office.

At then end of the day, I went back to pick Stoneya up, with the cat carrier in hand. When I walked in, the vet asked me to come to the back room with her. There layed Stoneya, still under the anesthetic and her belly all shaved. The vet informed me that Stoneya had feline AIDS (this was a relatively new disease at the time). She explained to me that they could wake her up and I could take her home, but that she wouldn't live very long and would be in a lot of pain. I didn't even have to think about my decision. It would have been selfish for me to do that to Stoneya. Anyway, it would have been so hard on me to see her suffer. I told the doctor to put her to sleep.

I stood there in the back room crying and crying and I remember the vet just hugging me telling me that she had lost a cat to feline AIDS as well and that I had made the right decision. I said my goodbyes to Stoneya and left. This was a week before Christmas 1995.

It took me a good 6 months before I could even look at a picture of Stoneya. It hurt too much, and still hurts today. Of all the cats I have owned, she was the one that was the most devoted to me, always by my side. Even though she only had a short time on this earth, she made such a huge impact on me and I will never forget the love that she showed me.

**Feline AIDS is medically known as FIV (Feline Immunodeficiency Virus). There is no vaccine for the disease, let alone a cure. You should, however, routinely have you cat tested for FIV when you take him/her to the vet for their yearly shots. I worked in a vet's office in Vermont and saw so many cat owners decline the FIV test, because they saw it as 'just another expense.' That is truly sad. To read more about FIV and ways to help prevent your cat from contracting this often fatal disease, please read this excellent article . There is also a great Questions and Answers page with cat owners and a veternarian that I would recommend reading.





Meet Leonardo De Fuzzy, (or Leo for short). Leo was a SPAZZY bunny rabbit!! When he got out of his cage, man, could he tear up the floor!! LOL He and one of my cats, Kiya, would play together... well, it was more like him playing with her, chasing and nipping on her tail!! He also liked to poop A LOT on the floor!

He was so funny because, for the longest time, he would NOT step paw onto the linoleum floor in the kitchen. He would get his front paws on it and then do a 90 degree flip and go hopping away! After a couple of months, he finally braved it... only a little at a time though. Each time, he would go just a little bit further!

One evening, Rodney (my boyfriend at the time) and I were watching T.V. in the living room (which is where Leo's cage was as well) and Rodney's face just went white, looked at me, and said, "I don't think that Leo is moving." To me, it just looked like he was sleeping. But, he wasn't. When we went to take him out of the cage, we noticed some blood that had dripped out of his nose. We were baffled!

I got on the phone and called my Aunt who is a zoo keeper out in Arizona and got her degree in Animal Science. I told her that Leo never showed any signs of anything being wrong. She said that it was probably a brain hemmorage and said it is not an uncommon thing in rabbits. She reassured me that we did not do anything wrong and there was no way for us to have known it was coming.

The next day, my parents stopped by our apartment and took Leo. They buried him in the nice wooded area behind their house. I didn't want to be there for it, so they were nice enough to do it.

Just like Stoneya, Leo's life was short (only about 6 months old)and ended unexpectedly, but, boy, he really knew how to make me laugh!!!

**If you are an owner of a bunny or are considering adding one to your family, please visit the House Rabbit Society for a lot of wonderful information about diet, housing, litter-training, chewing, aggression, etc. Another excellent site is The PetBunny Homepage with quite a number of informative articles and resources.





On a happier note, Chloe has not passed away, she is just no longer living with Rodney (my boyfriend at the time) and I. We got Chloe around Easter 1997. We missed Leo and having a bunny around.

Believe it or not, she actually started out as a 'normal' size bunny! But it didn't take her long to just become a 'lap bunny' and want to eat ALL the time! She loved her lettuce, baby carrots, and alfalfa, but could care less about her rabbit pellets! Her food dish with the pellets sat in her cage and she made it KNOWN that she was NOT going to eat those! She would take her little nose, scoot the dish around the metal cage, making as much noise as possible, and then, still using her nose, dumping the food out into her cage and onto the floor.

Like I said, she really became a 'lap bunny.' She use to love laying on Rodney's tummy, sucking the warmth from him. She never really had that much interest in running around. When we would set her on the floor to play, she would find the cat toys (specifically the plastic balls with the bells inside) and push them around with her face. This would, of course, get the cats all interested in what she was doing with THEIR toys. LOL

When Rodney and I decided to move to Iowa at the end of December 1997, we realized that it would be hard to take her with us, since we were driving from Vermont to Iowa and already had our Husky and 3 cats to pack in the car. It is the first time I have ever had to 'give up' an animal, so of course I had mixed feelings. Rodney's mother, who lives in New Hampshire, told us that she knew of a family that would take Chloe in. The family lived in the country and had a 9 year old daughter who very much wanted another bunny rabbit. So, we drove Chloe down to New Hampshire and gave her to the little girl and her family.

Reports are that Chloe is doing great and living the high life! She lives in a barn with the other rabbit, where she is allowed to hop around and play freely all day. We miss her a lot, but the decision was probably the best for Chloe. She is not in her cage for a lot of the day. She has a bunny friend that she gets to play with and gets to eat hay all day long! Just what her big belly needs!! LOL



Thanks to Sandi, Toots, and Muffet.
This is a very special award to me.

This Waiting for us at Rainbow Bridge webring site is owned by Amy. Previous Next Previous 5 Sites Next 5 Sites Random Site List Sites Do you want to join the ring?

amy_hult@hotmail.com

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