Leaves on this Family Tree

Withering Away

Sunday, April 28, 2019

Hard Weekend

Last month was Marcus' 16 Gotcha Day. Saturday she had been with us 16 years 1 month and 1 day . . . and now, we are catless.


Nosey the Calico, behind her are her sisters Marcus on the left and Matthew on the right.
This picture was taken before we moved to New York in  June 2016.

I had to think for a minute but it has been 39 - 40  years since I welcomed Coke, my beautiful, long white haired barn cat into Paka and my family. Ever cat Paka or Tavish have welcomed into our home has fallen in love with these two. Either I had two dogs who thought they were cats, or we adopted cats who thought they were dogs. Either way, all of our lives were made better by the cats who walked through out hearts.


2017 . . . when Marcus (on the left) and Matthew (on the right) were healthy.

Marcus was a sweet girl. Her litter mates all had distinct personalities but Marcus was just Marcus.  She fit into our life life a silk glove fits a hand . . . she just slid in and was perfect.

The move to New York in 2006 and then back to Indiana in 2016 didn't phase her or her sister Matthew. Granted it took a while for them to figure out where they were going to hide out here, but once they found the guest bedroom bed they were "at home" again.

Last October she lost her right eye to glaucoma. She rallied back from it like a pro.

She didn't let it stop her around the house. She started eating better and was back to her old happy self.



Her evenings had returned to visiting us in the living room and rubbing up against her buddy Indy.

Oh, I forgot, she also started coming into the living room to see what Dad had to offer her.


That was in January. Then I realized she was losing weight. It had happened before and she was placed on Thyroid medicine. Abbigail had gone through several years of Thyroid cream that was rubbed into her ear twice a day so doing it for Marcus was a piece of cake.

Honestly, I don't remember when she started but it had become a part of our morning and night routine for what seemed like years.

But, alas, the meds weren't helping like they had. She had to go in for blood work and an IV of fluids, she was dehydrated, 6 weeks ago. At this time she weighed 6.5 pounds - down several pounds since her last visit following her eye surgery.

Four weeks ago she had to go back in and was down to 4.5 pounds. doc Anderson wanted me to increase her Thyroid medicine. It seemed to help some. She was eating the soft food I was giving her (she had always eaten dry so we thought the wet/canned food would be easier for her and it was) and drinking water. So doc and us were happy.


April 23, 2019, the last picture of Marcus in her favorite night position.
She would jump on the bed sometime in the middle of the night and curl up with Indy to sleep.
So glad I caught them one last time before she lost her strength to jump on the bed.

Then this past week I noticed she felt so much thinner. She was still drinking some water but by Thursday night she was just licking the top of the wet food. 

I knew we were coming to the end of our 16 year journey.

Saturday  morning I made the decision to call her doctor and make arrangement to help her over the Rainbow Bridge. We went in around 9:30 am. She now weighed only 4.5 pounds, she had lost 2 pounds in 6 weeks. Poor baby was nothing but skin and bones. 

I had been in this same situation with Coke and Sadie so I knew what I was getting myself into. I knew I had to be there with all three of them to help them cross. I thanked God that she had been drinking water because her veins weren't collapsed.

Her vet is the sweetest . . . I hope one day I will have a doctor like him who will help me when it is time for me to Cross the Rainbow Bridge and see all my Fur~Babies again.



by Steve and Diane Bodofsky

This is the only rhyming poem version which I know!
By the edge of a woods, at the foot of a hill,
Is a lush, green meadow where time stands still.
Where the friends of man and woman do run,
When their time on earth is over and done.

For here, between this world and the next,
Is a place where each beloved creature finds rest.
On this golden land, they wait and they play,
Till the Rainbow Bridge they cross over one day.

No more do they suffer, in pain or in sadness,
For here they are whole, their lives filled with gladness.
Their limbs are restored, their health renewed,
Their bodies have healed, with strength imbued.

They romp through the grass, without even a care,
Until one day they start, and sniff at the air.
All ears prick forward, eyes dart front and back,
Then all of a sudden, one breaks from the pack.

For just at that instant, their eyes have met;
Together again, both person and pet.
So they run to each other, these friends from long past,
The time of their parting is over at last.

The sadness they felt while they were apart,
Has turned into joy once more in each heart.
They embrace with a love that will last forever,
And then, side-by-side, they cross over… together. 



8 comments:

  1. I'm so sorry to hear about Marcus. Give Indy an extra but tonight. Take care sweetie!

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    1. I swear I have seen her in her normal places since she has been gone. Willa picked up her scent and went looking for her. Indy just looks up at where she would lay on the furniture then look back at me with the saddest face.They really got close since we moved home.

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  2. Replies
    1. Thank you . . . never having had human children my fur-babies have claimed me and when they leave (and mine have all had long lives) it just knicks my feet out from under me.

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  3. Such a sad post, I too have had cats for all my adult life, Grace is 15 and we watch her health closly, she is a small cat and will drop weight quickly. They touch our hearts with the companionship and love. My heart feels for you xxx

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    1. They stole a piece of my heart when they came into my life and left my heart missing a bigger piece when they left. By now my heart should be gone but they filled it so much when they were alive it is now so much bigger than before.

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  4. I sympathize with you. We lost Mr. Squirrel, our insulin dependant diabetic to cancer in November. This past Wednesday his best buddy, Spike the tailless wonder, went to sleep and just didn't wake up. No warning, nothing. The girls keep looking for him, Nosey Rosey Parker hasn't run through the house once since he passed. Shelly, the ginger menace hasn't tried to steal my yarn once. Jazmine just sits and howls periodically. We're all lost without him. Amazing how they creep in and take over your heart.

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    1. Almost 30 years ago I had another set of litter mates, Xel-Ha (shell-ha named for a lagoon in Mexico) and her brother Gremlin. Gremlin went in for a routine teeth cleaning and didn't make it back home. Xel would sit at the screen door, when I took Tavish (my Schnauzer mix) for her morning walk and just howl. That is when I heard how cats can sound like crying babies. I could hear her a block away . . . so much pain from such a little girl :(

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