Orville Posted February 13, 2015 Posted February 13, 2015 Today, February 13, 2015 at 2:30pm we had a young kitten pass away. Even though he was not with us for long, he had a uniqueness about him that was very special. He would stay with either my wife or myself, keeping us compnay at all times. His passing has not only us, but our neighbros who are also animal lovers just heartbroken of his passing. He had bonded strongly with my wife, so she is devastated over losing him, as we lost another cat in 2009 with a very similar name, whom this little bundle of joy had been somewhat named after. Simba Justin Mufasa left 3 siblings behind, 3 siblings, 2 males, "Don Rob Zombie" and "Zeus Thunderbolt" and 1 female, "Darkmoon Dragonfyre". Currently Zeus is also missing his little brother as they always played and slept together, they were pretty much inseperable until today when Simba passed away, We really have no details of what caused Simba's demise, but the little guy was made as comfortable as possible as he breathed his last breaths upon the Earth. He has now crossed over to Rainbow Bridge and is with our other cats there from the past that we've had to put down. Simba did pass away in my arms as he drew his last breaths, fighting to try and stay with us. Rest in Peace little Simba...We miss you very much!
Santas Helper Posted February 13, 2015 Posted February 13, 2015 Very sorry to hear Orville. I hate losing pets. They are part of the family no matter how young they are. Tom
Mega Arch Posted February 13, 2015 Posted February 13, 2015 Orville, I too am a pet lover. So very sorry to hear. And in your arms - this just brings me to tears with you and your wife. Take care. - Daniel
Orville Posted February 13, 2015 Author Posted February 13, 2015 (edited) Thanks Santas Helper and Mega Arch. No matter when it is, and some folks just can't understand how our pets, no matter how young or old, are an integral part of our family. But no matter when, age, young or old, it's always difficult losing a beloved pet, especially when one creates that special bond with you, as Simba had done with both the wife and myself. Never wanting to leave our side. So we're definitely very broken-hearted over his passing. And it's even more difficult when it's just a small kitten just getting a start on life itself since he would have been 2 months old on the 25th of Feb. 2015.. The mama cat {Mama Bob}, whom we're still also taking care of, and she is still feeding all the other kittens, keeps calling for Simba to come eat when all the other kittens are nursing on her, really breaks our hearts that she can't understand he has gone to the afterlife and isn't around to come and suckle on her. But she keeps calling to him, wondering why he isn't coming to eat. And that's just so sad too. What really hurt the most was watching his brothers and sisters after he passed, trying to rouse him to play with them. Now that's the biggest tear jerker scene there can be right there. It just about killed us watching his siblings as they tried to wake him to play and he was gone. That's just tore me and my wife up inside as they tried so hard to get Simba up to play. Edited February 13, 2015 by Orville
plasmadrive Posted February 13, 2015 Posted February 13, 2015 Orville, I am so sorry to hear this sad news.. I have my cat that we took in as a stray and nursed him to health 3 years ago.. I just can't imagine my day without him. He is "my buddy".... May Simba rest in peace.
Orville Posted February 13, 2015 Author Posted February 13, 2015 (edited) Thanks Plasmadrive. We lost two elderly cats that we had to put down, the original Simba in 2009 due to renal failure at 15 years, and my other little purr buddy, Timone in 2013 due to lymph node cancer, he was 18-1/2. And it's never easy losing a pet at any time of it's life, but as young as this little guy was, when they are so young, it's even more difficult. And even harder to understand why it has to happen like that. Edited February 13, 2015 by Orville
Mega Arch Posted February 14, 2015 Posted February 14, 2015 Yeah, trying to let the siblings say good-bye must have taken all your strength.Very sad for Zeus too.Just a sad day altogether.Hope you guys can get some peace with this soon.Just have to double up the lovin on the others.
k6ccc Posted February 14, 2015 Posted February 14, 2015 Sorry to hear about that Orville. Always hard to lose a pet. And I love cats, but don't have have any.
George Simmons Posted February 14, 2015 Posted February 14, 2015 Sorry to hear of your loss Orv. I hate cats but I know if it was a dog I'd feel much the same as you are right now. Maybe it would be wise to not challenge fate and simply retire that name. You could get a small memorial plaque and have a pic of him laminated on it. (Maybe include the original one too if you have a pic.) You don't have to hang the plaque or display it so it's in your face every day but you might find it comforting.
Orville Posted February 14, 2015 Author Posted February 14, 2015 (edited) Thanks k6ccc. We're working on that. And thank you George. George, when my wife and I first got married, I *hated* cats too! Yes, it's true, I really detested the little buggers. But it was all because of a bad experience I had with one {an aunt's} years ago when I was around 6-7 years old. Went to pet my aunt's cat, can't even recall what the cats name was now, but that little bugger jumped off my aunt's car, claws out and down both my legs. I was wearing short pants at the time. Ever since that happened, it turned me against cats for a very, very long time. Wouldn't even let my wife bring her pet cat Houdini {a sealpoint lilac Siamese} into the marriage because i just didn't trust them, hated and loathed cats with a passion. It's a very long story that I'm not going to get into as to how all that changed, but my love of dogs over cats changed back around 1993 when my wife talked me into allowing her to bring home a kitten {the first Simba}, which by the way, at one time weighed in at around 75 pounds when he got older! He was a mix of Florida Bobcat and Silver Grey Tabby, he was one BIG cat. Anyway, one year later, I adopted my own cat Timone in 1994, runt of the litter, he chose me, I kept pushing him away to look at the other larger kittens at the time. He was persistent and won out and came home with me. Turns out he outgrew his sibling 3:1! He never got over 25 pounds and settled in at 22 for most of his adult life, while his siblings all stayed small and not more than 10-12 pounds.. Prior to all this happening, I really prefered dogs over cats, but after having the ones I did, now I actually prefer cats over dogs. But that doesn't mean I won't have a dog again someday. But if I do, I prefer the smaller miniature breeds like: Pomerainens, Schipperkees, or Dachsunds. My wife is terrified of large dogs, which I'd prefer a nice German Sheppard for home/yard protection. Keep telling her she needs to get over her fear of the large dogs like I had to finally get over my angusih about cats. Again thank you to everyone that has sent their sympathies. BTW: We also have another cat, now just over a year old that is named: "Timone Snoiwstar II", but he doesn't look anything like his predeccessor! Just his attitude and actions reflect from the original. Weird huh? But that's how the 2nd Timone got his name! EDIT: Forgot to say thanks for the suggestions George, when we can we're going to have a small gravestone made with the kittens photo and dates made up for our garden area in his rembrance. We'll probably see if we can also add the 1st.Simba's namesake, photo and dates on there as well to memoralize both of them. Now my original cat Timone, we have his ashes in a photo urn that we got from our vet when he had to be put down in 2013, and that resides on a special shelf area in our bedroom. Edited February 14, 2015 by Orville
Orville Posted February 14, 2015 Author Posted February 14, 2015 Here's what the original Simba looked like: You can see how big this guy was!
Orville Posted February 14, 2015 Author Posted February 14, 2015 Another angle/shot of the Original Simba: He always looked mean as hell {The bobcat in him}, but in reality he was a very friendly cat to everyone.
TGabriel Posted February 15, 2015 Posted February 15, 2015 Sorry for the loss Orville, I'm a cat man myself.I know just how you feel, they are your family.RegardsThomas
Orville Posted February 15, 2015 Author Posted February 15, 2015 Thanks Thomas. Found out today I have a big OOPS! We always thought that "Darkmoon Dragonfyre" was a female, where it actually turns out that she is a HE! He finally "matured" enough that we now know for certain . Sure glad HIS name can go either way! Sure would've hated to do to him what happened to two of our other "male" cats when they were younger, they ended up with female names! Seems unlike dogs, cats are a wee bit more difficult to tell what sex they are when they are still young!
George Simmons Posted February 15, 2015 Posted February 15, 2015 (edited) Orv, I'm sure by the time you finish answering this I'll be sorry for asking, but isn't it obvious whether the creature has either indoor plumbing or a dongle? And what happens if your pussy turns out to be, well, uh, a non-pussy? Do you change the name or send the cat for a sex change operation? Edited February 15, 2015 by George Simmons
Orville Posted February 16, 2015 Author Posted February 16, 2015 George since you don't own cats {since you say you hate them}, I can only figure you've never had any, kittens are actually a lot harder to sex when very young, they usually don't show their sex patterns {males} until about 6-8 weeks old, at least every kitten I've seen has been that way. Well seems that Darkmoon was one of those late bloomers, and we've had a few of those. So he just blossomed a couple days ago after Simba's passing, prior to that he looked like a female kitten as stated earlier, a kitten's sex parts {again males} don't show up for almost 6-8 weeks after they're born. And I've yet to have a cat{kitten} turn out NOT to be a cat, but I did have one that acted more like a dog than a cat! ROFL See, the answer wasn't that bad....was it?
George Simmons Posted February 17, 2015 Posted February 17, 2015 Ouch ... I must have lost my touch during all those months you spent in mod queue. Or maybe I'm getting too subtle these days. Either way, that one looks like it went so far over your head that you didn't even have to duck.
thevikester Posted February 17, 2015 Posted February 17, 2015 (edited) Not a cat lover, but certainly not a hater...but I do have a doggie for a pet, and will be devastated when he leaves us...my sympathies go out to you Orville Edited February 17, 2015 by thevikester
Orville Posted February 18, 2015 Author Posted February 18, 2015 Ouch ...I must have lost my touch during all those months you spent in mod queue. Or maybe I'm getting too subtle these days. Either way, that one looks like it went so far over your head that you didn't even have to duck.Naw, you haven't lost your touch George. But I figured you were asking a legitimate question that should be answered, as someone else here may have been thinking along those same lines and seriously wondering about the answer, they just didn't ask before you brought it up! After all, there are many folks here that may be like you, don't like or care for cats, never had one, so their experience has either been none or maybe very limited when it comes to determining a young cats{kittens} sexuality traits. Because BOTH females and male cats for those that may not be aware, they both have "dongles" as you call them when young{and even old}, it's the additional plumbing that doesn't show up on a male cat 'til just a wee bit later {pardon the unintended pun}. And I'll leave it at that.
Orville Posted February 18, 2015 Author Posted February 18, 2015 (edited) Not a cat lover, but certainly not a hater...but I do have a doggie for a pet, and will be devastated when he leaves us...my sympathies go out to you OrvilleThank you. I had more dogs than cats growing up, and in my young days have lost several pets due to illnesses. Most had to be put down because of it. And for a young child, that is just so difficult. But even as an adult, I've found it is still just as devastating when one leaves us for whatevr reason. Edited February 18, 2015 by Orville
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