"No Heaven will not ever Heaven be unless my cats are there to welcome me"

Epitaph in a Pet Cemetary

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

This page introduces my memories section.    These are the stories of the cats which I no longer have.   Some of them have died and some have moved away, but they all hold a special place in my heart.     I have discovered that what helps me to overcome my grief at the loss of a much loved pet is to write their story.   That way I will never forget them.  

The first cat I lost was Briagha, my Havana and his death hit me very hard, as he was only 3 years old when he died.    Before he died every pet I had lost had been euthanased and these were decisions which I found extremely difficult to take.   Briagha was my first cat to die at home, but because I was not there with him I found it much harder to deal with.   The guilt that I wasn't there with him was the strongest emotion in the early days.    About a week after he died I felt a compulsion to write a story about him, so that I would never forget him and all his little idiosyncracies, how much I loved him and how I felt when he died.   The links from this page take you to the stories I wrote about Briagha, Merlin and Islay who are the 3 cats which I have lost. 

I have left each story in its original form - in other words as it was written at the time.  I hope that those of you who take the time to read them will enjoy each story and see it as a celebration of that cat's life.

Snickles and Kosta are Luna's grandmother and mother respectively.  They moved to Surrey to live with my daughter in January 1998, but unfortunately, although they settled very well indeed, they did not cope with the arrival of her daughter the following August.   At first the new baby didn't bother them at all, but once that baby began to crawl, follow them about and squeal with excitement, they became very unhappy.  Kosta particularly did not cope very well and began to overgroom - a classic sign of stress.   As they had never been separated, we decided, as a family, that it would be better if we found a new home for both of them - as their happiness must come first.    In the summer of 2000 Barry and I collected them and took them to live with Ian and Marjorie Wainwright in a little village in Durham.  Ian and Marjorie already had a Siamese and a Ragdoll Variant and a rescued Golden Retriever.  They have settled in very well indeed and within a week were exploring outdoors and had their paws well under the table!     It was a relief to find such a wonderful home for them, as the sorrow that living with our daughter didn't work out upset us all, not the least our daughter, who as yet cannot bear to go and visit them.  However, now they do live nearer to us again  we can easily stay in touch and visit them whenever we like.

Charlie left us when he was only 14 weeks old, but his new owners stayed in touch and we paid regular visits.  In October 1999, when he was just 2 year old he suffered a horrific road accident, which left him fighting for his life and both his hind legs in a struggle that was going to take him over 4 months to win, albeit he did lose one of his legs.