Author Unknown

Over the years, there have been many pets who have gone before us. Countless goldfish graves litter my parents' backyard. There are a few parakeet graves there, too. There was a whole string of cats, beginning with Frosty, who lived a semi-feral life at our house, when I was a child. Our backyard was their home base. The more tame cats came later, when i was a teen. Snoopy, Yoyo, Shiloh. And there were dogs. Daisy, Bandit, Chrissy, Noodles, Silky. They left our home before their times were up. And their ultimate fate is unknown. What is known, is that they are surely running over the grass of Rainbow Bridge. Bandit, who was born blind in one eye, has sight in both eyes, now, as he runs and plays at Rainbow Bridge.

There was a doggy drought for several years in our household. Then came Ringo. Because he was the first to break the drought, and because he was so very special to me, he has his own page within these pages. To see that page, click here.

This page is about the others who came to us after Ringo.

After the death of my cat Shiloh, I vowed not to own another cat. Then came Snickers. She was a gift to me from my younger brother. Her original owners couldn't keep her and at the tender age of 10 or 12 weeks, she rode, uncrated, in my brother's car for four hours to get to me. Her name was Frodo, but, as she was slim and tall on long legs, I renamed her. She was a broken tortoise shell or calico in color and had a "meow" that strongly suggested that she had some siamese somewhere in her heritage. She was an odd cat, willingly accepting the Rhode Island Red chicken of my father's as a bedmate. The two shared an old metal rabbit nesting box in the back yard. As soon as I find that picture, I will get it up on this page.

When I married and moved from California to Washington state, she went with us. From that time on, she became exclusively an indoor cat. And she ruled the roost. She is responsible for raising Yulara, whose story is a little further down the page. And when she became sick with cancer at the age of ten, she hid it so well that, by the time we realized she was not well, it was too late to save her life. She slipped away quietly and humanely at the vet's in June of 1994.

At the beginning of April in 1985, I answered the phone to hear a panicky voice on the other end, begging me to come and get "him." When i finally realized it was my sister, and calmed her down, she explained. She worked at the local animal shelter. Their policy was to put down any "owner-surrendered" pets at the end of the day. My sister had done this too many times. When a pretty little sheltie came in and his owner willingly signed him over to the shelter, knowing he'd be dead in a few hours, my sister couldn't take it. She crated him, shoved him under her desk and called me. An hour later, he was on his way home with us.

We were his fourth home in as many years, and ultimately, his last home. For nine years he lived as part of our family. Yet, he never allowed himself to really be part of our family. He preferred to sit in the corner and watch the world go by. If he was called to one of us, from across the room, he slunk around the outside of the room, near the wall, went around and sat behind that person. He earned his AKC Companion Dog title and even trained in Open. But, he hated doing obedience work and I retired him from obedience trials without his ever stepping into an Open obedience ring.

Scarcely one month after Ringo passed away, the remaining pets all went in for their checkups and shots. Henry had an oozing sore that was checked at that time. The vet's expression told me it was serious. Henry was put on antibiotics, which cleared it up until he finished the course. After surgery and several more courses of antibiotics, it became apparent that he was no better. When cancer that had attacked his immune system was diagnosed, Henry quietly and painlessly slipped away at the vet's office. It was a decision that my husband hopes he will never have to make again. But, Henry deserved a humane and dignified passing.

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