Only crossed the Rainbow Bridge peacefully a few days ago at home nestled on my lap while the vet gave him his final injection.
Only Christmas 2018
We noticed last summer that Only had lost some weight and muscle mass. No other symptoms were evident. The vet checked him out and his blood work was fine. No tumors were felt and the scan did not show anything amiss. A GI panel showed his B12 and folate low - an indication of either IBD or lymphoma. We began a protocol of B12 shots, prednisolone and CBD oil with herbal and nutritional immune boosters. Being a rescue, we could not afford chemo for him, so we did not want to subject him to exploratory surgery. We treated it as if it was lymphoma, the worst case scenario and hoped for the best.
Only a couple of weeks ago
None of his treatments worked for long term. He began to lose more weight. Hiss appetite dropped severely and he developed diarrhea in his last few weeks. We suspected cancer and knew the end was approaching. Only enjoyed his last days, going out on the porch, napping on Don's lap, and cuddling with his siblings.
Only had a larger than life personality. He was our Eddie Haskill (from the old TV show Leave it to Beaver) - always causing trouble with the other cats but acting all innocent when we came into the picture.
Only sitting on Lily
When Don got the cat food ready, Only would get on the shelf above the counter and persistently tap Don's hat as if he was saying "Hurry up". If Only wanted to sit someplace other cats had already acquired, nothing fazed him. He would just plunk himself down and put up with bites, swats and abuse until the other cat or cats left. Only always got what he wanted.
Only on the right
Only in front with his litter mates and Lily
Even his name was unique. As kittens, born under our back porch in Lily's third and final litter, Only and two litter mates were all white with smudges of black on their heads like paint got smeared
on them. Two Spot had two smudges of black, Smidge has just a trace of black and Only had only one smudge - thus the name Only. Little did we know that these bits of black fur would fade away as they got older!
Only in front, Two Spot behind
Only and Two Spot
Only bonded with Two Spot as kittens. They were inseparable, even sleeping together. All ears and long thin bodies. Two peas in a pod. When we caught them to bring them inside as young cats, we trapped them together before we caught the other cats and Lily.
Only with Two Spot
Only had large bedroom eyes - sleepy and intensely green. I called him my Lounge Lizard. I could see him making girls swoon, playing some musical instrument in a bar if he was a human.
Only loved to cuddle with us or his siblings but was very shy with others or if there was any unfamiliar noise. He hid at the first sign of something new - burrowed under blankets, opened the old cabinet and hid in it. Once at the vet Only tried to hide in the basket of dog toys before the vet came into the room.
Only with the whitesters
Under a blanket
In the toy box
A few weeks ago
We were his family and with us he was so easy going. He would patiently let me pose him for holiday photos. He even came when I called his name. He even came for his nicknames - Only Baloney, Own Balone.
Only's gift to us was his ability to be totally himself all the time. He answered to no one but himself. He even had a goofy walk uniquely his, wiggling his hips from side to side. Only was extraordinarily, uncommonly, singularly himself.
Snuggling with Tabitha on his last day.
On his last day, he was very unsteady on his feet but still stopped to play with his ball, and used the cat scratcher on the floor. I spoke to our animal communicator and she said Only wanted to be with the cats outside in the shelter one last time. We had moved only inside with us a few months ago to better care for him. Don swaddled him in a fleece blanket and carried him out to see Snowball, Two Spot and the others. Only seemed to settle down a bit once he had been with them.
Napping on Don
We took turns talking to him, loving him up and telling him how much we will miss him. He napped on the sofa next to Don or myself. Once the vet came, things went so peacefully and quietly. Only was gone in a second. We buried him with his favorite toy, wrapped in a soft fleece throw in a grave above Darby on our land with a red rose on his grave. We will get a stone with his name and dates in a few months.
We will never forget our little man and his enormous personality. We love you and miss you so much!
Never before seen..until now...our 2016 Wildcat Woods Halloween costumes! First is me...Countess Tabitha the Severer, known for carving her victims into tiny pieces.
Seductive Callie is dressed as a Hawaiian Hula Girl with flower lei and grass skirt. hoping to win over some handsome mancat out there.
For the ladycats is hunky Punk Rocker Mr Kitty with his spiked orange hair, leather wrist cuff and chain collar (hidden in his long sexy fur.)
And then for the cats who won't let mom dress them up and have to be tricked to get costumed... the tongue in cheek, punny and silly costumes ...
Snowball as the suave yet laid back Buccaneer (buck-an-ear, get it?) resting on his hammick
Our Eddie Haskell cat, Only posing for the Cat's Out of the Bag costume..
And dark evil Mamacita as sinister villain BlackMail
Hope you enjoyed our line-up for this All Hallow's Eve. We will be back shortly for a combo Gotcha Day for Callie and Snowball on Nov. 2 just in time for El Dios de la Muerte. Y'all come back!
Callie here today -You guys know how much Mom loves Halloween! We are helping her get ready by wearing our special Halloween themed bandanas by Jodi, our IG friend. Each one is reversible and attaches to your collar. We don't wear collars so Mom used a ribbon.
Only models the other side of mine - spooky black with spider webs
Mr Kitty
The shop is BellaLovesAlex and features hand made kitty bandanas and bow ties for all seasons and holidays. They are purrfectly made and easy to wear. If you are too late for this Halloween, then check out her fall and Christmas ones. Anything from this shop would make wonderful gifts fr your family and friends. Follow BellaLovesAlex on Instagram @bellalovesalex or on Facebook
Jodi's cat Gizmo from her Etsy page with her orange bow tie.
(Mom didn't get anything for writing this - she just likes Jodi's hand made items for cats. Mom only buys American hand made!)
Tabitha wears the flip side of Mr Kitty's bandana
Mom also put up some Halloween decor at the base of our driveway. A scary witch with a gravestone, with pumpkins and mums.Have you put any Halloween decorations up at your house?
Our cat shelter is in the left corner
We will be back with a special Halloween post with us in new never before seen costumes. Before that we will remember our dear Minnie who left us last year on Oct. 29. My Gotcha Day and Snowball's comes up right after Halloween so we should be online quite a bit for a while! Hope to see you all then!!
P.S. An update on us. Normie was at the vet's twice this month for constipation. It turns out the culprit was his Greenie dental treats. Don't use those. We threw ours away. Then Sweetpea had a sore paw - her dew claw had grown in again so they had to cut all the claws way back. We will have to keep an eye on her claws. She is doing well on her herbal thyroid and kidney meds.
It is me, Only, today. Sorry we have been AWOL since our last post in May. The beans have been on the road, traveling - first time they have gone anywhere together in ten years. In May it was a short trip to Highlands, NC to try out the pet sitter, then it was a wedding in VA near DC. A family thing. And then Mom headed out to Charleston SC to visit a work friend who moved down there last year.
Pop dancing with the bride, his niece, in VA
Another trip is coming up - to visit Mr. Kitty's humans. His Dad B. would love it if we snuck him in the luggage but no can do. B had a liver transplant last year and now needs a kidney transplant. Mom's oldest friend D. is giving her kidney to her husband B. They have been thru more than most people can cope with over this past year. That was why they could not keep Mr Kitty if you remember. No pets allowed now after an organ transplant. The surgery is scheduled for July so Mom may go back up to help them out.
Cats always find Mom like this one did in Charleston. He was the Inn cat.
The beans found a great pet sitter and we like her. She is nice and quiet and makes sure we all get our meds and lots of pets. She grew up on a farm and has a dog and cat herself. We will be in good hands but it may be the start of some traveling urges for the beans. Uh oh.
Mr Kitty zonked out on the porch.
Nothing new with us cats. Mr. Kitty is doing fine on his thyroid meds and so is Sweetpea finally. Snowball is holding his own with his megacolon - no issues so far. It has been very hot lately so we are enjoying the AC in the house and the cat house cats all have fans. Their inside room is cool like a basement on account of being built into the hillside. Mr. Kitty juts loves to nap out on the porch in the heat - funny guy.
Mom turkey and poults - see how mom is holding her leg up?
We have a mom turkey with a bum leg who has been visiting our bird feeder. The beans will make sure she has food and water while they are away. The turkey had six babies but only two are left. They are getting big, can fly a little and are starting to look like turkeys and not just fluff balls.
Mrs Raccoon
A cute raccoon has been stopping by to feed too. Mom seems to think she may have little ones in the woods but so far no sign of them. No bear sightings but one did bend our bird feeder pole down to the ground. We told the pet sitter to watch out. She will not put food out at night.
That is it for us. After the next trip, the humans should be home for the summer and hopefully will get to blogging again. (Unless Mom has to go back to help out Mr. Kitty's folks.) Mom does post on Facebook and on Instagram so look for us there. We miss our blog buddies and hope y'all are doing good. With luck we will visit you all in about a week.
Only here reporting for Mom. A quick post to let you know what is going on. Sweetpea is back to her normal self and using the thyroid ear cream is purrfect for her. We appreciate all the comments for Mom's birthday/Chica's remembrance day and Darby's Gotcha Day/St Pat's. Mom has not been able to get on the computer due in part to internet issues and mostly because of some health issues she is having.
I am sure it is nothing serious but Mom is going to the Doctor this week to check it out. We hope to be back online soon after. Us cats are very grateful for all of you and feel awful we have not been able to comment and visit on your blogs. Send Mom some purrs please. Thanks, over and out......
It is January 13 - time for our annual Rubber Ducky Day post.
Rubber duckies have been around since the 1800s and the beginnings of the rubber industry. And don't forget the song “Rubber Duckie” performed by Ernie on Sesame Street in 1970? This fun colorful bath toy has been an iconic American symbol since.
If you have some spare bright yellow rubber duckies, leave them around town today in unexpected places - in a puddle in the park, on a shelf in the Children's section of the library, or tie a cheerful note around one wishing the finder a Happy Rubber Ducky Day!
Bake some Rubber Ducky cupcakes - visit icedjems.com for directions on how to make these cute and delish cupcakes.
Post photos of your cats with their rubber duckies on social media like us!
Take a relaxing fragrant bubble bath today with your whole collection of rubber duckies in with you.
So is Two Spot
Whatever you do on National Rubber Ducky Day - have fun! After all it is the middle of winter with the next holiday a whole month away! Happy Rubber Ducky Day to y'all!!!!
Only just wants to snuggle with his rubber duckies.
P.S. Mr. Kitty is home and did fine with his procedure Tuesday. He was a bit groggy and out of it but should be back to his normal self in the next day or two. He had no trouble eating tho! Nom Nom Nom...
Thank you for all your purrs and good vibes for him.
Veterans Day – Nov. 11, 2015 – is a day set aside to honor those who
have served their country. It traces its roots back to World War I when
it was known as Armistice Day.
Only here today and we would like to thank all the veterans - men ad women - who served our country past and present. Many men in our family have fought for our freedom. Within our immediate family, Pop was in Vietnam and Grandpop in World War II. We salute all vets today!
"This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave." —Elmer Davis
Pop is the one on the right with short sleeves
"Honor to the soldier and sailor everywhere, who bravely bears his
country's cause. Honor, also, to the citizen who cares for his brother
in the field and serves, as he best can, the same cause."
- Abraham Lincoln
Grandpop Sam during WWII
"The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any
war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they
perceive the Veterans of earlier wars were treated and appreciated by
their nation." – George Washington
