IN LOVING MEMORY OF DOOGIE HOWSER PhD
(October 31, 1991 - December 24, 2006)
Doogie was my first cat. I found him through an advertisement in a local paper in which someone had him listed for $5. The best $5 I ever spent! His Mother was a purebred Siamese cat who had escaped from her house for a few hours and his Father was a stray. Doogie was the runt of the litter and the last to go of all his siblings. He was very attached to his Mom and when I brought him home he spent an entire week crying and combing every inch of my apartment looking for his Mother. He even cried while he ate his food thus making a gurgling sound as he was trying to eat and swallow. Poor little sweetheart! After one week, he finally gave-up on the search and adopted me as his new Mom. Even though he had such an independent personality, he was very attached to me, his new Mom. I named him Doogie Howser PhD because when I first brought him home, he would lay on the floor in front of the TV set and watch the TV show "Doogie Howser MD" and that was the only show he watched. Plus he was a small kitty and was similar to the character on the show.
When he was 8 months old, I did a big residential move and he stayed at someone else's home for 3 days. On the last day, just before I was going to be picking him up, he was sitting on the ledge of a screen-less window that was open. As the person who was caring for him approached him and told him to get down, Doogie jumped out the window 10 stories high to the ground below. The person was watching from above in horror as he hit the cement in front of her apartment building below, got up and disappeared. He was missing outside for over 16 hours. I went over and searched the neighborhood until it was dark, late into the night, but could not find him anywhere. The next morning when the person was leaving her apartment, Doogie was sitting in front of her building in the spot he originally landed. She picked him up and he was making odd sounds and noises. After being taken to an Emergency Vet, it was determined that he had no internal injuries but that his left hind leg was very badly broken. I was told to consider amputation for him and even though it was such a tough choice that is the decision I made. After a few weeks, he learned to walk again with his 3 legs and was still a force to be reckoned with! A 10-story-jump couldn't stop this guy!
Doogie loved plants (hence above photo op), bugs, birdies, exploring, looking out windows, gray babe mousies, Fancy Feast Turkey Num-Nums and most of all, he loved his Lady...me. Doogie reminded me of a black panther or black jaguar...he had the energy, spirit and personality of a big cat.
When Doogie was 14 years old, he
went from chronic kidney disease to acute kidney failure. Two months after his 15th Birthday, which was on Christmas Eve, I made the decision to let him go in peace and love. He came to me that morning and through our interaction I knew he was asking me to help him. It was so heart-breaking to make the decision for euthanasia but I knew that was what I had to do for him. He took his one last car ride through the prairies, sitting with me in the passenger seat, on my lap in a cozy cat bed with my arms wrapped around him. He calmly and peacefully watched the scenery of the trip out the window with his two little paws braced underneath the window. (This was amazing for Doogie because he disliked travel in vehicles
and usually cried during trips.) When we arrived at our destination, I took Doogie into the local Vet clinic. He usually hissed at Vet clinics but that day he was so quiet and calm. My Doogie slipped into kitty heaven as I kissed his head and spoke all the things I wanted to say to him. I took him home with me after he had passed and had the opportunity to hold him in my arms, wrapped in his favorite
blanket for a few hours. That was a very special experience.
Doogie is now one of my "Guardian Angels" and likes to watch over things.
IN LOVING MEMORY OF KATMANDU
(Unknown - November 10, 2008)
My little Katmandu was only in my life for 3 short hours. She had been found as a stray with her Mother, fostered by a one-individual private rescue for a short time and brought in to a pet store for adoption. Her birth date was unknown and she was very tiny and thought to be about 6-8 weeks old. I brought her home and spent 3 hours sitting beside her on the couch. When I moved her to go to sleep, she had a seizure and passed away right in front of me. I wasn't able to revive her and that experience and memory still is painful and heart-breaking for me. My sweet Inka had such a mothering quality to her that she lay beside me on the couch watching over Katmandu while she was there. Clooney would only approach that corner of the couch, where she had been lying, with extreme caution for many months after Katmandu passed and would not sleep on the spot where she had been. I wondered if he was sensing her spirit...
Be Well My Sweet Katmandu
(Katmandu and her Mother - now named "Stormy")
The one blessing to come out of Katmandu's tragic passing was the adoption the very next day of her Mother by a friend of mine. Stormy is still in her loving forever home to this very day.
