"The Ladies": Little Mama, GiGi, Sammi and Lilli Honi
"GiGi, Sammi and Lilli Honi"
Little Mama was our first cat, and she was a sweet calico stray. She gave me my love of cats. We took her in on Dec 15, 1974. Not long after that she had 3 kittens. GiGi, Sammi, and Lilli Honi were born under our bed on May 26, 1975. We kept all 3 of them. Lilli Honi was the sweetest most timid calico, GiGi was a feisty orange and white tabby, and Samantha (who we always called "Sammi") was a lovable tortie. They were "The Ladies" and acted like ladies in every sense of the word. We had a small one bedroom apartment at the time, and we also had taken in a puppy, Fonzi, about 6 weeks before we found Little Mama. They were such a sweet family. They all loved each other so much. Sammi thought Fonzi was her mama. It was so cute. She adored him, and would follow him around all the time. GiGi was more independent than the other 2, and more of the leader. But, she always listened to her Mama. Lilli was her mama's favorite, and adored her Mama.
In September of 1976, we took in another stray, who we named, Papa. The ladies kept him in line. Then on Dec 18 of that year, we adopted another puppy, McGee. Three days later...we found Kiki! He was lost in the middle of a busy street, and a neighbor rescued him, and asked if he was one of mine! I never let my cats out...and I think she knew that. But I also think she knew that maybe I'd give him a home. Well, it was love at first sight. Kiki came in with the promise that I'd try and find him a good home, and I kept my word. He loved living with US!
Now, the Ladies were not too thrilled with having him around. Shortly after that we moved into a bigger apartment, and Kiki and Papa took over. I felt so badly for the ladies, and vowed we'd soon buy a house, where they could have a room all to themselves, separate from the "boys". We did that in 1979. We have a playroom as big as all the bedrooms upstairs with a big patio that they could get into from it. They loved that patio!
"Lilli Honi and Diane"
On Oct 9, 1984, we lost Lilli Honi to a virus. Lilli was my special little lady. I adored her. The virus was awful, they all got sick. We had 10 cats at the time. Lilli was the last one to get it, and it hit her the hardest. The vet we were using at the time didn't take her symptoms seriously enough! We then took her to a place with 24 hour care, but Lilli didn't survive. We lost her 10 days later. We used to visit her twice a day, and stay for hours...but even that didn't help. I knew the stress of the hospital was too much for her. We have learned to do home health care for our cats now, because of that horrible lesson. We also learned that even indoor cats need to be vaccinated! I have a cat book that said they didn't. But, it's was wrong, and all my cats paid the price for our "mistake", especially Lilli...
"Little Mama"
On November 4, 1986, we lost Little Mama to Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia. She had been losing weight for a little while, and we took her to our new vet. They ran a lot of tests, but the "Coombs Test" confirmed our fears, that it was autoimmune hemolytic anemia. She was diagnosed with it on Oct 3rd of that year. We lost her on my Birthday just a month later. Little Mama was Jeff's special cat. We used to say she was "a moving target", because she would risk the "boys" chasing her to get to her Daddy's lap. No risk was too great for that lap of his! She loved to sit on our dryer and rocked while she did. I can still see her there now sometimes...
"GiGi"
On May 4, 1988, we were barbecuing in the backyard. We came inside and the ladies were waiting for their ration of chicken. We fed them all a little, they all seemed fine. We went upstairs and went about our evening chores. When Jeff went downstairs to let the dogs outside, he found GiGi just laying at the bottom of the cat tree. She was gone! We don't know what happened, and we never had an autopsy done. We can only speculate that she might have had a heart attack, or something like that, and fallen. Jeff picked her up, and we buried our baby. I couldn't even look at her. I just couldn't bear to. I wanted to remember her as she was while she was here with us. A sassy little lady with a wiggle to her walk. She was my princess.
"Sammi"
On Christmas day in 1989, we lost Sammi to liver lymphoma. Sammi was diagnosed with lymphoma about 3 months earlier. She had fluid build-up in her abdomen from it. She was on lasix for that, and prednisolone too. Sammi was lonely without her Mama or her sisters. On Dec 19, 1984, a little over 2 months after we lost Lilli, we took in Minni. I swear, Lilli Honi sent Minni to us. Minni was the only cat that the Ladies ever accepted as one of them. So, Minni kept Sammi company. When we lost Sammi, we took Minni upstairs to be with the other cats. She's been there ever since.
I miss my "Ladies". They were my first cats. They were all so special. They live on though in our hearts...
Lilli Honi's Tribute Page
Little Mama's Tribute Page
GiGi's Tribute Page
Sammi's Tribute Page
Return to Jeff and Diane's Cat House
The music with this page is "Lady in Red".
