THE Kitty Kat Ranch

Between heaven and earth is a bridge called Rainbow Bridge. On the side near earth is a land of fragrant meadows and verdant prairies. When an animal who was loved on earth dies, he goes to this Eden-like land. His youth is restored, his infirmities healed. His eyes are made bright and his fur shines. He forgets that he was ever in pain. He forgets what sickness and hunger are about. All day long, he runs through the meadows, cavorting with other animals, playing the games he loved on earth. But something is missing. He remembers this whenever he leaps for a ball, like in the old days, or rests in the cool grass and finds himself listening for familiar footsteps. He remembers: He is not with the person he loved on earth. That's why his heart aches. Then one day when he is playing, he recognizes a figure in the distance. He stops to look. His hear beats hard. His nose instinctively sniffs the air. Suddenly, he runs from the group. His legs propel him over the ground toward you. You fall upon each other and embrace. His face nestles yours, and your armss wrap around him. He licks your cheek and you stroke his ears and hold him close like in the old days. You both cross the bridge together, never to be separated again. ~ ANONYMOUS

KC ~ KC was my very first cat, given to my brothers and I by our parents when we were little. He was a beautiful Siamese kitten who hated to be left alone. Many was the night I slept with him to quiet his loud meows. Alas, KC was not a well kitty. He was diagnosed a couple months later with a very serious disease and had to be put to sleep. I miss him.

PIPPIN ~ Pippin was a kitten I adopted from a couple who were moving to a place that would not allow pets. He was a cute Black & White, with a frisky nature. He loved to sit in the stairwell window of the basement apartment I lived in. He would greet me at the door every time with a run and a demand to be picked up and kissed. His favorite snuggle times with me were nap times. Then I graduated from college and I had to move. The apartment I went to didn't allow pets, so I gave Pippin to a friend who also adored cats. He soon became comfortable, though I don't think he ever quite forgave me. A year later, Pippin got out of her apartment due to the carelessness of some workmen and an open window. He was never seen again. I hope he's still alive and healthy and happy. He'll certainly live in my heart for a long time.

HONEY ~ Someday I won't lose any without a fight. We were hunting for houses and were going to go look at one we thought would work. We had a good chance of getting help with the down payment and closing costs through FHA, and this place would be big enough for all of our cats and then some. Then as I got off work my husband called. One of our coworkers had gone home and found a cat on her doorstep, exhausted, barely moving and in terrible shape. It was declawed and had apparently been abandoned. We went to look at the poor thing. It was so matted I couldn't even get through the fur to tell if it was a he or she. It was so skinny and malnourished it didn't have any energy left. It no longer had any interest in drinking or eating or moving. It just lay in her room, barely moving. But it purred when I pet it and it kept purring.

We decided to take it to the emergency vets to see if there was a chance. The trip was not pleasant... putting it in the carrier and getting in the car aroused him like nothing else had. It meowed loudly, unhappy to be going anywhere. It kept trying to get up and run away, even once we got to the vet, but it didn't have enough energy. The news was not good. He, as it turns out, was completely dehydrated, extremely anemic and the cost of just finding out what all was wrong with him was far beyond what we could do, much less trying to fix all the problems. Even if we did all the procedures necessary he still might not make it. We had enough money put away for small emergencies, but that was all we had saved up.

He was meowing again and flopping around, clearly disoriented. I wanted to fight for him and his life, but I knew that we couldn't. My husband and I agreed, euthanasia would probably be the most we could do, and kinder to him than months of treatments. I stayed with him, but my husband couldn't bear to. I knew him for just over an hour. I held him, and petted him, and for a while he purred. How did he manage to steal such a large piece of my heart in such a short time? He didn't even have a name, so my husband put down on the forms that his name was honey. It was what I kept calling him all the way to the vets, and it was the color of his fur.

All I have left is that he purred when I petted him....

Bo was not a well kitty when we brought her home from the shelter. It was just six months after her adoption that she was diagnosed with kidney disease.

The vet had us per her on Hill's Prescription Diet k/d. The stuff was not cheap, but Bo was worth every penny spent. Though she was not the most cuddly of cats, and had a quicksilver temper, she had a quiet way of coming over to sit with you that you just couldn't say no to. You'd do everything you could to sit as still as possible just so she'd stay a little longer. Giving her a home was a great joy, that last for just four years. In the end we had to let her go.