When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow
Bridge.
There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together.
There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable.
All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor; those who were hurt
or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of
days and times gone by.
The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very
special to them, who had to be left behind.
They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the
distance. His bright eyes are intent; His eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from
the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster.
You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together
in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands
again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so
long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.
Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together....
Author unknown...
We miss them dearly and want to remember them.
He was a very special guy. I miss him dearly, but in the short time he was with us, he lead a fun and interesting life and managed to father 7 children through my two Mamma cats.
We still have one of his daughters, Monkey.
He was a little over a year old when he died. I don't know the cause of death, it will always be a mystery to me, but I know he is at Rainbow Bridge, chasing the squirrels and birds and stealing someone's chair when they aren't looking. He always stole mine! :)
She belonged to cmonkey's mom.
I just found out recently that she passed on. Maybe we can get cmonkey or her mom to write something for us about Rita and the life she lead. From what I could gather from the post at The Fool, Rita was quite the character right up to the end.
She also belonged to Cmonkey's mom. She was a rescued dog from a puppy mill. She was probably about 11 years old when she died.
In cmonkey's mom's words:
My beautiful Ruby, the light of my life, died today on the operating table at Jan Schnell's of an inoperable chondosarcoma. A week and a half ago, I noticed a lump under her left jaw and took her right down to Jan's; I was thinking it was probably a cyst. jan could not aspirate anything from it but put Ruby on amoxicillin for a week to see if that would reduce the swelling. When it had not gone down by last Friday, I called to make an appointment for today, because Jan's other theory was that it was a mass.
By the time I drove down this morning, I was sure the mass had grown.
I assisted with the surgery. Ruby had a chondosarcoma that had penetrated her mandible, muscle tissue, and lymph node. Jan could have removed a section of it, but it had spread aggressively. She recommended that we
euthanize Ruby while she was under the anesthetic; she said that the rate at which it was spreading, and the tissues and bone it had invaded, meant that it was unstoppable. If she had sliced off most of it, it would have interfered with Ruby's ability to chew. And so I agreed, and held my grrrrrl while Jan gave her a cardiac injection. Then I carefully wrapped Ruby for
burial in Jan's animal graveyard.
And then I drove home . . . I'm a basketcase, but I have to teach the first of The Reluctant Writer tonight.
Oh, I am so sad, so very very sad. I feel as if I have somehow failed my Ruby--that if I'd discovered the mass earlier, something could have been done. But I swear, it was growing at near-lightning speed. And it was ugly: covered with little tags everywhere, like skin tags, only crimson, and unfortunately very well-supplied with blood vessels. Its texture, beneath a webby cap of adhesions, was like gristle. All it lacked were teeth and hair.
I half-lay over Ruby for a long time before Jan gave her the injection that killed her. I wanted to imprint her beloved smell in my memory. I cut off her little frizzly Elsa Lancaster whiskers; I'm going to add them to the mobile in your bedroom. I cut off the plume on her tail. I wanted pieces of her. All the way home, I kept raising her dear old collar to my nose and snuffling it; it was all I had left that was really physical and hers.
I'm sorry; I just can't stop thinking about her, feeling her, missing her.
O woe.
You did not fail Ruby at all. You gave her love and a life away from the Puppy Mill and you did what was best for her. Bless you cmonkey's mama.
She owned TMFGrape from the Motley Fool.
I cannot begin to do justice to her story so here is a link to the post that TMFGrape made about her passing:
http://boards.fool.com/Message.asp?mid=14297594
Take your Kleenex with you. She was a very special little lady which you can tell from this picture.
Thank you for sharing her story and her picture with us TMFGrape.
They owned Wendy, Wen62, a dear friend of mine from AOL. Kitty is the reason Wen and I became friends. Kitty was diagnosed with Feline Leukemia and a mutual friend brought us together since I had lost a cat to FL. I knew the pain that Wen was feeling.
Polly was their girl. She was 15 years old when she went to Rainbow Bridge. Wen and George miss her terribly. She was a real sweetheart.
Anne was Blackie's human and had him since he was a kitten. He had gotten sick and had to be put down. He was 15 years old.
Here is his story in his owner's words, I could not do it justice if I tried.
Louis is my best friend. I got him from the SPCA as a kitten seven years ago. He slept on my face that night. We loved each other instantly, and always have. He has always been there for me, no matter what. He's the first and only cat I've gotten for myself.
(Deannda speaking: Louis had an attack and it turned out to be asthma and diabetes, a deadly combination, back to Louis's owner now)
But he was suffering! What's more, the expense was scary. I've got a new family with a four-month-old baby, and we just have to get out of consumer debt. It's only my income. My wife is dying to get our own house. What's more, the responsibility of giving a cat a shot every 12 hours is huge. If you miss by a little, you get a really sick cat. It would mean more expense from having him boarded every time we wanted to go somewhere.
Plus, we didn't even know if he would survive. I thought he would. After all, he's only seven. But, I'm not a vet.
I just didn't think I could handle taking care of him and taking care of my family, which now comes first.
So, I had the vet put him to sleep. He died in my arms with me petting him. He was scared. My wife and I bawled our eyes out...especially me. I buried him in the back yard of our rental. My wife got a little bush with Louis-fur-colored flowers, and I planted it on his grave.
Cherish life. Give love to your family and friends -- both the furry and the human ones. Give them all you can. It's worth it. I did that with Louis, and I had seven years of joy for it.
She belonged to The Science & Discovery Center where I worked.
She and her sister Oreo, were escape artists. We found both of them the first time, but the second time we only found Oreo alive.
Butterscotch had climbed into a bucket in the utility closet and there were some chemicals in the bottom of it ;(
I'll watch for you too Butterscotch.
He was a stray that found CoffeeBean68 and really made an impact in her life.
He was less than a year old when he went to Rainbow Bridge.
In CoffeBean68's words:
His motto probably would have been "Seize the Day!" He was a real daredevil, a wild child, and that is probably why he didn't live very long. We tried to bring him inside with us, but Peanut couldn't handle the stress of having a little brother--she kept getting sick. He was killed before we could find
him another home.
Word to the wise: If you can, please try to keep your kitties inside. Punkin seemed car-wise, but he still fell prey to an automobile. I'd hate for anyone else to go through what we went through when he passed away.
We know Lucky was a older cat who had never been neutered and one thing Andrea said about him when he was put to sleep was, "He left this world with everything intact, kinda like dying with your boots on."
So true.
Lucky, you were loved by everyone who posted to the MF Pet Lovers Board, you are truly a very smart cat.
He started becoming aggressive and then bit Ellie and broke the skin. I had no place to keep him for the mandatory 10 days to watch for signs of illness so I had to turn him over to the local SPCA. I made arrangements to adopt him back out when the 10 days was up, make him officially mine.
But he did not do well at the SPCA, he aggression became more common and they made the decision that he would be put down rather than risk him hurting someone else.
Like Lucky above, he was a smart cat and he left this world with his boots on.
I'll be looking for you RoundFace at The Bridge.
Unlike most days at Rainbow Bridge, this day dawned cold and gray, damp as a swamp and as dismal as could be imagined. All of the recent arrivals had no idea what to think, as they had never experienced a day like this before. But the animals who had been waiting for their beloved people knew exactly what was going on and started to gather at the pathway leading to The Bridge to watch.
It wasn't long before an elderly animal came into view, head hung low and tail dragging. The other animals, the ones who had been there for a while, knew what his story was right away, for they had seen this happen far too often.
He approached slowly, obviously in great emotional pain, but with no sign of injury or illness. Unlike all of the other animals waiting at The Bridge, this animal had not been restored to youth and made healthy and vigorous again. As he walked toward The Bridge, he watched all of the other animals watching him. He knew he was out of place here and the sooner he could cross over, the happier he would be. But, alas, as he approached The Bridge, his way was barred by the appearance of an Angel who apologized, but told him that he would not be able to pass. Only those animals who were with their people could pass over Rainbow Bridge.
With no place else to turn to, the elderly animal turned towards the fields before The Bridge and saw a group of other animals like himself, also elderly and infirm. They weren't playing, but rather simply lying on the green grass, forlornly staring out at the pathway leading to The Bridge. And so, he took his place among them, watching the pathway and waiting.
One of the newest arrivals at The Bridge didn't understand what he had just witnessed and asked one of the animals that had been there for a while to explain it to him.
"You see, that poor animal was a rescue. He was turned in to rescue just as you see him now, an older animal with his fur graying and his eyes clouding. He never made it out of rescue and passed on with only the love of his rescuer to comfort him as he left his earthly existance. Because he had no family to give his love to, he has no one to escort him across The Bridge."
The first animal thought about this for a minute and then asked, "So what will happen now?" As he was about to receive his answer, the clouds suddenly parted and the gloom lifted. Approaching The Bridge could be seen a single person and among the older animals, a whole group was suddenly bathed in a golden light and they were all young and healthy again, just as they were in the prime of life.
"Watch, and see," said the second animal. A second group of animals from those waiting came to the pathway and bowed low as the person neared. At each bowed head, the person offered a pat on the head or a scratch behind the ears. The newly restored animals fell into line and followed him towards The Bridge. They all crossed The Bridge together.
"What happened?"
"That was a rescuer. The animals you saw bowing in respect were those who found new homes because of his work. They will cross when their new families arrive. Those you saw restored were those who never found homes. When a rescuer arrives, they are allowed to perform one, final act of rescue. They are allowed
to escort those poor animals that they couldn't place on earth across The Rainbow Bridge."
