Thoughts from the Week

It's been a difficult week for us.  As many of you know, Romeo passed away last Saturday evening, from heart complications at the emergency vet's.  I truly appreciate the care and concern that the pet blogging community has shown to me this week - it really did help me through the worst of the days to read your comments, blog posts, and tributes to him.

We planted catnip plants in the back corner of our yard, one for Romeo, and one for Guido, my mom-in-law's cat that passed on a couple of months ago.  It is the start of a memorial garden that we would like to make - for those two and the other animals that will join them as time goes on.  (For I know that unless we ourselves come to an untimely end, we will outlive all of them.)  We would like to make it a little fenced in area, with an arbor as a gate, a bench to sit, and of course some pretty plantings.  So far, we have two catnip plants and an Allegheny Serviceberry tree (which I planted in April, not knowing what we would eventually decide to do with that corner of the yard.)

Otherwise, we've just been trying to muddle through.  I took Monday off from work; I have a very understanding boss, and decided that I needed an extra day to get a grip on my emotions before going back.  And of course, the animals have been a great help to us.

Bit decided that I needed to be distracted...  as soon as I saw what was happening, I had a choice.

I could get upset at the shredded toilet paper, or I could laugh so hard that I cried, and take pictures.  I think you can see what my choice was.

Charlotte and Annie got along better this week than they ever have.  They even shared a recliner for a couple of days.

While neither one of them cared much for Romeo while we had him with us, I think that his disappearance made them feel insecure... either that or they were picking up on our emotions.  I was constantly walking in and finding them either sharing the chair or the couch, something practically unheard of.

Argos, sensitive soul that he is, took the emotional upheaval the hardest.  He and Romeo were never snuggle-buddies, but they did spend a lot of time together, as we'd leave them alone together when we went to work. And Argos was the only one that knew for a fact that Romeo had died... he was out in the yard when we buried him, and got his scent.  He was also upset because WE were upset.  He followed us around constantly.

He placed himself in the middle of the study, between my computer and Jeff's and would watch back and forth, highly concerned.

The foster cats were sweet, and made me laugh on more than one occasion.  Patches waits until I lie down and fan my hair out behind me.  He then lies down on TOP of my hair, and starts playing with it, rolling in it, batting at it, having a great time.  And it made me giggle, which seemed to please him.

Here is Patches, lying on the most coveted kitty-bed in the house.  It is a simple mesh bag, a freebie from LexisNexis.  I'm not sure that Lexis would entirely approve of this "off-label" use of their branding merchandise, but the kitties think it is the best.

And here is Mitchell, checking out the new drinking fountain that we bought in an attempt to have plenty of fresh water available for them.

So... the animals have kept us busy and entertained.  This is something that I am grateful to them for.  It didn't eliminate my grief, of course, but it helped keep me distracted, and gave me reasons that I HAD to get up off of the couch.  I might have been saddened and depressed, but Argos had to have dinner.  Charlotte needed her medicine.  Bit was crying and needed to be snuggled and reassured.  The fosters needed to come out of their room for some exercise.  Argos needed to be walked.  It was all a huge help, actually.  Giving me something to do was the best thing that they could have done.