We put Sassy to sleep today

[GabrielDeafBlindPupFamily]

Sassy was the luckiest of all! To have you, in her life, to love, care for, love, motivate, love...

I am so very sorry. Your love was the biggest gift she ever hoped for and she found it. My heart breaks for your loss and we are right here beside you. My deepest sympathies!

[troopersmommy]

And I bet your little caretaker Sassy is there helping you with the roundup.
Feel any flutters of angel wings around? I bet Slim does.

What you're doing is such "good medicine for the soul." I know it works, or I would have lost my sanity years ago from all the sorrow and pain I've had to endure.

Get ready, though. Sometimes those little Angels like to help alot! And it's so hard to say no. Our current count is 22 (8 cats, 14 dogs) - all special needs "babies" like Trooper: injured, broken legs, tails, spinal injuries, chronic health issues (kidney, liver, heart, respiratory, asthma , etc.) With all our love and care, most...have lived long happy lives.

I will have to admit, though, that sometimes I wonder if it's time to quit, are we getting too old for this? ...and then God answers me by putting a "Trooper" in my path.

[Les]

Thank you Gabriel for those very kind words; we appreciate it.

Troopersmommy-WOW-you have your own zoo there with all those animals! God Bless you for doing that; St. Francis is happy and proud of you!

The "angel" of a woman who is helping us with our strays did GREAT-she trapped 6 cats yesterday; only 1 escaped from the cage as she was carrying it to her truck. But they were spayed this morning, and will be released again outside at our house-we are working on getting them good homes, and this woman has trapped 120 cats and got 110 homes so she should be able to help us!

As of tomorrow, we will have adopted little "Slim" and will keep in in the big cage that Sassy was in, but will be downstairs until our vet can see him Monday evening and check him for diseases, fleas etc., seperate from the other cats for now.

I'll bet my wife will be down the cellar with him a LOT; it'll do her (and me) good to give him love. Like you said, "it's good for the soul".

Thanks again and God Bless you all and your pets!

[GabrielDeafBlindPupFamily]

Slim is Sassy's legacy. What a BEAUTIFUL legacy. Our critters (sorry critters) adored us, and we adored them. And we ask how do they want to be remembered? BY THE GIFT OF LIFE AND LOVE! May your Slim give you a lifetime of delights and quarantining him is something I always recommend! Sassy's legacy. A wonder. What a beautiful ending/beginning Sassy has brought to your lives! I always find saving a life heals a soul.

[troopersmommy]

Thanks Les for the sweet compliments, but it sounds like the WOW goes to you two and your Angel Lady. That takes true dedication and a tremendous amount of love and patience. I so wish there were more people like you. I bet Sassy Angel sure is proud!

And kudos to you for adopting Slim today. What a lucky little bear! Sassy's probably hovering over him at this very minute letting him know about the wonderful life he's going to have. Don't be surprised if the next time you go down to check on him that he has a great big smile on his little kitty face.

[Les]

Thank you Gabriel for that sweet legacy story-it's very true.

Thank you Troopersmommy for those sweet well-wishes. Slim is in, and downstairs and purring his little head off whenever we are with him. Then he cries at times, as this is all so very new and strange to him. But he'll be fine, and when he gets the "okay" from the vet that he is disease-free he will move "upstairs" into Sassy's old cage, so that he and the other cats can get used to each other but through the cage.

Rebecca set the other cats free, and Deb said that they took off like crazy-one of the little black ones stayed around-we MAY take him in too-what the heck, right? But the others scattered, but I bet they'll be back soon. What trauma they have gone through these last few days; getting trapped, "fixed", caged, released. We just hope that they will settle back down and come around again-I bet they will.

Thanks again to all; you guys are GREAT to talk with. And yes, Sassy is telling them "it'll be alright"...

[troopersmommy]

Hi Les! I love reading your updates. Makes me smile...knowing how many of us share your same thoughts. On what its like going through the adjustments of adding a new member to the household right after a loss, on whether those scared little kitties will come back, and probably the most common one of all, especially in my household, on whether to add more than one.

..."one of the little black ones stayed around-we MAY take him in too-what the heck, right?" You must know how reading that really makes me grin...and at the same time cheer y'all on with a "Yea! You won't regret it. The more the merrier!"


Course, all kidding and cheering aside, we know that taking in more is even a bigger adjustment or there wouldn't be any hesitation in the first place. Been there, done that. So my hat's off to you for even considering the thought to adopt another, and for the success in your quest to help those in need. And I'm with you, I bet they'll all be back real soon because one thing is for certain...fear will fade in time, but hunger won't.

[critters]

I will have to admit, though, that sometimes I wonder if it's time to quit, are we getting too old for this? ...and then God answers me by putting a "Trooper" in my path.

Ain't that the truth??!!! I retired from rescuing for a few years, then along came Ari, Ace, and Cheddar, the baby show-up.

Les and troopersmommy--I hope y'all stick around; y'all belong here at HP!

[Les]

Thanks, guys. We have GOOD NEWS! Slim was a perfect gentleman at his vet appointment, and his blood tests were negative (Thank God) for any FIP, FIV diseases, so he now is upstairs in the living room in Sassy's "big" cage so that he can get used to his "family" and vice-versa. They are a little leery of him as expected, but also very interested in him. So we are on our way...it is good to see some "life" again in that cage, and there are a lot of emotions going on right now in all of us as we go through this "transformation" from losing Sas to gaining Slim, but it is all going to be fine.

The only thing that concerns us is that when the other cats were being released, one of them pushed himself out through the smallest of openings on the back part of the cage that does not open; even the woman that trapped him was shocked. My wife hopes that he didn't hurt himself; he is the only one that has not returned since they were released on Saturday, so I also hope that he is well; he is such a sweet cat. Hopefully, he is just laying low somewhere and will return.

And we told the vet that there are others like Slim outside and she asked if there are any Calico's and there is-we call her Sabrina-she said she has a client that is looking for one so maybe she'll get a good home too!

Thanks again all!

[critters]

Hooooorrrraaaayyy on the trapping! I hope the missing boy shows up soon.

[Les]

Slim is fitting in remarkably well, and the other cats are very tolerant of him; I think I know who is telling them "it's alright-he's just a little boy who needed a home like we did". Oh, there is a little hissing here and there, but it is NOTHING like we've had in the past with others. He is a little 6 month-old tops kitten, so they think he's not too bad! We just want to keep him out of their litter boxes because even though they said he doesn't have worms we're not so sure; but there he was before, in one of the 3 litter boxes, so we removed it! He's a real pistol, and is just what we all needed, especially Deb; she holds him and hugs him like there's no tomorrow. Out of death comes life, out of bad comes good. He is Sassy's legacy like was mentioned before...

And "Silver" DID show up today, the stray that darn-near killed himself squeezing out of the smallest opening on his cage, so things are looking up.... Now just to get the rest of the outside cats good homes.

[troopersmommy]

Oh how I love this thread!!! Critters...what a nice thing to say! Y'all are all so sweet. Thank you, thank you. I most definitely plan on sticking around (especially after those words). Now I really feel like a friend rather than just a member.

I haven't been here in a couple of days, but as before I am grinning from ear to ear, Amazing how this all started with sad news about Sassy.

Les, you said it perfectly..."Out of death comes life, out of bad comes good."

I'm so happy that Slim is fitting in so well! He sounds like such a little squirt. Deb must be in heaven having a new kitten to hold. Will you ask her to give him a hug from me? Sounds like Sabrina is on her way to a happy home. Two of mine are real pretty calicos. Although, the one named Nornor (my youngest) is a big rolely polely. Messed up metabolism from a rare illness. Rescued her from under my office at 4 wks old and had to cage her for 6 wks. I couldn't even hold her. Vet didn't think she'd live, but I kept her next to my bed telling her I loved her and needed her to live. (Now...picture a "calico balloon". Yep, that's her.)

Glad to hear "hiyo Silver away" is now "hiyo Silver home"! No more little lone ranger. I bet Sassy followed him and guided him home. How's the little black kitty? Do you have a good hiding place for him this Halloween weekend. Oh how I dread this day (and New Yr's Eve, July 4th, etc.) It's the one night every year that we catch outside cats (oooh, they put up a fuss!) and keep them in a back room overnight. Boy are they happy to get out the next morning (alive)!

Well, it's been a long day and I'm getting sleepy. I've "typed your ears off" again. Sorry. Thanks again for the updates. I can hardly wait to hear more. OH! I almost forgot!!! TrooperKitty straightened his front legs and "half-stood" today! (from the waist up) His back legs still drag, but he looked pretty proud of himself, even though he's still hissing at us to keep our distance. Hmmph! Little does he know how much patience I have....

[Les]

Wat to go TrooperKitty! Keep up the good work guys! I'm glad to hear that news!

Slim is doing very well; the other cats are pretty darn tolerant of him, except Snickers (who is from his same Mommy) who while intrigued by Slim seems a little scared of him lol...but I'm thinking that they will become best friends soon as they are closest in age (1 1/2 years to 6 months), and Snickers follows him around a lot. We have in our stable:

Serenity, a manx Calico with a brain tumor who is very "motherly" to the other cats. She was adopted from a place called Peaceable Kingdom years ago.

Simon, a 21 lb. Tuxedo boy who was living outside an apartment building for retirees.

Sebastian, a 19 lb. Maine Coon mix that was "dropped off" at my workplace years ago; or ran away-but I got him!

Snickers, the aforementioned 1 1/2 year old that we took in from outside last October.

And Slim, who you know is 6 months old from the current outside colony.

The tradition of the first names being "S" started back in 1995 when we took in our first stray Smoke; then Sassy and Serenity were already named so we kept up the tradition.

The outside cats all have S names also..

Any ideas on how to get them good homes? We'd love to see them get one, seeing how good these current cats are.

We're working on it...

[troopersmommy]

Thank you Les for sharing your family with me. They are all so lucky to have you and Deb to care for them. And it sounds like the little one is fitting in beautifully. As far as finding homes, I've always gone to family members, friends, neighbors, co-workers, vets, and sometimes my patients. Short of that I've kept the rest. I wish I could offer something more. Maybe you could find homes through this forum.

Your "S" stable of kitties sounds adorable, from little Slim to Serenity. I like how the S names have evolved. Lately, we just sound out names until it feels right. During the past 20 years I named litters according to different subjects, like astrology (Comet, Starbaby, Astro, etc.), cookies (Nabisco, Newton, Keebler, etc.), the West (Remington, Winchester, Cowboy), and even a TV show (Buffy, Angelus, Spike).

I have so many in my clan I thought I'd list them in a separate thread in Caretakers Cafe. It's so nice to have friends I can share this with. Up till now people I work with are amazed that I have names for all of them. Beyond that they could care less. Isn't that sad? I can not imagine a world or life without my little bears.

[critters]

| agree with Trooper's mommy--take pics, talk them up, even put up posters at work or other places you know. Know any vets, groomers, or other critter people you can enlist?