In order to remember and celebrate the relationships we had/have with our beloved furbabies, I propose we all add a few of our favorite things about our pets or share a special memory.

Tiggy - 14 month old Siamese

Favorite Things
- eyes two shades of blue
- loved to cuddle
- slept underneath my office chair while I wrote papers

Special Memory - One night Tig wouldn't leave me alone until I picked him up and cuddled him. I did for about five minutes, but schoolwork was calling so I put him down and started to walk away. He ran in front of me, stopped me dead in my tracks, looked me square in the eye, and let out a screaming meow which probably translated into something like "SIT! NOW!" So I picked him up again and we cuddled for another 1/2 hour. Left the next day to housesit for a friend. He was hit by a car 4 days later while I was still away from home. It was our last special time together, and it's almost like he knew it.

I think they do know, they are more in contact with their spirit side than we are, having to rely more on what they are feeling and sensing than we do.

I was woken at 3 in the morning by a loud thud only to find Sadie struggling to get to her feet, which she did before I could get to mine.

For an hour my 17 year old dogs that loved the comfort of their beds in their old age walked around and around my garden in the pouring rain together, every now and then one nose touching the other dogs face.

Then they came in and Sadie walked around the kitchen and back out again to lay at the bottom of the garden looking back at the house.

Of course I picked her up and bought her back in, laid her down by the radiator and covered her with a towel and sat stroking and drying her off, even Jude came a slept beside her which they hadn’t done since they were puppies, I even took a photo of them together it was so unusual if one come to sleep next to the other the other got up and moved somewhere else.

She passed away 9am the next morning.

Now the post mans just caught me crying

I am not over the pain yet, I just lost Suzie. But here goes, she looked like a "living doll", she was the happiest little dog that I have ever known, when I would leave the house she would wait by the door for me and only me, she wanted what she wanted when she wanted it, she teased the dogs and did not like the cats, one minute she was a happy bouncing little old girl, the next minute my angel was gone, I will always love her.

What I loved most about Rusty was that he reminded me of how much I loved cats. When I was a little girl there were always stray cats in our neighborhood and I would try to feed them and earn their trust. My parents would never let me have one as an indoor pet, but they were my outside friends. Shortly after I was married my husband brought home a cat. She was (and still continues to be) a cat with major attitude. When we would try to pet her, she would scratch. She never let us hold her as a kitten and even now will only jump on our laps when she feels like it, and will only allow us to pet her for a short while. When she is finished being petted, she will usually give a little bite and jump off our laps. I really wasn't even sure how I felt about cats anymore (I mean, I loved her, but she was a challenge). Then came Rusty.

I mentioned before I found Rusty in a ditch. I didn't want another cat, but he was wet, cold and crying (different from a happy meow). The friend that I was walking with couldn't take him and I couldn't turn my back on him. All he wanted was to be held! He would cry for me whenever he couldn't see me. One day I was in my front yard talking to some friends and he heard my voice and started crying while looking throughout the house for me. He would regularly fall asleep at the door that I left through and wait for me to come home. The love he gave was unlike anything I had ever felt and is something that I will never forget.

I'm sorry this was so long, it's just the first time that I have been able to write without being overwhelmed by emotion...

Pepper - mini schnauzer who crossed the rainbow bridge one week ago today .


Favorite things

Loved my grandaughter and all my cats
Loved to snuggle and get under the covers like the cats did.
Loved to play with the LOUDEST toy I bought her with a squeaker and drive everyone crazy for about an hour each day while we tried to watch t.v.
One of the many things that made me laugh was when Pepper would follow me into the spare bedroom where I had my desk and computer. There was also a single bed in there, Pepper's and Codey's and Emma's bed, they all shared it, lol. Now this dog only weighed 8 lbs and was very petite and tiny but she really could jump up on the bed but sometimes I would turn around and there was Pepper with both front paws on the bed waiting for me to pick her up and put her on the bed, lol. When I looked at her I would say "oh Pepper, you can get up there!!! and she would turn her head and look at me and then turn her head back towards the bed and wait, lol. What a baby lala she was!

Hi everyone.

I lost my beautiful kitty, Kasha, 15 months ago and came here daily to share in the love and support that this site offers. I haven't posted in a while but I just had to get in on this one!

My favorite memory of my best furry friend has to be back when I was pregnant with my son. Kasha and her 'brother' LeStat slept with me every night (Kash always slept next to my pillow, LeStat snuggled at my feet). When I was pregnant they would take turns checking on me all night long but Kasha....she was quite a little nurse to me. Kash would wake about once an hour and would stand, stretch, yaaaaawn and then would wiggle herself down the bed until she reached my pregnant belly (this got harder to do the bigger I got lol). Once she had found her spot she would, ever so softly, place her paw on my belly and would poke around until she found the baby. Once she located his little body she would tap at him until she woke him up and he moved to get away from her. When she felt him move I guess she knew he was doing OK in there and she would begin to purr and would drift off to sleep as close to me as she could.

I have never in my life felt so loved and protected as I did then. Now when I remember the wonderful experience of being pregnant with my son I always think of my little fuzzy black prenatal nurse who took such good care of us!

Hi Kristie,
What a special memory. Sounds like your kitty took excellent care of you and your baby to be. Cats (all pets) are so mysterious... how do they know??

It's hard to pick my favorite thing about Freeway... he was one of a kind.

We used to have "quiet" times.. which was hard to do with a dog who was pretty darn hyper a lot of the time... we'd sit at the top of the stairs - he'd always come running as soon as I sat down. He'd sit beside me, I'd pet him, and talk to him, he'd give kisses...

He loved to play tug of war with his rope... he'd pull so hard I'd lose my grip.. for a small one he had major strength.

When he slept, he'd often sleep on his back with his tongue hanging out... His tongue was always hanging out... it truly was too large for his mouth.. I'd sometimes try to catch it with my fingers.. we made it a game.. and he always won.

Mostly I just loved that he was mine.. that he was stubborn, moody, loving, and considerate... all in one adorable little package.

I love now that he still visits me in my dreams... I hate waking up and remembering that he's gone.

A week today Holly left us she was the cutest little girl you could ever wish to meet.
At times I would look at her and just smile at how cute she was.

Oh how she loved her squeaky toys. She would search the carriers every time we arrived home from the store hoping to find a new one. When there was a new one I would place the bag on the floor and let her pull her it out for herself. Then there was no stopping her, she would carry that new toy around in her mouth for an hour or so, she used to look so funny as she was so small you could barely see her face.

Christmas time she would have such fun opening her gifts, tearing into them so excited and then she'd get real excited and open ours too

She LOVED her food, oh boy how she loved her food, anytime she heard a package being opened she'd be there, looking up at us with those beautiful eyes of hers.

She was so very loving and content, her and Sam who is her puppy would play for hours, chasing each other around teasing each other with their toys. They would have the occasional squabble just like kids but never bit each other it was more like wrestling matches

Oh how I miss the noises they made together!

They would cuddle up and sleep and they kissed and licked each other all the time, if you saw Holly you saw Sam, they were a couple, a package and it's so hard now that half of that little duo is no longer .

She was so precious.
Holly we love you so much Honey!!

Remembering what I loved about Sohi is a good idea. It was a week ago we took her to the specialist to see what was wrong.

Here's what I loved about her:
Black tipped ears
Aby fur (so soft and thick like a wild rabbit)
Her purr (loud as an airplane)
She snored when she slept - I loved listening to her and my husband making music as I was sandwiched between them.
Nose kisses
She loved to be carried around like a baby.
Rubbing her belly
She would stick her tongue out and it was so cute!
Cuddle bug
She'd talk your ear off - and answer when you asked her a question.
She loved everyone she met - such a social butterfly!

Well, that's a lot, huh, but there's a lot I loved about her!
I still miss her so much.
Brandy

Ginger LOVED to eat! Not treats so much, just the giant bags of dog food we'd buy her. When I took her to Petco, she didn't care about the toys or snacks. She wanted to hang out in the back of the store by the skids of dog food. When my husband would bring in a big bag, she'd run over, give it a big sniff and a satisfied grunt. God I miss her so much.

What I miss about my Kurby....man, that's a hard question.

I miss the way he used to greet me every morning and follow me to the bathroom. He would sit and stare at me with his little head ##ed to the side like "what are we gonna do today?"

I miss the way he used to be waiting at the door when I got home from work...his little head peering over the glass. He would bark when he saw me and my husband would let him out to run up and greet me. He was SOOOO happy to see me! He would sit on the back of our couch and look out the window waiting for us to come home when we went out and ran errands. (If we didnt take him with us.)

When we would watch TV, he would lie on my stomach. He would inch his way up...little by little....and take his paw and touch my face or my mouth. Then he would sneak a little kiss!

Man I miss him soooo much! He was smarter than most humans I know!

This pic is the only pic I have of the two of us. This was taken Christmas of 2004. The rest of the pics I have of him, I took. I do have some of him on video. Man I'm glad I have them!

I miss alot of things about Smokey, today is two weeks since he has been gone.

I miss his loud meows and being the first cat to greet me at the door when I would come home.

I miss him acting like our watch dog by prowling the house at night making sure everything was safe.

I miss everytime I would go into my bedroom he would come running toward me so I would let him inside so he could lay on the bed with me.

I miss him looking so adorable right after we got him groomed (a couple months before he died)

I miss him laying down with his paws crossed in front of him like a little prince.

I miss him sleeping next to me and cuddling really close with his paws rested on my hands.

I just miss him and wish I could see him again.

To All,

I want to say thank you for being strong enough to post these favorite and special loving memories ~ I read each one and felt the love and caring of both pet and human if you will ~ this is something I have not yet been able to do at all ~ to speak of them ~ unless I am experiencing an anniversary date ~ where I somehow have written a tribute to Amber ~ but CC it is still so devestating and difficult~

But I thank you all ~ and hope one day I will be able to find the strength I need to validate these precious angels in my life also ~ at this point the pain is still so overwhelming that I am only able to focus on general issues surrounding grief and/or the last months of my life with them ~I can comfort others but find it hard to comfort myself ~ Reading these posts helped me begin to remember some things ~

Sincere Appreciation, Kathryn

This might take me a moment to articulate, but I think it will be worth the time if you are concerned about animals knowing if they are going to pass. If I come across as "preachy", that is not my intent. I just want to give a different, perhaps abstract perspective of animals that pass away.

There can be no doubt that ill or older animals know when their time is coming. The evidence is certain - we all know about elephant graveyards and such things. Truly we can see in our own domesticated animals that they know when the time to depart draws near. I cannot ascribe that same thinking to accidents or for prey being taken by predetor...but for illness and old age it seems to apply.

The more important question to me, and usually to many of my readers, is "do they feel afraid or alone when they pass"? It is my considered opinion after much research and contemplation, that animals and people face death in different ways. For people, death can be a fearful thing. Scripture tells us that for those who have settled their eternity, death no longer holds a "sting", but for most people it does. Death is a mystery, a dark unknown and the fear of it stings. This is because we are not innocent creatures like animals and they know it.

Animals, on the other hand, are completely innocent creatures with no need to reconcile with their creator. Death holds no sting for them. Oh of course, all animals have self-preservation mechanisms that kick in when in danger and they strive to live...just like humans. But unlike humans, when they know this life is drawing to an end, they have no fear of what lies ahead. Some attribute this to them being spiritual, others call it instinct. Whatever it is, they are at peace with passing on. To them it is not "passing away", but again, "passing on". I think maybe that is why scripture tells us to "look to the animals for they can teach you".

I apologize if I sounded preachy, but I could hardly build my case without reference to scripture. My intent was to just bring some comfort to those who have lost pets like me by understanding that they are okay, really okay.

Good gracious there is not enough room on this to tell you my favorite things about Parker.....but I'll give you a few.

His freckle on his bottom lip, (he was all black so this was hard to see) but as he aged, he lost it and I miss it so much!!
His paws that looked so much like little rabbit paws on a 80lb dog.
His quirky ears, they kind of stood straight out.
His incredibly soulful, intelligent eyes that looked like little planets.
His smell, he always had the smell of home.....just like a little teddy bear, never had that dog smell to him.
His willful disobedience, my favorite thing in the world.
His pink spot on his nose from stealing a piece of macaroni off the oven door while I was cooking.
His smile/angry growl....we never quite knew what this was but I would tell him to show me his teeth and he would snarl and give the biggest toothiest grin you have ever seen.
His insatiable appetite for anything that was considered human food.

Him.......just him.

Parker's Mom,
Kerry

So many things to share about my Rock:

- The way he purred and rubbed his face in my ear.
- The way he'd grunt to greet me when I came into view
- The way I could see his mind going. He was very intelligent and you could see him trying to figure things out. Could open cabinets and caused all sorts of trouble!
- How he would rub my head with his in circles. Especially after a shower was fun because my hair would be swirled from him rubbing his head around mine.
- The way he smelled. He had such a good smell that I loved to pick him up and
bury my head in his fur and smell him
- The wavy fur behind his ears. I loved kissing him behind is ears as the fur was wavy.
- How his fur would curl after a bath. His fur was straight normally but after a bath it would curl up.
- The everyday routine with him. He would get up with me in the morning and we went through a whole routine. It was just horrible the first week he was gone as he was there from the moment I got up.

I miss you Rocky so much. It still hurts and some days I just can't believe you're gone.

Jake will be gone 3 months tomorrow....

Jake, 2 1/2 year old kitty--a.k.a. "our son"

HIs favorite things:

Chewing us out in kitty language if we were late coming home and he was hungry.

Curling up next to me and sleeping with me on 9/10/05 after I came home from being hospitalized for 2 days.

Proudly bringing and displaying his "trophies" thoughout the front and side yards where we had to walk so we wouldn''t miss them--otherwise we would step on him..


Laying under the tree where my fiance was shooting his bow--curlling up under dad and going to sleep in the sun...
Less than a week before Jake passed away, My fiance had lost an arrow that he was using for target shooting, and he and Jake were walking together in the field next to the house and found it...Todd would tell me later on that Jake would stop and rub against him, and we wondered if he did know that we would soon have to say goodbye...He gave us so many memories....God, I miss him....


The night before Jake died, I was called out of class to come home, and I was crying and promised him that he would get better, that he would be going back to the kitty dr the next morning...Jake was purring away, and reached to grab my had with his paw, and he tightened his paw on my hand, as if to let me know that he knew we were dong everything we could...it was like it was Jake's way of saying that he loved me. I think he knew his time was short...

JAKE...we love you and miss you so very much. The new house isn't the same, and your brothers Bailey and Fritzie-Waffles miss you and look for you too. Sometimes I think that they see you..I think you visit us, and keep dad company while mommy is in class... Tomorrow will be 3 months without our boy, and not a day goes by where we don't think of you...I know that one day we will meet again, and then, we will never again be separated...until then, baby, I will hold close your memories, and I will keep telling people about the dangers of the disease that took you from us so young...I love you....

mommy

My favourite things about Max.

I could write forever but will add just a few.

His beauty and intellect.
His eyes that saw right into me.
His absolute love that never wavered.
His acceptance of me good and bad.
His white whiskers on one side and black on the other.
His pround stance
His being the best dog in Ireland:-)
His bravery.
His making me a better person.
His making me want to go out and enjoy life.
His making me want to live at the worst of times.
His undying friendship which is the only true friendship I have ever had , I see that now.
His sense of humour.
He was the imbodiment of everthing good and just in this life .
What am I to do now
Who will make me want to live now when i cant go on without him.

You have been gone 5 weeks today.Thank you for loving me. You were my world.

Mammy

"His beauty and intellect.
His eyes that saw right into me.
His absolute love that never wavered.
His acceptance of me good and bad.
His bravery.
His making me a better person.
His making me want to go out and enjoy life.
His making me want to live at the worst of times.
His undying friendship which is the only true friendship I have ever had , I see that now.
His sense of humour.
He was the imbodiment of everthing good and just in this life ."

Lisa,

You hit the nail on the head. I forgot to write those things about my Kurby but all of the above was him as well. It was 3 wks yesterday he was killed and it hit me last night like a ton of bricks. What am I gonna do without him?

He was my best friend and he loved me unconditionally. It's hard to beat that.

My Zody...
What I miss the most are his wonderful hugs.
I used to come home from work and he would greet me at the door with a loud squak. I'd pick him up and he would put his furry arms around my neck and his legs around my waist and then he would nuzzle his head against my neck and purr in my ear.
I've never had another cat who did this.
Today would have been his 19th birthday he's been on my mind all day.
Love you buddy and I miss you always...

This is really hard...trying to put into words what I miss most about her, there is an endless list of things that come to mind, so I'll try to keep it to the most signifigant..
Other than the obvious of her just being here....
How she would get so excited when I would come home that I could hear her "talking" from Inside the house as soon as I got out of the car!
How she always had to be next to me, no matter where I went...I guess it's that feeling of security that I no longer have.
How she would come to me with "that expression" on her face when she wanted something and I would say " watcha want?" and she would "talk " to me as though she was answering .
How she was ever so loving to every animal she was ever around...it would always make my heart melt for her.
How I would never have to pick up an ice cube...I'm just now getting where I can hear them hit the floor and not shed a tear.
How every time I would move around trying to get comfy on the couch her tail would start wagging because she knew I couldn't pass up an opportunity to give her some lovin!
How she would do "excitement shivers" and get so excited when I would say "herrr is mommy's mo seet (most sweet ) herrrrrrrrrr is"
Okay, now I'm crying like a baby so this is a good place to leave off...

I wanted to share these pics, too. They are just a couple of her with "her" furbabies. There is one(her eyes look strange because my husband 'fixed' the glare in her eyes and messed it up) of her and her kitty that I rescued when he was only a few days old, so I think he thought she was his mommy, it took him a really long time to get over her being gone. The other is her with my great dane on the day we brought her home. She is being "mother hen" as usual . Simply put...she was the best dog I have ever been around, or will ever be around for that matter, I miss her so much....

whooops! It only let me put one up, so here is the one of her and the kitty...

My favorite things about Kasey, my Roo, are so many.

- he was always there
- not matter what was going on, he always slept next to me, either on the bed or floor
- his face laying on the table hoping for some food
- watching him fish at the lake
- chasing Murphy around, never quite able to catch him
- his soft ears
- always underfoot
- never feeling afraid when my husband was gone


It's only been one week and I miss you so.

My Tillie

fav things were HER all of HER

The way her mouth was a little crocked

Her smell

I loved her name

I loved her dancing with her daddy on the foot of the bed

Her smile
OMG just everything everthing about her

Sometimes I just think this hurt will never ever stop I miss her so

As one member has already mentioned about their dog loving food, well Kemo loved her food too. Her food, ... my food, Holly's food, and if you were a guest over for dinner, your food too! I remember one Thanks Giving dinner and we had what felt like about 20 people or more for dinner. That's a lot of scraps left over, know what I mean? And Kemo was in her glory. I believe she ate the equivalent of 3 meals that would fill up some very big and hungry men. What was funny to us, but not so much to her, was that she had a belly ache about an hour later, and she couldn't get up!!! Ha ha! She couldn't even roll over!! Talk about funny! Of course we came and rubbed her tummy for the next couple of hours to try to help her digest the food, while she gave us the most excruciatingly annoying wimper. We learned after that, since she obviously would eat everything put in front of her, that we had to control how much she ate. We thought it was under control, because often she would eat half her dog food, and leave the rest for later. I guess it just must be that human food tastes better, and to make sure the children running around the house didn't get any, she had to make sure it was all gone.

Things I miss:
* Dog hair - everywhere.
* Singing with Kemo. She loved to sing, sounded more like screaches, like a high pitched "yiieeeyiieeyieee"
* racing with me up and down the stairs
* going for rides with her in the car
* walking to the store (which we never did enough of)
* her barking, .. at everything.
* the way she was so protective of our grand-daughter Hailey, when Hailey was a baby
* her favorite toy. A round rubber ball that squeaked. We had to take it away from her several times because she thought it was "her baby". She made such a fuss over it. Somtimes I'd pretend I was hurting her ball, and whoa... would she ever get upset! I'd give it back to her and she'd hide it somewhere safe where Daddy couldn't hurt it.
* Kemo trying to catch my hand while it was under the blankets in bed, that was a really fun game. She played this game with Holly too.
* Listening to her nails click on the floor as she walked (yes, I should have trimmed them more often)
* playing fetch outside in the summer
* Kemo jumping all over me, every time I would finish vacuuming, as if to say "you're still alive!! you're still alive!! (she thought the vacuum was a terrible thing).
* jumping one me, and making a fuss over me every time I came into the house, even when I would only be outside for less than 15 seconds.
* sleeping by my office chair while I was on the computer
* licking my legs after getting out of the shower
* finding remains of Q-Tips on the floor, realizing the used ends had been chewed off. (Yuck!)
* snuggling together, or sleeping together on the couch.
* we taught Kemo how to "whisper" instead of bark when we had a treat for her.

God how I miss you Kemo!! I Love You!

"Daddy"

I would just like to say how much I enjoy reading this thread and getting to know everyone's babies as the individuals that they are. They all had some pretty cute quirks and it warms my heart...nice to smile when we think about them every now and then, huh?
your friend in grief,
Kim

B do you remember

B tickles-
Pulling so gently the furr between your toes, and tickling your pads,
and you arching your toes and showing your claws but gentling kneeding my finger.

B head butts simular to Volcan mind melt-
You rubbing your head on my body then up to my forehead, you staring me down till one of us gave up.

B kisses-
Licking my fingers as I drifted off to sleep, I blowing on your head and you leaning forward for your kiss.

B fur-
Brushing your fur till there was basically another cat next to me. How you loved your brush. Hair, hair everywhere how I did love your hair.

B retrieval-
Bringing your ball to me and having me throw it and you bringing it back to me. Waking up with your toys surrounding me and you sound sleep amongst them.

B training-
Hit blinds and run quickly to the outside door. Knocking on closet door and run quickly to outside door. If all that failed get paper from office place beneath bed and jump on it with front feet, then run to outside door.

B water bowl-
Toilet if lid down even if you were not thirsty loud meowing until lid was where it was suppose to be.

B snacks-
Eating Captain Crunch and ice cream together and of course your Pounce.

B training II-
Outside one minute knock on door to come back in. Sit there looking oh so pitiful.

B training III-
Repeat I & II at least 30 times a day.-She trained me very well.

B Meows-
Outside meow, toilet lid meow, brush me now meow, hungry meow, I am happy meow.

B diet-
Science diet only please and make that fresh and where is my pounce.

B scratchies-
Endless rubbing of the neck and ears.

B conversations-
Talking to you and you answering me back.

B laziness-
Bird hops right in front of you, lizard runs over your body. You roll over and not even a hint of killer instinct thats my cat.

B sleep-
On my head, on the chair, window sill, always close to me you would be my sweet loving B.

B ESP-
Always knowing when I was coming home and waiting at the door to go out or to come in. ... knowing when I was sad and streching your paw out to sooth me.

B Love
A soft stroking against my leg. Plopping down beside me. Moving from room to room with me. Following me throughout the yard. Lying accross my computer when it was later at night and you knew it was our time. You touching me and me touching you....Your beautiful rhythmic purring and coos.

Marie Love-
The way I feel when I think about you.

Wow,
What a beautiful post.
Shauna