Hi all,
The last 72hr have not been great in our (and our neighbour's, more later) households. We've had a few days of very wet and cold weather so when our neighbour Amy told me she hadn't seen our tabby cat Cleo for a day or so I didn't give it a second thought: I figured she'd hunkered down somewhere cosy.
To backtrack a bit: my then-fiancee Sam and I adopted two female tabby cats from the SPCA eight years ago. Each had approached us independently and imagine our delight when the volunteer doing the paperwork said they were sisters! We couldn't split them and named them Sasha (left) and Cleo (note the little black spot on her nose):
6dbbd980-6097-43b9-b789-f0ba1a72a5ce_zps73oe2lnd_34861333454_o by
Zac Yates, on Flickr
Cleo would "fight" me for my modelling chair at our last house - it was uncommon for me to go inside (The Bench was in our garage) and come back to find she'd taken over
yet again:
36412621082_c2995e8dab_o by
Zac Yates, on Flickr
d946468c-ac1c-4ba1-b09c-22c8c3c68b25_zpsnylkvs2j_35515564082_o by
Zac Yates, on Flickr
She would show no remorse and we reached a detente
36443107081_d6d32d7d56_o by
Zac Yates, on Flickr
f340e6fc-6679-48e7-8a8d-c64075ac4855_zpsdu13irlo_35554347741_o by
Zac Yates, on Flickr
5849fbc9-d4c8-47f9-974d-88e6f9cf2475_zpssceoh7hc_35554312861_o by
Zac Yates, on Flickr
A couple of years later we adopted a boy, Kylo, and the three of them learned to get on well (Cleo is the stripy/spotty one):
787b50bb-f681-4b94-a95e-1ba7d77a755c_zpsbimhyxpi_35297333200_o by
Zac Yates, on Flickr
f47141f2-4f57-4860-8b5d-4ac1dcd1aab2_zpsts1zgmuj_35515574472_o by
Zac Yates, on Flickr
28364878407_6866523298_o by
Zac Yates, on Flickr
We moved back to my hometown of Whanganui 4.5 yr ago and about two years ago Cleo decided to move in with our next-door neighbour Amy. Amy is lovely, she had a gorgeous Kelpie dog named Rewa and Cleo fit right in. It broke my heart as Cleo was always my favourite (don't tell Sasha and Kylo!) but she would still pop in every so often, and treated Amy's front yard like a petting zoo: coming
just close enough for Sam and I to pet her as she walked past.
Cleo by
Zac Yates, on Flickr
Which brings us to the last few days. Both Amy and Sam became increasingly concerned. Amy (and her dog Rewa) would go on scouting missions around the neighbourhood calling Cleo's name, and Sam was quietly thinking the worst. I remained optisimistic she would resurface, popping in for food only to turn her nose up and go again.
However yesterday morning Amy came to our front door to say she had seen Cleo, dead, in her other neighbour's yard. That neigbour has two dogs that are semi-neglected and are often barking at all hours, and it turns out there was a hole in the fence between their yard and Amy's. We don't know what happened but it seems they attacked Cleo, either at Amy's house and took her back to theirs or perhaps Cleo came too close to their "patch". I'll spare you the details but I can only hope it was quick. For his part the other neighbour was extremely remorseful and immediately repaired the hole (he had been asking his landlord to do this for the last eight years).
Sam had been called in to cover a shift at work, and it was 15min after she left that Amy told me. I don't think I've had a longer five hours in my life, but fortunately Amy and my mum were here to keep me company. It was very, very hard when Sam came home - there were a lot of tears but also laughs and good memories. I made sure Sasha and Kylo were able to see Cleo and say goodbye in their own way. Last night Cleo rested on the chair she and I used to "fight" over.
Both Sam and I were raised in houses where pets are treated as family members so our grief is very real and has been hard to cope with. Today Cleo will be laid to rest in Amy's garden and a tree planted over her. Sam wrote a little something she will read today and I hope you'll indulge me for sharing it:
Cleo,
The day you chose us to be your humans we didn’t know how blessed we were.
From the moment we brought you and Sasha home you gave us unlimited purrs and were always full of cuddles and head boops.
Whether it was making yourself at home on my back while I coloured, or chasing a long piece of grass with finesse, you always gave us great joy to be able to be your family.
Even though we shared custody of you these last few years our love for your gorgeous spot-face has never wavered.
We know that you will be happily chasing mice and snoozing by a warm fire over the rainbow bridge. You have left your perfect paw prints in our hearts, and the hearts of those who knew you in your time here.
With everlasting love, your fur-parents, Sam and Zac
cleo_49407217586_o by
Zac Yates, on Flickr
