UPDATE: On March 5, 1998 at 3:11am, Daisy Mae passed away. Just a week before she died, she had been diagnosed with Lymphocircoma (sic). She was 15 years old when she died. She passed away quietly in her own bed. We believe she woke us up at 3:00am to say her good-byes. Her breathing had become increasingly labored and she was panting non-stop. I picked her up, held her a bit - tried to get her to drink some water, but she would not. I laid her back on her pillow, walked out of the room for not more than 30 seconds, and when I came back, and she was gone.
She was my little girl. She was with us 13 wonderful years. She will be missed beyond imagination.
The kitties you see above are Jasper and TC. Jasper (grey long hair domestic) is 17 yrs old. We thought we were going to loose him awhile back because he was attacked by an Airedale, but true to cats having 9 lives, he pulled through. So far he has spent 6 of his 9 lives. Jasper is a talker and will meow you to death from the minute you wake up, till you go to bed.. and then some! He's a Mama's Boy. Jasper is the ALPHA of all the animals. We've seen him jump into the middle of the greyhounds play if he thinks it's getting out of hand. And we've seen the greyhounds back off without an argument. By the way, Jasper is declawed so there's no chance of injury to the greyhounds... just to their egos!
UPDATE: Jasper, at age 18, passed away due to complications from diabetes and renal failure, at 12:10pm, on Thursday, June 25, 1998. Jasper was my oldest furkid. He let me share his life with him for 18 wonderful years. I shall miss the way he "talked" to me each morning and evening. I'll miss the way he slept above my head, on the headboard, every now and then putting his paw on me as I tossed and turned in search of a good night's sleep, as if to say "it's OK Mama, I'm here." His passing was peaceful and very quick. I held him in my arms as I sang to him his favorite song for the very last time...Puff the Magic Dragon. He loved that song. Always made him purr and coo.
TC is a 12 yr old Calico and a greyhound lovin' kitty! (See picture above.) TC HAS to sleep with a greyhound every night. Doesn't matter to her which one, although she is partial to Arieleha. TC and Arieleha are buddies. Arieleha will clean TC and TC will just roll over onto her back and purr and purrrrrrr. TC has also been known to clean the greyhounds while cuddling with them. They, in turn, just close their eyes and sigh. TC's favorite game is to run full speed through the backyard, have a greyhound chase her, and then stop just as they catch up to her, roll over on her back and let them nuzzle her tummy.