Remembering a Favorite Pet

Let's chat about remembering a favorite family pet.

I promised a follow up post to tell you the things we did to remember Mr. Mittens when I told you about him passing away.  Any time you lose a beloved family pet, it's so sad.  Everyone grieves differently and we tried to do several things to help honor his memory.  We got several sweet cards from family and friends.  That's always a good idea if someone you love loses a pet.  We have always been lucky enough to find a vet that sends sympathy cards when our pets pass away.

I have a few gifts to tell you about that were great ways to honor the memory of a favorite pet.

Tuxedo cats are so handsome and so I started looking for some tuxedo cat art for the house.  I didn't want to spend a ton which made Amazon the perfect place to start.  I found these canvas art hoops.  I got one for Mr. Mittens and one that looked like Topher the cat we lost prior.  We hung them above our desk in the corner of our family room.  They are quirky and sweet and I smile every time I see these silly reading cats.

The vets office stamped paw prints for us when Mr. Mittens passed away.  Olive loved Mr. Mittens a ton so I frame a paw print and a heart of fur for her.  Hobby Lobby had this cute small bow frame.  She was really sad for a while so I quietly framed this and just put it in her room for her to find.

My sister surprised her with a Mr. Mittens photo pillow and key chain.  She used to sleep with Mr. Mittens every night and now she sleeps with his pillow.  This was a really sweet, comforting way for her to keep his memory alive.

A friend sent Olive and I matching cat bracelets with an M for Mr. Mittens.  It's a sweet bracelet to add to a stack and remember our favorite cat.  Thanks, Whitney!

We talk about Mr. Mittens and his antics often. I intend to make a little photo book of him.

I'm sorry if you're dealing with the loss of a pet.  I hope this post gives you some ideas of ways to honor the memory of your favorite pets.

Most Likely to...

I have a cute cat round up today to tell you a little more about my cats!  We're a cat family through and through and it's been so fun to have an equal number of cats again.  We have had great luck matching cat BFFs when we have two boys (this combo has worked twice for us) and sisters.

Pumpkin //

Most likely to be the boss.

Most likely to be first to the food bowl.

Most likely to get ready with you every morning.

Mostly like to purr first, snuggle first and be in the middle of whatever you're doing.

He is nosey and we joke that his tail takes up its own zip code.

Mr. Mittens //

Most likely to look annoyed.

Most likely to want a sink drink.

Most likely to sleep with one eye open.

Most likely to do something naughty - hop in the washer, dryer, run a lap or two around the house, etc.

We joke that he's so fancy in his tuxedo that he can't be bothered with our antics.

Penny //

Most likely to snuggle you.

First to find Fletcher.

Most likely to be the easiest pet ever.

Most likely to welcome a new family member.  

Most likely to be sad when we travel.

Pearl //

Most likely to keep to herself.

Most likely to be grumpy with her siblings.

Most likely to howl and yowl.

Most likely to sleep with you at night.

Most likely to end up with a cut on her nose from fighting with the boys who have claws.

Pumpkin wants to be close.  Mr Mittens prefers to sleep in a basket nearby.

But set a pretty table and you've got his attention.

We bought new toys for the boys for Christmas and we keep finding Penny playing with them.

Thanks for humoring my cat loving post today :)

Keep the Claws

I've been wanting to write this post for a while now.  I'm actually surprised at my thoughts on the subject.  When you get a new kitten - Keep the claws!

We have had 6 different cats over the years and with our first four, we had them all declawed in the front.  Everyone did it and it just seemed like the right thing to do for indoor cats.  The methods improved over the years with laser removal, but when we got Mr. Mittens last year it was suddenly hard to find vets that would declaw kittens.  And the vets that would declaw were very expensive.

We opted to give his claws a chance and let Mr. Mittens keep his claws.  I was determined to keep them trimmed short and see if he would be okay around our furniture and be nice to the kids.  I wrap him in a soft blanket and do one paw at a time.  He didn't love it, but he's learned the drill and is a mostly happy client now.  I count the claws as I cut them so that I can make sure I end up with 18 claws trimmed.  It's quick and easy and I do both cats back to back to stay on the same schedule.

My sister recommended this pair of nail trimmers.  They were so affordable and are working perfectly almost 2 years later.  H&H Pets Cat Nail Trimmer

We joke that Pumpkin forgets he has claws and teeth because he's such a sweet guy.  He never wants to hurt anyone.  We see his claws, but he rarely uses them.

He's getting fluffier every week so I'm going to have to look into a fur trimmer set.  This one is on my radar for it's price and great reviews.  I think it would be perfect for his fluffy fur to keep it manageable.  He has trouble landing safely when he jumps since his paw pads can't grip the floor with all that fur.

Cat Grooming Clipper Kit - I love all of the trimmer accessories.

We have a cat tree and some cardboard scratch mats that they use often to sharpen your claws.  They rarely sharpen them on furniture.  And if I keep them trimmed short, they don't get snagged on our clothes or on curtains/bedding.  I try to cut their claws twice a month.

So if you find yourself trying to decide - claws or no claws - I'm here to tell you cats with claws are perfectly manageable!  Just buy some good claw clippers for about $6 an you'll be set.  Let me know if you have any questions!

Welcome to the Family, Pumpkin!

We added someone new to the family!  Say hello to Pumpkin.

We have had an orange kitty sized hole in our hearts since Topher died a year ago and have been on the hunt for the perfect orange and white cat.  We had the best experience with an orange tabby - Topher was so lovey and so sweet for 15 years.

I know four cats is a lot, but Penny and Pearl have each other.  They are sisters and buddies.  And Mr. Mittens always gets left out.  We were determined to find him a brother to play with and so far so good.  They're becoming buddies!  There was a lot of hissing at first and now it's just a lot of jumping and chasing.  And so far four cats seems just the same as three.

We visited the local adoption spots and usually came up empty handed.  Until one Sunday, we walked into Petsmart to find a foster kitty that fit our wish list perfectly.  His name was Howl, medium fur and he was about 11 weeks old and he was so sweet.  We put in an application for him as soon as we got home and had to wait to see if we were picked to adopt him.  His foster mom said no one had applied for him yet.  Several days later I got an email saying we'd been approved, but that didn't mean they were holding a pet for us.  It was very confusing.  So I made some phone calls and it looked like they would match us with Howl.  A day or two later they called to confirm and said I could pay over the phone.  Whew!  That was stressful.  We got everything scheduled and got the call to pick him up about 10 days after we met him at our local humane society.

I'm so thankful he was a foster cat so he was very used to being around people and other pets.  We hurried home with him after school and his paws have barely touched the floor since.  Everyone loves him!

Meeting Pumpkin: We were so surprised to get to hold and play with Pumpkin at Petsmart.  When we adopted there before from a different agency, they wouldn't let us hold him.  Howl was so sweet and seemed perfect for our family!  We started brainstorming name ideas for him right away.

Kevin was playing in a golf tournament this day.  I texted him a picture of the kitty and his response made our day!  Get him!  We wished we could have taken him home, but we'd have to wait several days to make it official.

10 days later we got to pick him up from the humane society.  Hooray!

 

The boys passed his carrier around the car and after just a few minutes Pumpkin was purring.

Welcome home, Pumpkin!!  We talked through a list of boy cat names, but the kids were set on Pumpkin since we were adopting him in the Fall.  He gets called a mix of Pumpkin, Pumpkin Spice, Pumpkin Pie and Sweet Pumpkin.

He's already found cozy spots all over the house.

Sit on the couch and Pumpkin will join you.

Leo sings him lullabies.

And we did Pumpkin touch down pushups for the Notre Dame game.

He's the sweetest addition to our family!  If you ever get the chance to adopt a foster cat, do it!

Goodbye, Topher

Last week was a really sad week at our house, our sweet Topher passed away on Thursday.

I mentioned that he wasn't doing well last month and he took a drastic turn for the worse last week.  Kevin took him to the vet last Monday and the vet said that Topher was old and all his systems were starting to fail him.  We didn't want to put him through tons of tests and procedures.  We brought him home and talked about our options all the while watching him decline very quickly.

We loved on him so much, tried to give him all his favorite things, said our goodbyes throughout the week and he passed away while we were all at school/work on Thursday.  Kevin took such good care of him in his final moments.  I knew it was coming but it didn't make it any easier to say our final goodbye to our sweet Topher.  I thought I was ready to type out this post a few days later, but here I am crying again.  It really is hard to say goodbye to an old friend.  We held a kitty funeral in our backyard with the kids and buried him in a special spot.

Topher was 15 and he lived a life full of adventure.

He had a front row seat to watch our family grow and move all over the country.

Topher came to us in a Target parking lot in Utah.  He was the easiest cat who loved to share a pillow with you at night.  A friend told me that orange cats are the loviest, sweetest cats and we found this to be true.  Topher quickly adapted to living in 6 different homes in 4 different states.  He always found the sunniest spots in the house and I was always his favorite person.  He loved to go for car rides as long as he was free to roam about the vehicle.  He would find the coziest spot and settle in for a nap.

He was my late night buddy.  He was always right by my side doing all my night owl things.  I think as he got older his favorite time of day was spending quiet nights with me all to himself.  He loved a fresh water bowl or a drink from any faucet.  We keep finding ourselves looking for him in his favorite spots around the house.

Topher grew friendlier with age and seemed to warm up to the kids more and more as they got older.  He welcomed 3 kids and enjoyed all the cats that we have added to the family over the years.  He'd always greet guests when they arrived at our house and once he even snuggled up in a friend's purse during book club.

Topher, unlike my own children, has been in the family long enough to have an old school scrapbook of printed pictures of his life.  I started it when he was a baby and had fun adding to it for several years.  He was so loved.

I enjoyed searching through my blog archives for the last 15 years to find some of my favorite Topher pictures.  He was always such a handsome guy who would surprise everyone he'd meet with his age.  No one ever guessed he was as old as he was.  Thankfully, he lived a long healthy life and didn't suffer.

Here are some of my favorite Topher pictures from kitten to old man.  He really did have the sweetest face and personality.  I'm thankful for all of the years we got to love him!

Kitten Topher meeting Oliver.

We were in the car a lot traveling with baby Olive and Topher was always happy to be along for the ride.

He tested out and approved every piece of baby gear that ever came into our house.

Hours and hours of feeding babies and Topher was always nearby.

He put up with me dressing him up for the holidays.

Topher appreciated my love of a pretty chair filled with pillows and blankets.

And he quickly found favorite spots in our current house.

As he got older, he claimed our primary bathroom/bedroom as his favorite spot.  He would always enjoy being up high on our counters far away from busy Leo.  We started our days together every morning with him snuggling up to my make up bag.  And politely meowing for a drink from the sink.

Every time I walk into our bathroom I expect to see this cutie in his favorite spot in between our sinks.  I miss him terribly, but I'm so thankful for all our happy years together.

We buried him in a special spot on our property and talk about him often.  I think I'll make a Christmas ornament with one of my favorite pictures of Topher and maybe add a cute orange tabby cat ornament to our Christmas tree this year in his memory.  The kids are handling the loss well.  They are all sad, but they know that Topher lived a great, long kitty life with our family.  Our other cats are kind of in a funk after losing their buddy.  Time will help heal all of our hearts.

Saying goodbye to an old friend is HARD.