Rosie came into my life with three of her littermates in March of 1990. I was the assistant manager at one of
the local humane societies when this litter of 4 days old kittens were brought in, and as I had done many times
before, I decided to give these little ones a chance by bottle feeding them. A few weeks, and many bottles later,
Rosie and her littermates went up for adoption. Two of the kittens were adopted right away, but Rosie and her brother
sat there unwanted for a few more weeks. When their time was up, I couldn't just stand by and watch, I had to bring
these little rascals home again...this time permanently!
Having worked in an animal shelter, I have brought my fair share of cats home, but Rosie and Ben (her brother),
have been a great joy in my life. They have stood out amongst the others. I no longer work at the shelter, and
Ben is the only one left now, but Rosie will never be forgotten. She was her own special little cat.
My husband, Cameron, only got to know Rosie the last 4 years of her life, but he came to love her just as much
as I did. He was the one who gave her the title "The Mighty Huntress" because of her love for "hunting"
the dirty socks lying on the floor, or the bits of paper and kleenex from the dumped over waste paper bin. But
I think her most prized "catch" were her toy mice. Every day without fail, while we were watching tv,
reading, or sitting in front of the computer, she would hunt for her "game" and bring us the catch or
catches of the hunt, meowing every step of the way to let us know of her success. And each night she would then
bring to us in the bedroom the same catch. I could just imagine what she was thinking each night: "Every day
I hunt for them, and this is what they do? They move and leave my presents so that I have to hunt all over again!"
But I think she really did love her hunting. After she brought each and every catch to us, we would praise her
and tell her what a Mighty Huntress she was. You could see the joy and pleasure she got from the hunt and the praise.
And many a time I awoke in the morning to find one or more of her prey in the bed with me.
One of her more memorable hunts has to be the time we were playing cards. We were engrossed in the game and therefore
not paying much attention to Rosie. So Rosie after making several catches and bringing us the prey, and us ignoring
her, she decided she had to up the ante. So with her next hunt she decided she had to go for bigger game, and the
prey ended up being a big, brand new roll of toilet paper! We couldn't ignore that! And ignore her we didn't after
seeing her carry this big roll of paper in her mouth, and meowing the entire time! We laughed so hard we barely
got out "Rosie, what a Mighty Huntress you are!", but I think Rosie achieved her desired affect with
the toilet paper.
Yes, Rosie was quite the little huntress, but as she was an indoor cat, she never got the chance to hunt for real (which I'm very glad for! *smile*).
And I'm not so sure she'd know what to do with a real bird or mouse if she came across one. We have a real bird,
Kimi the lovebird, but Rosie never paid her much attention and never once tried to "hunt" Kimi.
Rosie was also a very loving and affectionate cat. She was quite the cuddler and lap cat. A night didn't go by
where she didn't get in a lap for cuddles and petting. Every night, without fail, she would climb into bed with
us and sleep "in her spot" which was just to the left of my pillow. If she wasn't sleeping next to my
pillow she was leaning against or laying on my ankles. And just about every morning when I would sit up in bed
trying to "wake up", Rosie would climb in my lap for morning cuddles. She was indeed my little sweetie.
She was also a "talker". She loved to meow, and if you talked to her, she was sure to respond. And she
loved belly rubs! Unlike some cats who will lull you into thinking they want their belly scratched only to grab
on to your wrist when you do pet them and tear into you, Rosie loved it! She would roll onto her back, half close
her eyes and purr so loudly when you rubbed her belly! If she was sleeping in one of her favorite spots, and you
happened to pass by and say hello to her, she would curl on to her back and meow back at you like she was saying,
"Come pet me!". It was quite endearing.
But sadly, my little Rose-girl won't be with us any longer. After being diagnosed with Chronic Renal Failure in
May, 1998, her kidneys finally failed her completely on Monday, October 11th, 1999. I had to say goodbye to my
Rose-buddy, my Sweetness.
She took a turn for the worse just a few short days before the end, and the end came so quickly.
I keep thinking there was something I missed, some clue or sign that she was getting worse.... but the only sign
we had was her vomiting on Tuesday and we took her to vet on Thursday. Maybe we should have taken her that Tuesday....I
don't know. I just hope and pray that she didn't suffer too much. I still get pangs thinking her last days were
spent at the clinic and not at home.
When we arrived at the clinic Monday morning, she seemed to still recognize us, and she
definitely seemed to recognize her favorite toy rat that I had brought for her. She had hunted that rat many times
before in the past and I only felt it was right that it should go with her to the Rainbow Bridge.
Although I still get tears thinking of her in the clinic alone and afraid, I'm glad I was
able to be with her at the very end, holding her head in my hand, petting, comforting and talking to her when she
took her final breath.
I miss my Rose-girl terribly. More so than I thought I would ever feel for another cat especially
after losing my precious 12 year old cat, Tucker, in 1995. I guess Rosie filled the hole Tucker left behind more
than I realized. Her passing seems to hurt more than Tucker's did for some reason. And it hurts so very much right
now, but I know that time heals.
Rose-bud, I love you.
You are my Angel now, and you will always be close to my heart.
You'll have to excuse my indulgences here. There are quite a few photographs, but to save
download time I have used small pictures for the majority.
My Rose-bud was quite the character and therefore I have quite a few pictures of her. (There's
also a few of her brother, Ben *smile*)
I'd like to thank the wonderful people on the Feline CRF mailing list that have sent their sympathies and well
wishes. Your words of comfort have helped somewhat and for that I'm grateful. Thank you.
These pages lovingly built and maintained by Jana Wright
