Forrest Kitty

You died on a Friday.

I cannot tell you how much we miss you. There just arenâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t words big enough. All I can help think is that I hope we gave you a wonderful life. And we did not feel that we owed you anything less than that. Youâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]ve been through thick and thin. You have battled things that many did not think you would be able to overcome. But being Forrest, you did. I never thought that anyone would have that willpower…especially a cat. I guess that goes to show that you can never underestimate.

Call me greedy, but I want you here with Daddy & I. I do not think I would wish for anything else but that…if I were to get the chance. We did enjoy the six years that we had with you. Pretty funny how you were going to be the first kitten we were going to get rid of. But for some reason you managed to capture our hearts before you could be taken from us. And I will never regret that decision. You had two other siblings. I donâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t remember the exact month, date, or even day of the week that you were born. But I do remember seeing you come into this world. And sadly had to watch you leave it. I kind of regret not knowing the exact day and everything that you were born. But I remember that moment and the days following.

You got the name Forrest because you used to sit under the table while the other kitties played. You used to always stick your paw in your mouth, almost dumb-founded like. It was the cutest thing. And that was the year that Forrest Gump came out. How perfect.
The day we found out you were FIV positive…
We took you to the vet for a check up and I believe to check out your ear mites. Iâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]m not sure exactly what. But they did a blood test on you for Leukemia, FIV and something else. I think. But anyway, Dr. DeLaughter did the test and came back with the results. You were FIV positive. Pretty harsh news to hear. But it wasnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t something I donâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t think any of us could not handle. Whatever obstacles were to come, we would all get through them together. And whatever they were, I did not want for you to suffer in any way.

Your first “incidentâ€â€¦
It was in the evening time and you did not look like you were feeling well. You werenâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t eating or drinking. Pretty lethargic. The next morning you were way worse. You wouldnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t even move. So I took you to see Dr. Fink. They said you were REALLY dehydrated and wanted to give you fluid under the skin treatments. You would require three of them. You received your first one then. I dropped you off at home and put you in the bed with Daddy. He said within an hour you were purring. We knew then that you would be okay.

Your final “incidentâ€â€¦
You pretty much copied the same symptoms from your first episode. You seemed to be moving more, just a little lethargic. I took you into the vet soon after. I figured you were experiencing the same thing you did before. They sent us home with no fluid treatment. Later I decided I would take you in for one after I realized that you were not going to eat or drink anything. That was on a Friday and I wanted to make sure that you would be okay for the weekend. They told me that if you werenâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t eating by eleven the next morning to bring you in. And thatâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s what I had to do. You really didnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t go downhill then, but pretty much stayed the same. After a few more treatments you didnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t get any better. So the vet advised me to feed you through a syringe. Which was one of the hardest things I had to do. It seemed as if you were having trouble swallowing. Almost every time I fed you, you would gag and cough. It was horrible. From then I believed that you werenâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t going to make it. Your eyes crusted shut, you were draining from your nose…you looked pitiful. But I didnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t want to give up on you. The vet said that you were doing your part of the deal. Which made me think you were giving it all you had to make it through this. And we were going to be with you every step of the way. Money was no object to us if it meant you would get better. You were really bad on Thursday night (December 27th). I was to go over to my parentsâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji] house to stay the night so I could go to Sea World with our relatives the next day. I will regret that day for the rest of my life. Daddy was going to take you first thing in the morning to the vet. He called me. Left a message because I didnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t hear my phone ring. So I retrieved it. At that moment I felt like I had been hit by a truck. We planned to take you in first thing in the morning because he knew that I would want to be there. A few hours later I got a call saying that you had passed. That time it didnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t feel like I was just hit by a truck. It was indescribable. The pain was the first thing I felt. And happiness was the second. Because I knew that you were not suffering anymore. There was nothing more that we, the vet, or you could have done. That was the final obstacle that we all couldnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t overcome, even together.

This is an obstacle in life (our life) that we have been dealt. And Daddy & I are going to face it together. Itâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s hard, but we are going to do it. My concern is that we didnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t make you suffer in any way trying to make you well. I could not wish that on anyone. Especially not our dear Forrest. So hopefully you are in a “Kitty Heaven†or more wonderful place right now. Being the angel you were when you were with us. Loving the way you did when you were with us. And just being Forrest, when you were with us.

We love you tremendously. We always will. And you will never be forgotten.


1995 – December 27th, 2001



Love Always,
Mommy & Daddy

Stephie0024
I am so very sorry for your loss. Forrest sounds like he was a wonderful cat who is missed a lot. He is now an angel up in Rainbow Bridge playing with my Midnight and all the other kitties who are there. If you are not familiar with Rainbow Bridge, please read the sticky at the top of this forum. My thoughts are with you.

Stephie - Forrest sure was a fighter, and he fought a valient and brave battle.
I pray that you will find comfort in your writing and memories of him. Please visit us anytime.
Deb M.

I just wanted to thank everyone for your response. It really helps to know that there are people out there that completely understand what you are going through. To a lot of people who don't they think it's kind of silly for you to act the way you do. So I really appreciate everyone taking the time to read my article. I know it's long...but I wrote it to help me let feelings out. I typed that up and put little keepsakes in a box that I would keep of him forever.

My thoughts and prayers go out to anyone else that may have been through this hardship or are going it through it now. And thanks again to everyone for their support.

from your last post

To a lot of people who don't they think it's kind of silly for you to act the way you do

Click to expand...

People Suck. That's why we have kiddens and ponies and doggies and bun buns.... Don't pay any attention to them - it's very, very, very hard to deal with - in my opinion sometimes more than a human dying because it's a different, unspoken, unconditional love relationship!!!!

Stephie...I am so very sorry to hear about Forrest, and your tribute to him was very touching. My prayers are with you.

My thoughts and condolences go out to you. He is an angel looking down on you saying, "Thank you for my life!"

Keith

Things work in mysterious ways. Last Friday (2/8) marked the six week mark since Forrest went to the bridge. One thing I didn't mention previously was that we had a cat here that was pregnant. And she looked like she would be popping any day now. Forrest passed about 3pm that day. That evening, while my boyfriend and I were on the couch sobbing together and pretending to watch the television, she hopped up next to me. Purring louder than usual and talking. I had just realized that she was letting me know that she was ready to have her kittens. She had them a couple hours later. So on that Friday, it also made those kittens six weeks old. We had planned to get rid of all three of them. Then one caught our eye. And I hope that this is the right decision that we are making...but the black one is just like Forrest was when he was a kitten. He's not a replacement to him...no cat ever will be.

We did have Forrest cremated and my boyfriend's Mom is making us a ceramic cat. She is going to paint it to look just like Forrest and we are going to put his cremains in there.

Forrest's Mommy

Romeo cremated too. Can't bury him -just the thought - yuk. I haven't yet found the "right" ern for him - gotta go to Pier One. They gave him back to me in a :censor::censor::censor::censor::censor::censor::censor: cookie tin! Go figure. They had lovely urns at about 150 a pop, so in the cookie tin he stays till I get the right one!

My grandmother (God rest her soul) used to to ceramic cats. To bad she wasn't around....

They put Forrest in a tin, it has flowers on it. I guess I thought it would be a worse looking one. But that's where he is, for now. I refuse to pay $100 and ^ for an urn. I want it to be something special. Something that resembles him. So she's going to use some pics that we have of him so that she can paint him. I think that you should do that also. I'm sure that there is somebody near by that would be able to do it. And it wouldn't cost you $100. If that's something you want to do, but can't find anybody, let me know. I'll see what I can do for you.

Take care,
Forrest's Mommy

Hi Stephie,

you wrote so beautifully about Forrest, I feel as if I had know him... I am so sorry for you that he is gone but it means the he is not suffering anymore...

Love

Anne-Claire

(And people that never loved an animal cannot begin to understand how much pain we feel when they die...) And how long that pain lasts...

Stephie and Janet
Same thing here. Midnight's cremains came back in a little black tin with pink flowers, and this is where they stay. When I looked at the vet's catalog, I couldn't believe the prices they wanted for urns!!!!

"here, while your down and out, let us rob you blind in your time of saddness...."

I gotta get to Pier One!

I know we all want the best resting place for our cats. And we want something that memorializes them. People know that they can make their money this way. I even stopped by a casket & urn store (for humans), to see what kind of urns they had. They had ones for pets, but they wanted around $150. I spent that kind of money in a heartbeat to try to keep him alive, but I am not spending that kind of money to remember him. That's why I'm making my own!!

(Some people just don't have feelings... )

Forrest's Mommy

A great idea! Lemme know how it comes out - what are you doing? Clay or ceramic or something????

Well, I haven't had much time, but I'm looking for a shorthair ceramic cat not yet painted (greeware, I think it's called), and my boyfriend's Mother is going to paint it to look just like Forrest Kitty. Then we will put his ashes inside. She told me the cat should only cost around $10. That's more like it. And it will look just like him. And to me that's more special.

You should give it a try.

Forrest's Mommy