Tuffy

They are lovely.

They're awesome Gizmocat - nice work

Can't wait to see how they look on the tractor!

Yes, it was designed to work with the older tractor I saw in the pics, so here's hoping the new one has a complementary color scheme.

Rowland & Macavity AKA the 'BOYZ'

I am so sorry for you loss I know this is a hard to go threw.

sending you lots of hugs

Hi, Its been about 3 months now since I lost Tuffy. Its getting some what easier for me, and I am starting to think of all the good times I had with Tuffy the short time he was with us, but I still have days when I get sad and miss him and wonder why my little friend had to die so soon.

As far as TUFFY the tractor, I now have the new alcohol burning engine all done for it. I ended up spending way more money on it than I originally planned, but it has all the good parts in it and hopefully it will run real strong and not have any problems. I hope to get going on the tractor part real soon so I can get it all done by early spring and have it all painted nice with the decals on it.

During this time of giving thanks, it is good to see how thankful you are for Tuffy's time in your life. The sad days do come and go - it's been 14 years since my nephew was murdered, and each holiday season seems to refresh those sad feelings, esp. when I see his classmates' children growing older. But I know that my nephew, and my brother, are up there across the Bridge with some very special horses to ride, and some awesome cats to hang out with, and some very special dogs guarding the gates of Heaven.

I am glad that things are getting easier Tom, I think you will always have days where you feel sad that your Tom together wasn't as long, but hopefully that will be outweighed by the good times.

Tom, do post a picture of the tractor when you have it all Tuffy'd up!

Bless your heart. How goes it in Wisconsin? A little frosty, eh?

You are doing great and did the right thing. Nothing worse than to watch a defenseless (yeah right, they call them claws) animal suffer. I have had to make that decision several times, and while not easy and full of doubtful thoughts, it was the loving thing to do. That is what matters. Is it loving??????

Hi, Its been pretty warm for Wisconsin the last few days. Below is a picture of TUFFY'S new heart. {engine} Stock it made 16hp now it should make 40 to 45 hp and will run on straight Ethanol. {alcohol} It cost me about $1000 for new parts and machine work to put it together.

That is a real work of art. It's a pity the engine can't be visible when the tractor is finished.

whiz bang.....that is a nice engine.

Tom, I am so sorry about your Tuffy, I know , it is 3 weeks today I lost my poor 16 year old Snow, I too, am still heartbroken, she had such difficulty breathing her last few months, every day I would pray would be a better day for her, but she just declined so. RIP poor beautiful Tuffy, and bless you Tom and your family, it is hard to loose our kitties. Karen, Snows Mom

Thanks for the kind words everyone. I still don't understand why after all Tuffy went through and all we did to try and help him he had to be taken away from me so soon, and he was still young. It just don't seem fair sometimes.

Hi, I had the new engine for TUFFY running a few minutes the other day. I think there is a problem in the ignition but the motor itself sounds real nice. I have a new ignition coil ordered for it and got new points and condenser for it so I hope that fixes the problem.

Also everyone I have shown the Tuffy decals to likes them, and think its a good name for the tractor.

i'm sorry for your loss

he's very pretty

Thank you mooncatz, Its to bad such a special kitty had to die so young and with such a bad disease. For some reason Tuffy never took a bad picture, I have pictures of all our cats, but most of the time the others don't take good pictures, at least I don't think so. Even the last pictures of Tuffy I took shortly before he passed on with most of his belly and side fur shaved off from the ultra sounds he still looks good to me, you would never know he was so sick in them. Its like that something special he had even comes through in his pictures.

At times I think about getting another cat, but I am afraid I will try to replace Tuffy with another cat and not see a different cat as he really is. I hope I worded that so it makes sense.

Edit,,, I just went back and read every post in this topic about Tuffy, I just skimmed over allot of them when they were first posted because it was so hard for me to sit and read all of them at the time. It still makes me cry, but it is easier than before. I asked about Timmy the other day and she still has him, so maybe he is waiting for me to come and see him, if I wait to much longer he won't be a kitten anymore and I will miss him growing up. I have to make myself go and at least see him, a little while ago we had some kittens here waiting for new homes, They made me laugh on days I felt sad, and they are so cute when they are small. So having those kittens here also made me think about Timmy again, Timmy's owner says he is a great little guy and loves people, Maybe like I said, no one is wanting him so he can be with me when I am ready.

I just talked to the girl with Timmy, He went to a new home just a couple days ago, so I waited to long. She did say she now has 4 other kittens about 4 months old I can come and see, so I am going to see them tomorrow afternoon and see if any of them stand out to me. She says there is one that I will like allot, I will have to see I guess.

She told me poor little Timmy had to go through getting declawed yesterday from his new owners. I will never put a cat though that again after watching what Panther went through, I never realized how hard it is on them to be declawed till we had Panther done, if I had known I never would have let it be done to Panther. He was sick for a few days after, and he got so depressed for the longest time, and we had to give him pain pills, and he would stand with his bandaged front feet in the dogs water dish to try and make them feel better. I felt so bad for doing that to him, It was the wife who wanted it done, she wanted to do Rusty and Angel also I said NO WAY am I doing that to any more of our cats.

Tom, I've read your other messages and just want to say: if you want a cat with a set personality, get an adult. Adult cats are great, they don't need high maintenance, and you are saving someone from death row since the poor adults do not adopted as readily as a kitten.

The cat will choose you. Adult cats can show you 'what you see is what you get'.

But if you do find a kitten with the right personality, chances are you and he can stay friends even if he matures a bit.

Good luck.