Lola, Pallina, and Tom are definitely watching over you and you will meet again in due time, in a place so much better than this one, we can't even imagine it!Here are the cats that spent the longest time with me. I had other cats too, but they stayed with me for shorter time.
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This was Lola, the sweetest cat ever. I rescued her and her brother Romeo in May 2000, when they were a few days old. I bottle-fed them, raised them. Her brother died in a car accident shortly before his first year of age. She bonded with me like I could have never imagined. She was literally my shadow, she would talk to me, she would never leave me for a second. She had a nose carcinoma, inside one of her nostrils at the age of 11, she was treated with radio-therapy, that's why she got that greyish area on her face, a spot that, in my opinion, gave her extra beauty. She fought two more cancers after that, the third one took her away from me in March 2017, 6 weeks short of her 17th birthday. I will never forget her, and 7 years later she's still in my thoughts every single day. I love you, sweet Lola.
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This was Pallina (meaning Little Ball in Italian). I found and brought her home in January 2002, she was around 8 months old. She joined my feral colony, but she came from another colony. She never became a lap cat, she spent too long a time as a feral to know how to fully trust a human, but she loved being taken care of, she loved us in her peculiar way. At the age of 15 she got hyperthyroid, and a few months later she was successfully treated with I-131, but meanwhile she had developed further GI issues and she left me in August 2018 due to a liver failure. She spent the last 16 months of her life as the only cat in the house, and she became much more bonded to us. Those 16 months were the best. RIP beloved Pallina.
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This was Tom. He showed up in our yard at the beginning of 2011, stayed for a few days, then he disappeared until June of the same year, when he returned for good. He was an adult cat that someone had dumped. He was sweet, lovely, and respectful of everyone and everything. He was kind to every living creature. He wouldn't chase or prey on birds, butterflies or other small creatures, he just loved to contemplate them. He lived outodoors only, never came in the house. The vet said he was at least 7 years old. He had some incident in his life, he had a damaged nose, lost most of his teeth, and tested positive to FIV. A few months later he tested positive to FeLV too. In 2013, two years after his arrival, he got terribly sick, and he was diagnosed with FIP, which killed him in 7 weeks. He loved everyone, and everyone loved him. RIP my brave aand kind Tom.
Actually the Italian nickname for Frank is Ciccio, pronounced Cheechoh (you can listen to it HERE). Believe me, I'm Italian
I lost two loved ones to FIP, one to dry-form at almost 17, and the other to wet-form, at just shy of 3 months. Both, ever in my heart. I know we will be reunited in due time, never to part.
(Somehow I can't imagine anyone ever calling my dad Ciccio. Francisco, yes.)
A sideways pic of our beloved angel Suha enjoying a patio view in the living room.
She was independent, smart as a whip and feared nothing not even our German Shepherd dog who became her BFF.
