We’ve been getting to know our new boy Rune and the types of games he likes.
Similar to almost all young cats I know he is very playful and requires many play sessions every day.
One of his favourite toys is the tunnel. He throws himself into it at speed and rolls around the room in it. He prefers to play with the tunnel and fishing rod style toys at the same time.
As anyone who has lost a dearly beloved cat knows the house can feel incredibly empty afterwards. And although Dirk is still missed every day, we adopted a new cat to brighten up our days and bring us joy.
Meet our new guy: Rune
He’s nearly two years old and chatty and playful, but also a bit shy. He’s settled in quite well and loves his two climbing trees.
I’ve written before that my family had cats all my life. My grandmother had cats all her life and when she moved into long-term care her cat moved in with my parents (and ruled the roost!).
I’ve talked about our ginger cat Harrie before and wanted to introduce some of the other cats who have lived with us over the years. So the family cats will become a recurring blog.
It seems apt to start with my parents’ current cat: Freddie Pip. She has a double name because my niece and nephews wanted to name her Pip and my father wanted to name her Freddie due to a certain physical resemblance to a famous singer.
She is quite the character as you’ll find out! She was born at my aunt’s farm and initially not much of a hunter. Nowadays, however, she catches lots of mice – and eats them all, or should I say whole? As my mother says whenever Freddie goes outside, “catch the mice, leave the birds alone” and Freddie usually listens 😉
Next blog in this series: Freddie Pip and my parents’ dog Kaya: do they get along?
In this series of posts I share some anecdotes from my life as a cat sitter. I promise these stories are all true, though the cats’ names have sometimes been changed to protect their identity 😉
Today: kitten love
Not long after we lost Dirk I was asked to look after a few kittens that were home alone for the first time. There’s not much that can beat the love from kittens when you’re grieving for the cat you’ve lost. And it also allowed me to give all my love to them!
These two kittens were brother and sister and originally born into a litter of 6. The girl was more shy, but also a bit more independent and really playful. The boy was super cuddly, but also really wanted all the attention and toys for himself.
They were not too naughty actually! Cats, and especially kittens, can be a bit naughty when home alone. There’s so much to explore! They mastered jumping on the kitchen worktop though, and remarkably easy…. So time to cat proof the top cupboards of the kitchen to prevent the kittens falling or jumping behind any of the tall cupboards and being stuck (Oh yes, this has happened!). And it’s a good thing I did: before the fortnight was over the kittens had managed jumping up to the top cupboards…
Next time: the cat that was stuck behind the kitchen cupboards!
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times
Dirk passed away at home where we held him and cuddled him till he breathed his last breath.
Before we let him go, a visit to the vet confirmed that he was deteriorating rapidly and in addition to his CKD having progressed he also had a suspected tumour. For my partner and me this was a sign that it was time to let Dirk go. Even if he was not terribly unwell and not suffering much, we also did not want to let it get to a stage where he would be suffering a lot.
As heartbreaking as this decision was, and I know many of you will also face this decision, it’s a day we knew was coming and we had prepared for it.
Saying goodbye to your pet is a very personal decision and the final months, weeks and days with your pet are an emotional journey.
For me, it helped that my partner and I had talked this over beforehand and taken a few decisions about how we wanted to say goodbye.
We felt strongly about letting Dirk die at home and then taking him to the pet crematorium ourselves. We were able to take his ashes home the same day.
In typical Dirk fashion he was happy to greet the vet and very chatty and cuddly. Caroline was compassionate and made sure we had all the time we needed. Dirk was at ease with her and the whole process, from sedation to euthanasia, was incredibly peaceful. This mattered to us, as it was our last memory with Dirk. It was a beautiful goodbye and I’m sure this will help us during our grieving process. We cannot thank Caroline enough.
It was the best day, because we still had Dirk.
It was the worst day, because it was our last day with him.
Dag lieve Dirk
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