Goodbye my Friend

“sorry for your loss Euro. I lost my cat paw paw last year too. he was an out side cat had him almost 17 years. one day he just wasn't there to greet me at the back door in the morning. ill see you next week and we'll have a toast to our awesome cats.”

“Jack we lost Ozzy last fall like that. He was inside/outside, but I try hard not to let them out at night. We have plenty of coyotes and bobcats here. I'm guessing about on day 2, I was asking if anyone had seen Ozz-man. No collar or tags, no trace. Nothing in the woods, no blood trial. Man was he ever the lovingest cat, leaves a bit of a hollow place when they just up and disappear like that.”

“Thanks everybody.

I have been calling my mum on Saturday. She had been the one doing the sad task of taking Felix to the vet. She stayed with him and then took him home.
She told me all the details how she put him in a cardboard box, that she had filled with her finest paper napkins, dug a hole in the back of the garden, in which she placed the box, put a wooden board across the box like a roof and then burried him.
Oh boy, it seems Felix got the funeral of a germanic Lord - at least for cat standards. I was surprised how much thought and care she put into an old cats funeral.”

“YOu know I can take losing certain "humans" in my life easier than I can one of my buddies.

Euro sorry to hear...thats rough I know.”

“We lost one of our favorite cats today. He was only 5, and was fine on Saturday. Sunday he was lethargic - unusual for a cat that would leap from the floor to the back of the couch every night... jumping over me in the process. He looked like he was flying every time he did it. Very strong and active. Monday we took him to the vet because be barely moved all day. They think he had a blockage in his urethra and when they expressed it everything was bloody. His kidneys were 3 times normal size so they were in failure too. We left him there overnight while they gave him fluids, but he was gone when they came in this morning.

I've been expecting this for our eldest cat (16 years old) for some time, but he's been hanging on for over 2 years with kidney failure. He's laying next to me right now. I didn't expect one of our youngest and strongest to suddenly go. His father suddenly died a few years ago at about the same age and we never knew why, now I wonder if he had the same problem.

Like his father, he's now in the freezer in the garage waiting for spring. 2 feet of snow on the ground right now and 2 more coming by tomorrow night so the funeral has to wait...”

“Tech, as sad as that is, it's also funny as hell. We had a friend watching our house a few years ago when we left town for a couple of weeks. I knew our cat Scooter could go at any time. When Peggy asked what she should do if Scooter died while we were away, I said 'Just wrap her in a plastic bag and put her in the freezer, I'll deal with it when I get home.' I thought she was gonna faint.”

“LOL...sorry Tech but like FG my mother's elderly cat passed away a while back. It happened on a Friday at the start of a long holiday weekend. So they wrapped Kit in a bag and put him in the outside Freezer for a trip to the Pet Crematorium.

My Grandmother was visiting that weekend and I asked her to go get "the meat in the back freezer" for Chili....She came back empty handed but WHITE AS A GHOST.”

“Yup, sometimes the freezer is the only option. We moved all the stuff in the small freezer to the chest freezer and put him in the small freezer so we wouldn't have to move him around looking for food.”

“Dam, I just posted to this thread a little under 2 months ago. Back again. Our eldest cat that I mentioned 2 months ago finally lost his battle Saturday a week ago. He was our first baby, we adopted him 15 years ago when we were still dating. He was the only cat at the shelter that day that didn't freak out when I picked them up - instead he took one look at me, laid his head on my arm and settled in. He chose us.

He's the only pet that has lived everywhere we have, watched the other pets come and go, watched his human family grow from 2 to 4, and was the only one that loved to lay with us on the sofa every night.

When our other cat died in early February Tyler started going downhill. They were buddies, and the other cat kept Tyler clean and kept him company during the day. He missed his buddy and didn't want to fight anymore. He spent his last waking night on our bed between us. I don't sleep well with pets on the bed so we don't usually allow it, but we knew it was our last chance. The next evening he barely crawled from behind the sofa and spent the evening on our laps as he drifted in and out of consciousness. I didn't move for 4 hours. By the time we went to bed I knew he was already gone, just his body left barely breathing.

Small blessing, we left last Tuesday for vacation and it would have killed me to leave him in an empty house to die alone. At least we were there for the final days. I dug one hole, pulled our other cat from the freezer and they are now laying together.

F#%k, I'm no good for work now.”

“no words can take your pain away.
I am so sorry for all that you had to deal with. Hugs to you !!!

Sorry :(”

“:(”

“That's a bittersweet story. Sorry for your loss.”

“Dang, TnT. Really sorry to hear it. RIP.”

“Sorry for the lose. We have a little female cat that is plain out wearin' out and I don't think she'll be around long.”

“Damn Trek sorry for the loss. I am glad that Tyler gave you a graceful goodbye before your trip.

This is an awful thread, but it is great that its here when needed.”

“so sorry about your loss. . .”

“Sorry to hear, tech. That's always a tough situation.



...pulled our other cat from the freezer...

Okay, sorry, but that made me laugh for two reasons: first, it just sounds funny; second, in the past several years we had to keep two big dogs frozen outside thru much of the winter until they could be buried. Good thing we live pretty far up north, lol. One of the dogs made it thru an unseasonable warm spell in which we had to buy dry ice to keep it frozen.”

“Sorry about your loss.Somone shot one of my cats about a month ago on my property and iffin I ever find out who did I'm gonna f%$k them up!”

“Thanks everyone. Our trip let me put everything on the shelf for a while, but writing about him let me work through it again. As ped said, this thread sux but its helpful when its needed. Doing better today.

Noncon, yeah, its funny in a way. Its the second time I've had to keep a cat in the freezer over the winter. A little weird to go into the freezer to get dinner, but you have to push the cat out of the way first.

Spam, two of our cats disappeared when we lived in a townhome community. I always figured either one of the many neighborhood child delinquents decided to use them for target practice, or they got greedy and decided to keep them for themselves.”

“Sorry to hear about your cat. I lost mine this January.”

“My big Red Boo-Boo is now gone. We had him 13 years, but our vet estimated he was at least 4 years old when we took him in. He was biggest, sweetest tomcat I've ever found. I regret to this day getting him fixed. He was 18 pounds of muscle, sweet attitude, and big round cheeks that he loved to have scratched. Two of his highlights are when a dobie came in our yard in Florida, and Red rode him around like a bucking bronco. He didn't tolerate intruders too well. The other was when he caught a huge cicada; it was like a stereo sound system test, the way he bolted around the house and yard, with that thing buzzing at full volume the whole time. He was definitely a snuggler, always hopping up to your lap or the bed, right when had to get up but convincing you to stay a spell longer and pet him. He missed.

He's out in the garden now. There's been some debate between Laurel and I as to what color rose should go over him. I thought red one due to his name, Laurel wants an orange one due to his color.

Laurel was present through the entire process yesterday. She's incredibly brave about this kind of thing. She amazes me.”

“I TRULY hate this thread....Tree very sorry for you.”

“So sorry treebait...”

“So sorry for your loss. 8(”

“Man, losing a fine old critter nearly always hurts like hell. Sorry for your loss treebait.”

“so sorry for your loss, sounds like your friend loved well and was loved well in return.”

“Old friends like that will allways live on in your heart.”

“One of the more touching things Red did was when Laurel was a baby and was crying, Red would come in and try to calm her down. He always did that for me when I was really emotional, too. He didn't like crying at all. If he thought something was wrong with Laurel he'd come get us, too. He was a great father figure cat, too. When we acquired Little Bit, Smokey, and Stella as little kittens, he'd take care of them all of the time. He was an amazingly patient cat.”

“So sorry.

I vote with Laurel for an orange rose bush.”

“Yeah, the orange rose won. We ended up getting both roses: the red one called "Feisty" and the orange one called "Laura Bush." They both smell wonderful, and were 50% off the original price, too. I thought there was room for both roses; I misjudged. The orange rose is over his grave, the red one I still have to find a home for.”

“Sorry to hear that, Tree. Nice way to remember him.”

“My sympathies. Yes this thread sucks but its there when you need it.”

“He sounds alot like how my Garfield was. I got Garfield as a kitten when I was five years old, he passed away when I was twenty-four. Garfield was my best friend growing up, he would follow me around everywhere I went. My mom drove our school bus when I was a kid and one time he got on when she went to pick us up from school, and she didnt realize it until she was half way to school, so Garfield went with her to pick me up. He would come tell my mom if I was sick, and he would not leave my side until my fever would break. As I grew up and started to work at camp for weeks at time he would mope around the house and find things that belonged to me and lay on them. He lived a good life and was the best cat and friend that any kid could ask for. I was working at camp when he died, I went home and burried him at our favorite spot in the field and planted daisies over his grave. Now years later, the daisies have taken over the whole field. My mom calls them Garfieald's red fern. Sorry for your loss treebait, I know what its like to love a cat so much.”

“It always sucks when you lose a beloved pet. I feel your pain. RIP Kittie.”

“Out in the flower bed is a little red Jap maple that's only like 2 foot tall, growing over Agnes, our 12 yr old toy poodle. She was a pain in the a$$ more than not, but we loved her anyhow. I planted them both last May. That Jap mape seems to be doing great, Agnes must be delicious.”

“I laid an old friend to rest yesterday. He didnt slip away peacefully - I had him put down. Sometimes we do whats expedient.

I first lusted for a Suzuki Samurai in 1984 while in the Navy passing through Pearl Harbor. During my liberty time I decided there was nothing cooler for cruising the island than a topless red Samurai. They werent available on the mainland at the time, but by 1990 they were all the rage. Although demonized by Consumer Reports in the rollover scandal, they were still popular because of being cheap and fun.

By 1991 Id had enough of an old Chevy pickup truck that was falling apart. I was able to get $900 for it because it ran and I was in Texas. The dealership in Ft. Worth had a white 4x4 Samurai with custom stripes, and two 4x2s - white and red. In my mind I didnt need four-wheel drive because I was just cruising the island with the top off. So I bought the red one for $6999. A guy I worked with bought the 4x4 with stripes.

I drove the Suzuki daily to work and kept the top off when possible. It was almost like a motorcycle, being small, simple and breezy, but also very unlike a motorcycle because its top speed was somewhere in the 70s, depending on wind direction and if you were going down hill. I never had the nerve for a motorcycle or driving fast, so I was very happy. I could haul my half-stack, two guitars, and a friend to gigs I was playing at the time. My two little kids loved riding in the airy back seat at ages that now require use of a car seat. My son called it the “Suzuki Suzamurai,” but I never christened it. I would have given it a male name because, although wimpy, it wasnt feminine. It was just “my Suzuki.”

In 1993 I took it on a solo road trip to see my parents in Colorado. I nearly got heat stroke 100 miles shy of Amarillo. I learned to stop more often and drink lots of Gatorade. The gas gage read empty after 200 miles anyway, so I couldnt stay on the road for long (it was a long time before I did the math to discover the gage was much more pessimistic than reality). After a punishing drive to get there, I enjoyed Colorados mountain roads and became addicted to its mountains during that trip. It took forever to clean up the inside of the car after driving on all those dusty roads with the top off. That was the first of many long road trips across Texas to backpacking destinations. They were memorable for the physical exertion of fighting the heat and wind. There were times when headwinds prevented my from getting into overdrive and I would have to draft a semi-truck to get over 52 mph. Once when I took a friend backpacking we drove through Lubbock when it was 110 degrees. I remember looking at each other and laughing, and taking another sip of Gatorade.

When the first set of tires wore out I replaced them with big luggy off-roaders, and got chrome wheels and a black top, spare tire cover and nose bra while I was at it. It looked really good like that. I also discovered that a bikini top was the way to go, as it provided shade while allowing a good breeze. A few times it got caught in heavy rain with the top off. I had to pull the plugs in the floor boards to let the water out.

After about seven years it finally gave me some trouble. Once the computer went out and I couldnt afford to fix it until I found a used one mail-order. Then the rear end started binding. My trusted mechanic offered to replace the rear axel for $1300. At the time the Suzuki was the third car in a two-driver family, so I put it up on blocks in the garage and told myself Id fix it before my son turned 16.

After about six years on blocks, my son and I found a rear axel at a junk yard and we started trying to put the Suzuki back together. The axel didnt fit my driveshaft, being an 88 while my car was a 91. Upon inspection, my old rear end turned smoother than the one Id just bought, but the rear u-joint was mangled. The damage was so bad I had to scrap the whole driveshaft. Now I understood what that squeaking noise was I always used to hear while driving through town. I thought it was the brakes. My mechanic was full of crap!

The next problem was getting it started. I put Marvel Mystery Oil in the cylinders and turned it over with a wrench. Then I had to drop the gas tank and replace the fuel pump because the old gas had turned to varnish. After fixing everything else, I had to spray carburetor cleaner in the fuel injector every day for a couple of weeks before it became unclogged. Then it finally came back to life with a big cloud of smoke.

The Suzuki drove almost as good as new. It became my sons car. He didnt really appreciate it and thought it was a loser-mobile. I had to fix it after he tore up the transmission and got in two accidents. When I moved to California I promised him I would give him my old Chrysler 300M as soon as he arrived with the Suzuki still running. I didnt want to lose it at that point - it had cost me too much time, blood and aggravation and Id figured out how to fix just about anything that went wrong with it. I couldnt have sold it for what it was worth to me.

My son called me from Arizona describing the symptoms of a failing water pump. I told him to keep putting water in it and dont let it overheat. The car made it to California and I reclaimed ownership. After a few repairs it was running as good as new. I enjoyed taking it on the local 4x4 mountain roads. In dry conditions it did fine. The road to Machesna Mountain pushed it near its limit. As I was hiking away with a backpack, some guys on dirt bikes showed up and marveled that Id driven up there. I never took the top off in California. It stays chilly where we live.

After two years in California the Suzuki started running rough. I tried several repairs and concluded there was probably a burnt valve causing one cylinder to misfire. When the registration came due, there was no way it would pass smog inspection. I didnt want to rebuild the engine myself and was unwilling to pay anybody else. The Suzuki had become a liability and I didnt have anyplace to park it anyway. While researching my options, I discovered the state of California would pay me $1000 to get it off the road. Id been trying to get a guy at work to buy it for $400 without success, so $1000 sounded pretty good.

The Suzukis final road trip was 50 miles in the rain to a scrap yard in Paso Robles. Although it idled rough and lacked horsepower, it drove pretty well and generally kept up with traffic. One of the patrons at the scrap yard asked me about the car and acted like it was too good to scrap. But I knew all the little things that were broken and made driving it a chore, besides needing major engine work. Although I knew Id left nothing inside, I took one last opportunity to check and say my final good bye with a lump in my throat. Then I got my $1000 check and left it with the cranes and crushers.

R.I.P., my Suzuki.”

“My thoughts are with you and the rest of the Suzuki family.... He is probably motoring right along on 'the high way to....'.. oh oops...

'32oz”

“I forgot to list some of the Suzuki's significant accomplishments. It had survived 160,000 hard miles, three accidents, been totaled by the insurance company after a pounding by softball-sized hail, had a tree fall on it, and while my son was driving it made the police watch-list, had a fight in the interior, and took a bullet.”

“my sentiments for your loss. yo bear!1”

“i was getting ready to cry, this IS a thread for doggies, then i realized it was about a vehicle. LOL!

hang on, i'll see if i can squeeze out a few tears. i'm really not entirely without emotion, i did a eulogy for my hat last year.”

“I had one of those. Spun a rod at around 50,000 miles and was deemed not worth the effort. sold it for junk for next to nothin.”

“I couldn't work up something like that for a dog.”

“I had a 4 x 4 Samuri I used for hunting and pulled behind the motorhome 13 or 14 years ago. It was built like a tank and I never got stuck even though I took it in some god aweful places. Take comfort in knowing its best to put them down when the time comes. The ole Suzuki didn't need to suffer”

““I couldn't work up something like that for a dog.”
toejam


awww...”

“uhhhhhh..

Why didne that hit the Out of Context Quote Thread

'32oz”

“LOL!”

“Emotion for a car=about 30 seconds as I watch it being drove off. And I keep them on the average of 10 years. Of course growing up with 2000 of them in the field behind the house would explain my detachment.”

“' i did a eulogy for my hat last year. ' -dizzybtch

I'll be there some day, I love my hat and its been on just about every trip (family, backpacking, etc) for the last 7 years.”

“The car was a touch stone for a lot of great memories. I'm glad it's gone, but it was part of a lot of living - good times and bad.”

“cool techntreck. i'm not entirely crazy then. i bought another hat. same exact one. just isn't the same though.”