Jasmine and Clover miss their big brudder Dilbert

[MorningGlow]

You guys, this is so sad. It's worse than the feeling I had coming home to a house without Dilbert in it for the first time in 12 years. Clover has been spending most of her days sleeping on the guest room bed, which was Dilbert's special place. Now Jasmine, my familiar, is on my lap, in between me and the computer, which is making it difficult to type, and she's not purring. This is major, because Jasmine has always been a purring machine. She purrs when she's being petted. She purrs when she's not being petted. She purrs for no reason whatsoever, 24/7. And now--nothing. Not even when I pet her and give her undivided attention. Neither kitty is eating a whole lot, either.

So don't nobody "out there" (away from ASAHers who know better) tell me animals don't have feelings. I am watching two sisters mourn their departed big brother, and it's breaking my heart.

[I Have A Dream]

1. Love & light to Clover & Jasmine as well as to you, MG.

The trauma of losing a family member is so difficult.

The feelings of animals are more deep than quite a few humans that I've known.

[MorningGlow]

5. Thank you, Dream

It was easier for me to deal with when I was on vacation. Now that I'm back in the house I find myself listening for Dilbert's footsteps (he had a distinctive way of thumping down the stairs) and it's dismaying not to hear them. But seeing the females sad...well, that was just too much to take.

[japple]

2. Poor little kitties. Sending comforting energies to Clover and Jasmine.

May the Universe give them (as well as you and your family) peace as they grieve for their big bro'.

[japple]

3. Here is what Dilbert is doing.

This is the text from the book by Cynthia Rylant.

Cat Heaven

The way to Cat Heaven
Is a field of sweet grass
Where crickets
And butterflies play.
A cat may be late in getting to Heaven…
There’s just so much fun on the way!

But an angel will wait
At the yellow front door,
Wait till a kitty
comes home.
And when she arrives,
he’ll give her a kiss
and some milk
in a bowl of her own.

There are trees
In Cat Heaven,
Trees made
Just for cats,
Trees growing
So green and so high,
But no one
gets stuck
in a tree
anymore—
if a cat
wants down,
she will fly!

And oh, all the toys,
Kitty toys everywhere,
Thousand and thousands
Go by.
There are buttons and baubles
And small cotton mice—
There is catnip
Afloat in the sky!

There are angels,
Of course,
With soft angel laps
Where kitties can purr
Loud and strong.

The angels will rub
Kitties’ noses and ears
And sing them
A Cat Heaven song.
And when cats are hungry,
There’s God’s kitchen counter
All covered with
White kitty dishes,
Full of tuna and salmon
And mounds of sardines,
And wonderful little pink fishes.

The cats in Cat Heaven
Are so loved and spoiled
God lets them all
Lie on His bed…
He walks
In His garden
With a good black book
And a kitty
Asleep on His head.

Then when a cat needs,
She may just simply ponder
And watch the blue world deep and wide…
She will watch the old house
Where she once lived and wandered,
And the people
Who loved her inside.

All cats love Heaven,
They know the way there,
They know where
The angel cats fly.
They’ll run past the stars
And the moon and the sun…
…to curl up with God in the sky.

From Cat Heaven, written and illustrated by Cynthia Rylant, who also authored Dog Heaven

[MorningGlow]

6. OMG, Japple

That was so beautiful. It really got me . Now I'm a mess!

[FirstLight]

4. awww...that is so sad...

I remember that we had a pair of twin orange tabbies and Oliver (the smarter but fatter one) got snagged by a coyote...Skylar(the slimmer and stupider ...i mean he couldn't even catch a bug!) was really heartbroken for a while...he'd walk around the house meowing for Oliver... I'm so sorry MG

The offer stands if you need a kitten, I guess I'd have to fly out there and bring him
I hope your sister kittehs can eventually feel better and that dilbert's spirit keeps them company

[MorningGlow]

7. Thanks, sis

How long did it take Skylar to recover? I don't think I can take much more of these sad kitties. Just heartbreaking. I wish they got along (they do NOT, not even a little bit) because they could be a comfort to one another. Instead, they vie for our laps and pettings, which makes it quite difficult to sit and do work--more so than usual, I mean.

Why yes, I do think you should bring me a kitteh! I'll go check the airline schedules...

[FirstLight]

15. You know, it's funny

Cats don't have long term memory or something like that... I heard that once, that's why they are so difficult to discipline & train, because they really DO live in the moment.

Skylar took about 6 mos, give or take... so I think it depends if they have other distractions, or like you said...comfort of eachother. so they are 12 too? it may be harder for an older cat because they are way more stuck in their ways. None of my kittehs have lived past 8...

(Ya, we'll book a flight around our Bdays! lol...that would be so cool. It will be my 40th, maybe I can use it as an excuse to have a big weekend getaway, bwahaha! and WHEN I gett he new Tribune Job, I'll be more than able to afford it! ) I'l post pics of the kittehs when they are born on FB, & you can pick yours!

[MorningGlow]

16. Yes, they're all the same age

We rescued Dilbert first, at 6 months old--he was hanging around a coworker's house and was riddled with every parasite known to kittydom. We took him in, cleaned him up, and he became master of our household in short order (although he never got over his fear of starving--if the food dishes were empty, he'd show up in your vicinity and just sit there...and STARE at you...till you hopped to it and made with the food--did that just a few weeks ago, come to think of it).

Shortly afterward we adopted Jasmine from a pet adoption service at a local vet's office. She was 5 or 6 months old. She was in better shape--had been found with her mother and a sister. The vet kept the mother and someone else adopted her sister, so she was alone when we met her.

Then, two years later, another coworker's daughter begged us to adopt Clover--she had found her eating out of garbage cans in her neighborhood. She was down to 4 lbs. and is runty anyway (tiny, small-boned), so we thought she was a kitten. So did the vet, until they checked her teeth--then they found out she was 3 years old! She still hasn't cottoned to the concept of using the litter box--but only because she's just damned ornery and obstinate. She COULD if she FELT like it but she doesn't FEEL like it.

I'll take the weirdest one you end up with, FL--we wouldn't know what to do with a NORMAL cat in this house!

[rumpel]

8. Of course, they mourn..

Over the years, all of my dogs mourned over another member of the pack.

Some years back, when one of our dogs was dying from kidney failure (at home) it was awful, he was going in and out of consciousness and was in a lot of pain. I was introduced to our current vet, as he is one of few vets who do house calls. When it was time, the other dogs came to the dog one by one - and the vet told us to let them, they know and they are saying their good-byes...

It took them a while to get accustomed to life without him.

Much love to your pack.

[MagickMuffin]

9. We use this practice as well.

When Kagome passed away we showed her to her siblings and they understood Kagome was dying. However, we didn't show her to Kilala who had just started bonding with Kagome. Kilala kept crying for her new little friend. It was extremely hard on her, I wish we would have shown her as well, but we didn't think it was going to have an impact as it did.

[MorningGlow]

11. What a touching scene

Love back to your pack as well, Rumpel.

[MagickMuffin]

10. For future reference as was stated by Rumpel and my response to her

Let the pet-babies see their deceased friend. We've tried using this custom even when we've had to put them to sleep. I guess it's sort of like humans viewing the dead, it gives us closure.

I'm sorry Jasmine and Clover are hurting. Kilala mourned Kagome for several weeks. She eventually just quit crying for her. Kilala had just started accepting Kagome into her life, Kilala didn't have much to do with her until Kagome got sick and we let her sleep with us, which was Kilala's domain. Kagome became Kilala's little sister, (Kilala loved her very much, Kagome's real brother and sister not so much) although Kilala is starting to tolerate them a little more.


Give Jasmine and Clover time to grieve and they'll be back to normal. Just let them know you still love them and Dilbert will always be with y'all.

[MorningGlow]

12. I wish we could have done that

Mr. MG asked me if he should bring the body back from the vet's, but we live in a village, and I didn't know if we could bury a pet in the yard, so I told him to let the vet cremate Dilbert. We knew the other cats would be confused about Dilbert "disappearing" but we didn't have much of a choice. I think they knew he was sick, though--starting a few weeks ago, Clover started sleeping on the guest room bed beside Dilbert. We thought she was just seeking protection from Jasmine's overly exuberant pouncing, but now we think she was there to keep him company and comfort him.

I did manage to get Jasmine purring a little bit this evening, which was good. She and Clover are very needy (understandably), so Mr. MG and I are trying to spoil them a little bit right now. Jasmine's been sleeping on my extra pillow, above my head, and I haven't flung her to her usual spot at the foot of the bed. Plus Mr. MG bought some nummy cat treats on his last trip to the pet store. We'll get them through this--and they'll get us through this.

[Silver Gaia]

13. Sending comfort to Jasmine and Clover...

I am sad to hear this, but I am not surprised. They grieve just as we do. I have watched my own animal companions do this many times. One of our cats was so traumatized by the loss of her sister (our cats are all littermates, and these two were very much alike in color and temperament, like twin sisters in a way) as a kitten that she has never really recovered. She has never been the same since. Our sweet dog grieved for many months when his dear friend and companion died, just as we did. Just love them and hug them as you would anyone else and send them comforting images (which I know you are already doing). It is heartbreaking to witness.

[MorningGlow]

14. Thank you, SG

I know they appreciate the comfort and good wishes.

Mr. MG said Dilbert visited him in his dreams last night, climbing on his chest and purring. It was a nice message to get--that he was happy and free of pain--something we knew, of course, but reassurance is always good. It made me certain that he also visits his sisters to let them know he's okay.

I realized yesterday that Dilbert never got to enjoy our new windows looking out over the back lawn--I had asked the contractors to put in a nice wide window sill to accommodate kitty butts. I was also going to buy a climbing tower and put it in the mudroom by the new windows, for all of them, but mostly for Dilbert. I think I'll do it anyway--when he comes to visit he might like to hang out there for a little while.

[I Have A Dream]

18. Was the visit from Dilbert a surprise to Mr. MG, or is he open to such things? nt

[MorningGlow]

19. He wasn't surprised--he's open to that kind of thing

He was pleased, though.

Another incident today--we never, ever get hit with big thunderstorms--haven't since we adopted Dilbert. We figured out he blew them away/diverted them because he didn't like loud noises. No matter where we lived, no matter the geography, as long as we had Dilbert, any storm bearing down on us--even the ones that looked like a direct hit--would divert, split apart leaving us in the gap, or dissipate altogether.

Today a massive storm was headed straight for us--orange and red on the radar. No escaping this one, especially, as I noted to Mr. MG, we no longer had Dilbert around to poof the storm away.

Mr. MG said Dilbert would still take care of it, and sure enough, ONE narrow gap opened up in the storm front, and we were in that gap. We saw a couple of flashes of lightning, had a few drops of rain, and nothing else. Mr. MG said Dilbert would continue to take care of the storms, and I agree.

[I Have A Dream]

21. That is SO cool!

[liberalmuse]

17. Animals are love.

And I've no doubt they have feelings. Your sweet little kittehs need some time to mourn. Cats seem to have this sixth sense. I'll bet Dilbert will eventually communicate to them in spirit that he is okay, if he hasn't already. Still, they will miss his physical incarnation and it will take a bit of time for them to adjust to his being 'gone'.

[MorningGlow]

20. Thank you, LM