In Loving Memory of Reggie (June 2001 - January 2013)

Hi, my blog is normally for my paper crafting projects, but today is a special day and I have a very heavy heart.  Today I'm honoring my sweet little girl, Reggie, who went home to Heaven.  Yes, I do believe animals go to Heaven and we'll all be reunited one day.

This is the last picture I took of her this morning before our trip to the vet.  She was a very special kitty and a survivor of sorts.  She was born during June of 2001 during Tropical Storm Alison here in Houston, better known to us Houstonians as The Great Flood!  Unless you saw pictures, you would not believe how much water covered our city.  It was incredible.  She was an orphan found by a scrap metal dealer in a large bin by herself.  She was only about 4 days old.  He took her to a friend of his and of mine who was a cat rescuer.  I had already gotten 2 other cats from her (Paisley and Chancey) a year earlier.  My girlfriend fed her and nursed her until it was time for Reggie to find a forever home.  Who could resist?  I know I couldn't and scooped her right up and brought her home.  For me and my other kitty family, she was a sweetheart.  She was a little spitfire though when it came to others, but she managed to tolerate visitors.

Her illness came as a complete shock and surprise to me.  I came home from work on Monday evening and she was having some stomach issues.  I would have taken her right to the vet on Tuesday but my car was also in distress.  I noticed steam coming up from under the hood on my way home from work on Monday, so I knew that I needed to take care of that first thing on Tuesday.  I couldn't go anywhere else except to the car dealership.  So Tuesday morning I was able to take her to the vet and was told she had a lot of fluid in her abdomen and that her blood pressure was very low.  In fact, so low, that it was very difficult for him to get blood out of her to send off for analysis along with some of the fluid taken from her abdomen.  We had to wait until today to get the results back and unfortunately, it was not good news.  She had cancer, probably in her liver and/or intestines.  There was nothing to be done for her - no treatment, no cure.  I won't go into the other issues she had been having since Wednesday, but I knew that she was in distress and that the best thing for her was to have her euthanized.  She needed relief from what she was going through.  I got the news while I was at work and went home and sat with her for awhile petting her and talking to her so she'd know how much she was loved.  She purred and drooled (long hair cats seem to do this).  It was with a very heavy heart that I took her back to the vet to perform the procedure.  I did stay with her until the very end so she knew that that someone was there and cared for her.  Her body will be cremated and her ashes sent to me.  My little pet cemetery in my back yard is getting full. 

It was very weird though and I swear this is true.  As I was driving home and was approaching my house and about to turn into the driveway, I distinctly and clearly heard a cat's meow.  I didn't have one in my car and there were none out on the street and besides, I had the windows up.  I know that it was Reggie telling me it was okay and she was fine.  She'll be in my heart always. 

Rest in peace my beautiful girl.