Are You Going To Cross The Rainbow Bridge?

...Not that I'm in any hurry to be kicking off or anything, truth be known I have an extremely intense fear of dying. But, if I must, atleast I can look forward to crossing the Rainbow Bridge. By the time I get myself to the pearly gates after crossing said bridge they're going to think Noah's Ark has shown up, then they'll quickly put up the neon flashing 'No Vacancy' sign. Let's just say I've had my share of pets, adoptees, strays, etc... in my rather short life so far. For those of you who aren't familiar with the Rainbow Bridge here's what it's about (Have a tissue handy if you're a wussy like me):

Rainbow Bridge

Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge. When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to the Rainbow Bridge. There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together. There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable. All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor; those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by. The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind. They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent; His eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster. You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart. Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together....

So that's what it's about. It's a great theory, I'm going to go with it. I kind of feel bad though, it says it's only for animals who were particularly close to a human... what about a pet that wasn't? You know, the ones sitting in shelters who end being euthanized for space reason? They didn't get a chance to be close to someone, so where do they go? I guess it's not good enough that I worry about the animals that are alive, now I have to worry about the ones who aren't. Oh the humanity, where does it end?! And why am I such a sucker?! Did I mention a new stray has shown up in our yard? It did. Am I feeding it? Ofcourse I am. Do I plan to bring it in the house? Obviously. Is Mr. Pretties happy? Hells no. But he knew what I was like going into this so he deals. He's even been known to leave food out for the stray while pretending that he didn't. He's a sucker too, he just doesn't like to talk about it. Did I tell you he sat and held Thomas' life less body and cried the night he passed away? He even offered to be the one to stay up with him until he was gone, but I felt that was more my job. He wanted me to wake him up when he had gone though, and he wasn't in bed very long before that happened. So he does have wussy potential. He even thanked me for turning him into a marshmellow (In a really sarcastic kind of way though...).


So why are we back talking about my cats in a kind of depressing way? No particular reason, I've just really been missing them. I actually feel uber guilty about Ralphy and that's hard feeling to shake. Ralphy only needed to be euthanized because we didn't have the $2000 to have his eye removed. That's the only reason. He was an excellent cat who got dealt a crappy pile of cards. Simply because he got his eye scratched his life had to come to an end. All I can fathom is what a waste that was. Such a waste of such a great personality. Now when I saw we didn't have it, I meant we did not have it. Not, we had it, but it was too much to spend on a cat. No. If we'd had it we would have done it in a second, no questions asked. Now don't get me wrong Mr. Pretties and I tried just about everything to get that $2000 for him. Mr. Pretties applied for loans, care credit, Farley's Fund, we phoned animal shelters to see what his survival rate would be there (Nil, they were all full and either wanted to put him on waiting list or would have euthanized him for expense reasons), we contacted 20 local animal rescues and they were all full, didn't want to take on the financial liability, or simply didn't reply. By the time we took Ralphy to his appointment that night we were pretty much hoping for a miracle, that by some wave of good fortune Ralphy would only need a shot of some antibiotics and a patch and everything would be good. We knew it was a long shot, but we had to be sure we explored all avenues for him. I was right, his eye had to be removed asap or the infection that had taken over it would slowly eat away at his brain and kill him, all the while causing him extreme pain. This wasn't what I wanted to hear. At this point the clinic had a 9 month pregnant woman near hysterics and I think they were afraid I was going to go into labour. They said because he was a stray we could take him home and call Animal Control and tell them there was a stray hanging around with a bad eye and they'd pick him up for free and euthanize him. That obviously wasn't the way to go, Ralphy deserved better. I opted to have him euthanized there so that I could stay with him, atleast he knew that someone loved him and that he wasn't alone and scared. I have that atleast. The vets felt bad for us so they covered 75% of the cost of having it done too. He went very quickly, he was gone before the needle was empty. The vet said it was because his body was so infected he likely would have died on his own in a few days. I wrapped him up in his little orange blanket and kissed him good bye. It's hard to believe how much a little orange cat can shatter your heart. I miss him terribly, he was such a presence around here and can never be replaced. I can't wait to meet him on the Rainbow Bridge.

I miss Thomas too, he was a good, loyal companion for a long time, but he had been old and sick for a long time, we knew this was coming. He slept with me on the couch the night before he died and we had some excellent snuggle time, he didn't appear sick at all at that point. The next night I knew without a shadow of doubt that this was our lastnight with our faithful friend, but because we'd spent the money putting Ralphy to sleep we didn't have it to offer the same kindness to Thomas. That really bothers Mr. Pretties and I know he harbours a lot of guilt about that to this day. I slept on the couch again that night and layed Thomas beside me, I stroked his silky long orange fur (Yes Ralphy and Thomas were both Orange. So is Wilma for that matter, we have an orange cat fetish) and finally fell asleep with my hand on his side. I woke up shortly after that a knew he was gone. We spent a fair amount of time saying good bye to him and then cut up his favorite pillow and wrapped him in the case and packed him into a Staples box. We took him to the vets in the morning and had him cremated with Ralphy. We didn't get the ashes back because it was too spendy, if I could I would have in a heart beat. The vet had told me she would make a paw print of Ralphy and they'd call me to pick it up the next week. So when I went to pick it up it was all wrapped fancy in a gift bag with a card, etc... and I noticed the card said 'Ralphy & Thomas' so I took out the tissue paper and saw this:



Even though we hadn't asked they must've unpacked Thomas and did his paw print too. I thought that was the sweetest thing and cried profusely. I didn't think it was possible to have his done so I didn't ask and secretly I'd been really sad about not being able to have it. This was such a great gift, atleast now we'll always have 'something' and that means a lot. I really cherish these things.

I think the moral of this story should be that if you really love you pet, and the thought of losing them over something stupid like a scratched eye makes you break into a sweat, then pet insurance is your new best friend. We hadn't had time to have Ralphy vaccinated, neutered, chipped and insured yet, we had planned to later that month. Later that month was too late for Ralphy and he could have been saved if we'd had insurance. $20 a month could have insured that we would never loose him due to not being able to fund emergency procedures he may need. If you've never read about pet insurance, it's really awesome and a lot of people use it now.

http://www.petsecure.com/
http://www.petcareinsurance.com/
http://www.sheltercare.com/
http://www.vetinsurance.com/

There are tons more, but there are some. I know there are better companies too, ask your vets, they'll have all the pamphlets and the comparisons between companies. I can't stress how worth it is if you can do it. If we'd had it Ralphy would be here instead of spread in some cat garden somewhere with Thomas.

Thanks for reading my depressing post, I hate it when my posts aren't peppy and funny, but I just had to post about this, and show you my sweetheart's little paws. I have Thomas pictures but I can't find them in the 2000 pictures we have unlabeled (other than by number, oy!) on the computer, and the one and only picture we have of Ralphy is on the previous post about this topic.

Possibly The Worst Day Ever...

My beloved Ralphie has passed away. He went to his appointment tonight and his eye couldn't be saved. He was so ill that his needle wasn't even empty before he put his head on my arm and went for the long sleep. He will be terribly, terribly missed and we're all deeply grieving for him. The vets were nice enough to eat most of the costs as well as make me a plaster paw print that'll be ready in a few days. My poor boy.

In addition, our other cat Thomas is on his way out as well. He's always been unwell and the vets could never figure out why. I expect he'll be gone by the morning but we just can't fund another euthansia today.

Mr. Pretties even shed a few tears over Ralphie's untimely departure, he wasn't with us long but he made a huge impression and left sweet paw prints on our hearts.

ETA: Thomas has also officially passed away solidifying the fact that this is indeed the worst. day. ever.

This is the one and only picture we have of Ralphie, I tried to get his good side ;) The Vet must've thought I was nuts for wanting to take pictures at a time like this. Did I mention the clinic was so great they even made me a plaster paw print of Ralphie's to take home? How amazing is that? I can't wait to pick it up, it'll be nice to have something.

















I know I have pictures (Loads) of Thomas as well, but they aren't labelled so I have to c lick through 2,382 pictures to find them. Maybe later. He was a big orange tabby as well. I dropped him off at the same veterinary clinic as Ralphie this morning so they'll be cremated together and they can hang out on the Rainbow Bridge like pals. Some how this eased my mind even if it doesn't really make sense.

Ribbon...

Some of the ribbon I ordered weeks ago arrived today. Oy. I love ribbon, I really do. And the fact that it arrived in this big pile where it had nicely knotted together was great, truly, I even had to resist the urge to throw it up in the air and roll in it. Then a couple things occured to me. For one, I am not a cat. And two, I actually need to use this ribbon to beautify some sweet little darling's hair. So I began to untangle it.

Holy sh... shoot that was A LOT of work. Don't love ribbon so much anymore. Really don't love the person who mailed it to me either. I even paid a handling fee... do you think the handling part was when they smushed it up in a big ol' ball and jammed it into the envi? Yes? Me too. That's it, I don't pay handling fees anymore, we cannot risk having this fiasco again. I'll probably have ribbon induced nightmares now. As if I don't have enough problems sleeping at night.



Also, I have now enraged the boss. I had to spread it out to untangle it properly (and rewrap it onto ribbon cards) which meant I also had to use my other hand to wrestle the ribbon away from the cat who, for the life of her could not figure out why I was not sharing these goods with her. She eventually got fed up with my selfishness and stalked off with her tail in the air and will likely ignore me for the rest of the day. Good. She's not all that helpful with the rewrapping part anyway.

In addition, I listed some hair pretties on Kijiji last week. It was a great idea! Accept for the part where I took orders, and my husband, we'll call him, Mr. Pretties kept 'helping' by bumping the ad. For four days. In four different cities. When he he knows that I was bought out by another Kijiji mom and that I'm waiting on the rest of my ribbon to come in. I am beyond stoked to get to work with some of these moms to get their sweetie pies some hair pretties for their hair (or almost hair?). Usually I make pretties for mom sales and craft sales, so I make the clips and people buy them. Now people are knowing what they want and I'm making them especially for them. This requires so much more love, but that's what makes customs so much more fun! I finished off 20 clips today for a couple of moms, and have too many more to go. In addition to the extras for the Etsy shop. I go to sleep thinking about hair pretties, I have dreams about them (Who knew you could have nightmares about something so adorable!), and I wake up thinking about them. Now that's dedication! Everyone is so easy to work with and most are so appreciative just of my taking their order. Love it! Some people were quite angry that my ad was reposted on Kijiji when I was clearly out of clips. Totally understandable. Perhaps Mr. Pretties should have these emails sent to him. I don't like hate mail before I have my cup of tea in the morning. I think I smoothed all that over though, phew. I want everyone to like me and love my pretties. I know that can't happen, but a girl can dream can't she?

I convinced Mr. Pretties to go 'junking' with me this morning. Please note that Mr. Pretties does not like junking. Garage saling, yes. Junking and antiquing, negatory. But he put on his big boy panties and came with. Now we just finished repainting our kitchen this weekend, it only took three weeks. No it's not that big. Mr. Pretties just likes to take his sweet time. Please note that I painted our long hall, our little hall (these are technical terms now!), our diningroom, our bathroom, and the big wall in our kitchen in three days. With the kids up. I'm 8 months pregnant. But I got it done. I digress. But our kitchen was the most awful shade of orange and light orange (this is a rental) with white cupboards. It was very... cheery? In a nauseating kind of way... Now it is a much more acceptable 'Pony Tail'/'Noah's Ark' combo. Very trendy. And wouldn't you know, all my old crappy pieces of antique something-er-other match beautifully. I was telling Mr. Pretties that I required a clock for the kitchen, a real clock. Not one that glows green, gets angry and flashes at me, or other wise is unrealiable in the event of power failure. Mr. Pretties agreed. I found the clock on Ebay. 80 years old, wind up, still had the keys. It was only $171.00 + shipping. Mr. Pretties disagreed whole heartedly. I could not win this battle before the time was up. Literally. SO in our junking today I came across this little piece of heaven:

I know. Be still your heart. (Yeah, tilt your head side ways... I can't fix that) This IS now a picture of my clock, I had it sent over especially for the blog, because you all care so much about it... Let's go with that okay? So this is it in all it's glory in my kitchen, in it's 'shabby' (Read: Crappy) antique cupboard that now so perfectly matches my kitchen. It's one of those items that you walk into the room and go 'Wow... that's just so right!' Mr. Pretties does not understand this logic. He thought maybe we should throw away our digital alarm clock in our bedroom and put this one in there... uh... not so much. This was not made for our bedroom (I don't care that it's an alarm clock!) it was made for the kitchen. Mr. Pretties was the religated back into the bedroom to reinstall the alarm clock he had taken the initiative to unplug and prep for garbage. Doesn't he understand that at night I do require an ugly green glaring display of numbers telling me exactly how many hours of sleep I have left to enjoy at night? And what time I got up to go to the bathroom/let the cat in/get a drink/check on the kids so that I can then report it all to him in chronological order in the morning? I guess not.

Well after that little piece of beauty I think your eyes'll need a rest. I told another mom I would take some extra wonderful pictures of my pretties for her selection tomorrow and I sort of need to get on that. Although I told her I could email them tomorrow, thinking I could upload them onto my aunts computer, but I'm not so sure about that now. I'll have to find my USB thing. Good lord. Better get on that too... this could take awhile. After the whole obstetrics appt., uploading of fantastic photos (Hear me camera?! f-a-n-t-a-s-t-i-c pictures. Not half as... arsed!) I have an appt for the first pedicure I've had (Besides the only Mr. Pretties issues occasionally) in six years. This is a birthday present from my cousin who must love me more than Mr. Pretties and my mom since they did not obtain this particularly wonderful event as a gift for me as well. Can. Not. Wait. I'm sure I'll be able to crank out pretties at warp speed with my toes looking all beautiful and girly like! Not to worry, I will not be posting after photos of this (Or befores for that matter, be extra thankful!) so you can still check back tomorrow and not have to worry about temporary blindness/nausea/or faint.

Now where is that USB cable... Next computer we're going blue tooth!