Why I haven’t been posting lately.

[mechtild]

~*~

Note: This post is about “real life" stuff. There's almost no reference to LotR or Tolkien in it. Also it’s picture-heavy, but with pictures of cats, not Frodo.

I feel as though I haven’t posted for years, although I’ve posted twice since I got back from visiting my mother in the first half of May. The thing is, when I came back from my

Comments

[maewyn_2]

Oh, you poor thing. You are certainly having a terrible time at the moment. It's unbelievable that you had three cats sick at the same time.

I remember when Friedrich became sick and died - is it really three years ago?!

Raoul has lived a long and happy life. He's had a wonderful family to look after him, and who will continue to care for him until the end. Pixie is obviously a fighter too. How cute she looks in her little shirt!

Take all the time you need to get through this and your human family matters. Remember to take care of yourself too. Real life always takes precedence over the virtual one.

However, here are some virtual ((((((hugs)))))) from afar.

[mechtild]

Yes, already three years ago! That was one heck of a week: Friedrich died on the 21st, Glen's sister Carol on the 22nd, and the 23rd was Rachel's birthday. I felt we were nearly reliving it.

Pixie is feeling better this morning, which is great because Raoul needs her. Just as she was with Friedrich, she's a very soothing, gentle companion for a sick cat. Perhaps it's all her mothering experience. She's a regular Nurse Pixie. Angelo means well but he's such an oaf he'll lie all over the invalid and not even notice they can't breathe or get up.

Thanks for the virtual hugs, Maewyn. And regards to your own little kitty.

[maewyn_2]

I think it's wonderful how Pixie looks after Raoul like that. She certainly hasn't lost her mothering instincts. I think having her there when you are away is just what he needs. Nurse Pixie indeed!

I meant to mention earlier that I loved the pictures you posted. I love the group pictures where they're all snuggled up together. I've always loved Siamese. Some of the earlier pictures remind me so much of my Cinda from long ago (I can't believe she's been gone for 26 years).

If Rachel doesn't feel right in her studies, she's done the right thing before going too far. Does she know what she would like to do, or does she just want to take a break before making any decisions?

[mechtild]

Was Cinda a Siamese, then? (Yes, I love the snuggling-together pictures, too. We've got a hundred of them.)

Rachel thinks she wants to enlist in the Coast Guard. Actually, that's just what her dad did when he was about her age. By the end of his first year of college he realised he was sick of the classroom study, wanted to travel and "learn to do something". Thinking of joing a service, he joined the Coast Guard. Whether she does it and enjoys it the way he did we won't know until we know, but it's a good service. Maybe, even if she doesn't find her vocation in that service, she'll at least get a better idea of what she'd really like to do.

[gentlehobbit]

Thank you so much for telling us the stories of your lovely, gentle cats. I am so sorry that you have been grappling with the sickness of all three of them, and I understand very well what it means to lose a beloved pet.

I do hope that you will continue to tell us about Raoul, Pixie and Angelo. I care very much about them now.

*hugs you and extends a finger to each cat for them to sniff*

[mechtild]

Thanks for your kind support, Gentlehobbit. Some people don't care for cats, Tolkien seemed to despise them, for instance. I've had two friends who not only didn't care for them, they were positively terrified of them: froze with fear if a cat was in the room. Odd. I think cats are such lovely animals, not including the occasional bad egg. Even when they don't have much personality they have a soothing, graceful presence.

I was just telling Maewyn that Pixie is finally feeling better and has been back on the job as Nurse Pixie to Raoul. She's a very good care provider to her fellow cats when they feel low. When they're well she can be very bossy, but when they don't feel good, she's extremely calm and comforting.

*they sniff your finger appreciatively*

[not_alone]

I have always been a cat lover and have rarely been without at least one, though I've never had more than two at the same time. So, I can really sympathise with what you've been going through with yours - and although it's so sad in parts, I did enjoy reading your story. I do hope that dear Raoul's remaining days will be peaceful and that you will have Angelo and Pixie for a long time yet:) Our one remaining cat, Beatrice, is 17 now - she seems to be getting more human the older she becomes!! When she has gone, I really don't think I will ever have any more - for me the upset of parting has just become too much.

ust wanted you “regulars” to know that my LotR ship (with Frodo as captain) hasn’t foundered or anything like that

Very happy to know that:)

[mechtild]

Beatrice is seventeen? She may live a long time still. I've met cats that are more than twenty. I am sure Raoul would have lived at least another few years if hadn't got cancer. His blood work showed that his kidney function was excellent, he had no diabetes or any of the chronic ailments that plague seniors. Your Beatrice sounds like a lovely cat, in any case. "Getting more human the older she becomes" - I know! I know!

When she has gone, I really don't think I will ever have any more - for me the upset of parting has just become too much.We are sort of thinking that, too, Not Alone. Our daughter asked if we will be getting a cat to keep Angelo company, but I said that at least for now, we'd probably been through enough, if only financially. Not that their care has been outrageously expensive, or even unusual coming over the life of a cat; but coming to all three, all at once, it has been a burden. But the emotional thing is a factor, too. Both my husband and I have been tried by this. I didn't mention him much but my

[anonymous]

Oh dear Mechtild! I have been checking your LJ regularly and thought it strange that you had not posted for a while. I was only thinking earlier today I would e-mail you later to ask if things were OK, but checked your LJ just now and saw your explanation

[mechtild]

Giant African Land Snails??? I'll have to look them up! I'll bet they have pretty shells and cute antennae.

Your story about your three cats was great, and so familiar. Poor Polly! It doesn't matter if they're Siamese or not. The best, most devoted cat my mother ever had was her last one. It was not a Siamese at all but a half-tailed stray she adopted. But that cat died at 7 or 8 of cancer, too. So it happens across all the breeds, just as it happens to all sorts of people.

Rachel will now be coming home in September, so she may very well see Pixie again, but Raoul will not last that long. I am thinking it will be a week or two at the most, but then again I never thought he'd last this long!

Thanks for the message and thoughts, Blossom. Have a lovely June!

[golden_berry]

(((((Mechtild)))))

Tears in my eyes writing this brief comment, dear one. Thank you so much for sharing with us, your friends, the lives of your beautiful furry companions. It hurts so very much to lose them, and to see them suffer.

When my darling Sammie cat died, a friend I had met through LOTR simply said "All you can do is cry, and give thanks for all the love". Since then, whenever a friend is going through the same grieving process, I think of those words.

[mechtild]

Awwww, Goldberry, thanks for your comment. Poor Sammie, but what wise, kind words your friend said to you. I will hold those words in my heart.