Tributes
Dear Greg,
We miss you and think of you often. Everyone still talks about you – your size, your sweet personality, and the way you reached out to everyone to make them your friend. I doubt I’ll ever see as outgoing a cat as you. You were like the mayor of Maura Drive, stopping by peoples’ homes to say hello. You always raced over to see Peter if he was out. You and Peter shared a special bond; you and Erica enjoyed one, too. There are many people whose lives you touched who will never forget you, big guy.
I hope on some level you understood that the insulin and blood tests and everything else were intended to make your life better – to help you live as comfortably and as long as possible. I figured as long as you maintained your interest in breakfast and dinner, life was good and I owed you a chance to keep going. I assumed your time had come when you no longer took pleasure in seeing your meal set down. I don’t know if there’s anything more I could have done to help you and ease your life. I think I did well by you, but I’m not always certain of that.
So, goodbye, Greggie. I love you and hope you’re in a happy place. Mikki is doing well although I’m sure she thinks of you sometimes, too. I am grateful to the Pat Brody Shelter for taking such good care of you until we found each other. One of my favorite photos is the one of you with the little girls at the Shelter. I’ll always remember you following us around the shelter as we looked at the various cats. We knew you were the one when we walked by a cranky old cat who hissed at you to stay away. You stopped, looked at her and then continued on your way . . . to the food bowl! You were such a good boy!
Love you always!!!
I want to make a donation of $1000.00 in memory of Precious, who died Nov 8, at 17 years old.
He had quite a number of conditions and is sadly,painfully missed.
I've attached a picture of him. It was taken the day before he died.
His nicknames: Pookachu, Fat Boy (in his fat days), Frat boy, Baby Boy, Poopy paws (he had diarrhea at
one point and stepped in it!)
To all,
I
am so very sad to tell you that Bosco passed away last Friday afternoon.
Preliminary results (cytology of the fliud building up in his abdomen)
didn't reveal much so I was considering ultrasound although my Vet said that
the prognosis would probably not be a good one; either his heart or a tumor
compressing vessels). All last week he seemed fine until Thursday, when he
started only lifting his head to acknowledge me when I'd check on him where
he was hanging out in the guest room. He was very weak and the look on his
face told me that it was time to say goodbye; he was no longer my cheerful
greeter cat, more like a bloated football, and it broke my heart to see him
that way as he slowly waddled around.
I'm
attaching a couple of pictures, one of him at his favorite hangout on my
back porch on the shelves I built for my four cats last year. The other
picture is with Chester, who Bosco mothered when he came to us at five weeks
old eleven years ago. They were the best of buddies and I believe Chester is
still looking for Bosco as he has been patroling around the house since last
Friday.
I
commented to a co-worker this morning about how much I miss him already. She
replied, "Don't you have THREE other cats? How can you miss one?" Obviously,
she isn't a cat lover.....
I called Bosco my Greeter Cat because he was always the first to come out to
meet up with anyone who came into my house. And almost every single day
since he first came to live with me ('93?), he would come up to me and pat
me on the ankle looking for affection. Although he never liked to be held
for long, he certainly did love his back rubs and getting groomed. The past
couple of weeks, he was happy to just sit at my feet with his head on my
shoe, and that's how I will remember him, as if he is still there every
night when I watch TV.
Priscilla, I know you had a hard time giving him up from the shelter all
those years ago so I do thank you again for letting me take him when Heidi
died so suddenly that Christmas day. He brought so much pleasure into my
life.
Jacque. Roux
Back to Top
Dusty
I am writing this letter with a heavy heart as we lost Dusty last evening. She put up a valiant fight but her heart could no longer continue to do its job.
Dusty was 20 yrs old . I got Dusty from your shelter 17 yrs ago when I got Pearl who passed in June 2005. Dusty was a gorgeous Maine Coon with a personality that none could resist. She was always there to comfort you ,play with you or just sit with you.
She had become hyperthyroid at the age of 11 yrs yet with medication she continued her quality of life. This past August she was having trouble breathing, Dr. Grobe sent us to Tufts in Grafton , as Dusty showed a questionable area on her x-ray.
We found out that she had a pleural effusion, CHF, atrial fibrillation, and renal disease. They tapped the effusion and removed 240 ml of fluid ,she had never showed any signs til that morning. Dusty rallied back and went for her check ups, a few short stays at the hospital. When October arrived Dusty was having episodes of diaphoretic breathing, we went back and forth to adjust medications.
Our last trip was last weekend, coming home on Tuesday night. Saturday morning Dusty had a stroke yet slept most of the day. Late afternoon she suffered another stroke, breathing became labored and we knew it was time. Dusty had curled herself into a corner of the room, we told her it was her choice to stay home or go to the hospital. Without any coaxing she came out of the corner and laid on the travel blanket.
We were beside ourselves yet she made the decision for us. We took her to Tufts and with us there we saw her off to the rainbow bridge. Our hearts are breaking even though we spared no expense or quality of care, could we save her. Our lives will have a huge void that will take a long time to heal.
Our PBJ ( formerly Jody) who came to us two years ago from your shelter, is trying to help us heal already. She has become co-joined
hip and paw with us in the last 12 hours. She usually has that 3 yr old attitude of catch me if you can but today she's beside us every step. This
will be a big adjustment as Dusty has been with me for all of these years going everywhere I went. We spent our first time apart this past August hospitalization. We drove to
Tufts every night after work to spend time with our baby. Our Dusty was loved greatly and will be missed until we are reunited
Dr. Kendra-Jo and Clint Godin
Back to Top
ERNIE
by Darlene David
Hey, remember me? I was the kitty that was rescued from the streets with lots and lots of battle scars that stayed with me. I was so hungry when I first came to the shelter. I wasn’t sure if food was going to be available every day so I would eat as much as I could in case it wasn’t there the next day. That’s the kind of life a street kitty gets used to. The other cats told me that the Pat Brody Shelter was a haven for cats in need and they were right. Finally, I got used to the routine and could eat at my leisure instead of eating like it was my last meal.
Everyone loved me because I treasured getting attention and it was my pleasure to return the favor by rubbing against them. Things were going good for a while, I gained a little bit of weight, I didn’t have any fresh scars from the streets and I had volunteers who catered to me by bringing me a dish of food and treats – I felt like a KING.
Well, I guess it was only a matter of time for my old body to catch up with me after the tough life I had and I started to lose weight and look terrible. Don’t cry, it was my time to go and my last year of life was so wonderful and to me, the shelter was my home. I had visitors every day to feed me, freshen the water bowls and scoop the boxes. There was never a shortage of affection for an old guy like me and I’m hoping that if my story helps a few older cats find a good home, then it was worth it.
So, thank you all my kind friends (you
were always angels to me) and don’t forget that I’ll never forget you.
Back to Top
Hi Priscilla,
Sorry for taking so long to get back to you about Skweekie.
In case you are wondering who I am, I am the women who came with her two
young sons with donations for the shelter and the wish to show my boys where
our kitty came from when we adopted her 13 years ago. I wanted to give
you an account of her time with us and how much we enjoyed having her be
part of our family.
We adopted Mittens (and renamed her Skweekie) from the Pat Brody
Animal Shelter in March of 1995. Skweekie was very sick when we
first got her and after a lengthy recovery time bounced back to her old(new
to us) self. Within a short amount of time she established herself as the
matron of the family and liked to express her opinion on most everything
especially to our other kitty, Felix who had dominated the house for several
years at least until Skweekie joined us. She loved to give him a bath
after he finished his own bath giving him the look" you missed here and here
and here...good thing I was here to take care of you".
Several years later we we were thrilled to welcome our first son, Conner.
Skweekie took over the Nanny role quite quickly and would stroke his cheek
with her paws when he'd cry. She would lay at the end of his bed
during naps and at night and would come to me when she felt he was asleep
and settled for the night.
Four years later, when I was pregnant with my second son she would snuggle
and purr on my lap. For months this would go on and once he was born
she would stroke his cheek to settle him just as she had done with his older
brother. If for some reason the stroking didn't settle him, she would
lay next to him and her purring would put him right to sleep. He
seemed to recognize her after he was born by the purring and she seemed to
relish her role as "Nanny" and took her job quite seriously. She took
over the routine at night of putting the boys to sleep and would stay with
the baby until he was asleep and then move on to our older son and stay with
him likewise until he was asleep. As our boys aged, the task of
getting them to settle down and get to sleep seemed to take longer. We
would know they had finally
settled when Skweekie would come down the stairs and snuggle with us on the
couch. Sometimes though when our boys were being especially difficult,
Skweekie would get to a point that she would give up and would come down the
stairs, shaking her head back and forth, meowing ("I have given up, they are
running around, not listening..") This is when we knew to take over, the
Nanny was tired!
When we adopted our sweet kitty she was estimated to be between 3-5 years
old. The past year of her life, we estimated her to be about 17-18
years old and she struggled to do simple things such as going up and down
the stairs, cleaning herself etc. It was very sad for our boys not to
have their nightly routine with Skweekie. A change occurred in our
family that showed a maturity on the boys part as they became more of the
caretakers of Skweekie and she let them do more for her.
The decision to put her down was one of the hardest decisions we ever had to
make. Her life had become unbearable and in her own way she told us
when she was ready. We all miss her very much but we have felt her
presence in our house and swear we can feel her purring next to us in the
middle of the night. My husband even swore he saw her sitting on his
bureau several nights after she passed away.
We want to thank the Pat Brody Shelter and all the many volunteers hard
work. Due to someone's concern over Skweekie's mistreatment by her
previous owners, she was "cat"napped and brought to the Pat Brody Shelter
for care over 13 years ago. If that hadn't happened she never would
have survived and we never would have had such great memories of our little
girl and the difference she has made in our family.
We will never forget you, Skweekie.
Love, Betty, Dan, Conner, Jacob and Ditto (the dog) Scotti
Kittles
By Darlene
David
Once upon a time, there was a beautiful little kitty named Kittles who lost her home and found her way to the Pat Brody Shelter. Oh she was a wee lass with problems bigger than any little cat should have. Yes, she had a bad heart but her love for the people and volunteers around her was bigger than life itself.
Kittles had a way of weaving her purrsonality into your life and she’s one that will not be forgotten. Everyone took the extra effort to give the adorable skinny kitty extra food and extra love and walked away with a big smile or tear in their eyes. No one ever gave up hope that if we worked together as a team, we could get her to gain weight.
The poor little lassie took enough pills to keep a pharmacist busy but she kept her dignity and acted like a lady most of the time. Kittles had her favorite spot in Room 3 on top of the cabinet that she wouldn’t give up no matter how big the other cats were that wanted HER spot.
It was hard to find another kitty that had a more adorable face than Kittles, and she still is remembered by all. There were lots of tears when the word came out that Kittles heart (she had a severe heart murmur) gave up for good.
Kittles – you did not leave this life unloved. Even though you were with us a short time, you made a lifetime impression on us. We are sending our gratitude to you over the Rainbow Bridge where we know you will be well taken care of by Parker #2, Trans Am, Yellow Fur, Romeo, Mingo, Ozzie and many more waiting to see you healthy and playful again, and we’re sure you’ll watch over any unloved kitty on earth that is in need of help.
Hugs and kisses to you from your loving volunteers.