After reading that wonderful story from HeatherNichelle about her new wonderful kitty Adrianne, I would like to do the same about Sylvester whom I got about 7 months ago; I know I have spoken about him in other threads, but would like to give him a "headlining" story, I hope you don't mind as it will get long lol!!!
May 2014 we lost Simon, 12 year-old tuxedo with a very comedic personality, he had stomach cancer and it was his time to go, I held him as the vet put him down and it was so very hard, it took a huge piece of me when he died, but he was very sick. He was a stray that was living outside of an elderly folks living center, and I took him in and he gave us 11 fun filled years and was quite a character as tuxedos are, we still miss him and his antics.
November 2015, we lost Sebastian, 15.5 year-old Chantilly long haired black fur with some brown mixed in. He was sick for 3 weeks with what we just thought was an upper respiratory problem, but it obviously was much more and something the vets couldn't see either. I came home one night from work, and his right paw and leg were stuck in the miniblinds, and as I tried to release him without hurting him I looked skyward and pleaded "please God, not like this....don't let it end like this", but about 15 seconds after I freed him he passed away in my arms, and I rushed him down to the vet to see if he was just in shock but he was gone. The vet said the being tangled part didn't kill him, he was weak but cats can get a shot of adrenaline at the end and do crazy things, maybe he was trying to climb up the blinds or climb out the window, we'll never know, but there was something else very seriously wrong and it was just his time, but coming home to that just messed me up for many months, it is akin to you walking into a room, seeing someone hanging themselves (although he wasn't but close), and when you got them down from that they died in your arms, I developed anxiety and post traumatic stress from that for a long time, but he was no doubt hanging on-literally and figuratively-because he knew I would be home soon, so he held on, and as tragic and painful and difficult as that was I now look back and am grateful that I got to hold him in his final moments, that he didn't die alone, but it was horrible but that's life, and looking back I realize that despite my pleas to God yes it HAD to be that way, so I could hold him...but he was a very vocal cat, almost human-like the way he would "talk" to us, so losing that also left a huge void, and he was my wife's favorite although we love them all dearly.
A few months later I saw in the Saturday paper a cute black/white picture of a cat up for adoption at a local shelter, 10 weeks old named "Dexter". I smiled and said "this picture sort of looks like a little Simon" to Deb, smiled and moved on, but the next night Deb was going to bed and jokingly yelled to me "Sabrina (a cat) said she wants Dexter", and I thought "yes, I wanted to look him up on the shelter's website" so I did, and I nearly fell off the chair, he looked like a mixture of if you combined Simon and Sebastian together, long haired black and white tuxedo cat, and I thought "how cool would that be, to see him walking around here and remind me of the two boys?!", so I inquired about him, but since we have 9 cats the woman on the phone wouldn't recommend that we get him because we had so many already, what about money, etc. etc., and I understood and knew it wasn't going to happen. She did say "you and your wife are doing a very good thing with these cats, but PERHAPS ONE WILL COME ALONG THAT NEEDS HELP MORE THAN HE DOES".
Truer words were never spoken!
I realized that I couldn't adopt him, and knew he was already in a shelter at least, and would probably get a home because he was young, then I realized "he CAN'T be the only cat that looks like that", so I just punched into Google "long haired tuxedo cats allentown pa" and after a few pictures there he was, I knew it IMMEDIATELY and said outloud to myself "that's him, that's Sylvester!!!", and he was through a local agency that we already had dealt with in the past, but it got even better as he was a "courtesy" post which meant he was through a private owner, they just posted his info but couldn't take him so I got in touch with them and to make a long story even more unbearable I got him! These people live near where I work, there are many strays there and they take them in and try their best, they have hearts of gold but don't have the means to take care of them properly, but had they not taken him in I never would have gotten him! He was basically living in a small bathroom because another cat was very mean to him and always wanted to fight him, and when I took him to the vet I saw that he was thin and had lost fur because of flea bites and was loaded with fleas, I looked away with tears in my eyes and said "I don't want to see that" and the vet tech touched my arm and said "it's very treatable" and I knew that, but I explained what he meant and represented to me and she very kindly said to him "your new daddy loves you very much" and I do, he represents to me what the 2 boys meant to us plus he is now his own cat too, and at times when I hold him I feel like I am holding all 3 at the same time, and I just kiss his head and whisper "I helped you, and you helped me", as having him slowly helped heal me and get me past that awful night with Sebastian, and he is my joy and my heart just smiles every time I look at him, he looks so so good now, big plume of a black tail, black fur with some brown in just like Sebastian but white paws and tuxedo like Simon! You couldn't have designed a cat that was a better 50/50 blend of the two boys, what a great tribute to them, but he is Sylvester his own cat, and he has that nix-nut personality that Simon had, I just adore him and cherish him and him me, he follows me and hangs out with me like a dog, I play with him (and the others of course), but he will always represent something so very special to me and I hope I have him for many more years to come! Had we gotten Dexter we never would of been able to help him, and Dexter DID get adopted too so it worked out wonderfully!
I am not good with posting pictures, but if someone else is and can post it on here please do, or if you just want to see 2 pictures of him from late last year just Google "Charlie*'s webpage cat shack trexlertown pa", don't forget the asterisk * in the name and you will see him, there are a few Charlie's but he is the black and white one from the Cat Shack, Trexlertown, Pa.and his status I am proud to say says "ADOPTED"!!!! And I think Sylvester suits him better than Charlie, actually perfectly I think!!!
Thank you for listening, he is my joy, I love him dearly, he is his own cat, not a replacement for the other two but a great tribute. Funny how things worked out for the best.....
Please feel free to post his pictures if you can!
May 2014 we lost Simon, 12 year-old tuxedo with a very comedic personality, he had stomach cancer and it was his time to go, I held him as the vet put him down and it was so very hard, it took a huge piece of me when he died, but he was very sick. He was a stray that was living outside of an elderly folks living center, and I took him in and he gave us 11 fun filled years and was quite a character as tuxedos are, we still miss him and his antics.
November 2015, we lost Sebastian, 15.5 year-old Chantilly long haired black fur with some brown mixed in. He was sick for 3 weeks with what we just thought was an upper respiratory problem, but it obviously was much more and something the vets couldn't see either. I came home one night from work, and his right paw and leg were stuck in the miniblinds, and as I tried to release him without hurting him I looked skyward and pleaded "please God, not like this....don't let it end like this", but about 15 seconds after I freed him he passed away in my arms, and I rushed him down to the vet to see if he was just in shock but he was gone. The vet said the being tangled part didn't kill him, he was weak but cats can get a shot of adrenaline at the end and do crazy things, maybe he was trying to climb up the blinds or climb out the window, we'll never know, but there was something else very seriously wrong and it was just his time, but coming home to that just messed me up for many months, it is akin to you walking into a room, seeing someone hanging themselves (although he wasn't but close), and when you got them down from that they died in your arms, I developed anxiety and post traumatic stress from that for a long time, but he was no doubt hanging on-literally and figuratively-because he knew I would be home soon, so he held on, and as tragic and painful and difficult as that was I now look back and am grateful that I got to hold him in his final moments, that he didn't die alone, but it was horrible but that's life, and looking back I realize that despite my pleas to God yes it HAD to be that way, so I could hold him...but he was a very vocal cat, almost human-like the way he would "talk" to us, so losing that also left a huge void, and he was my wife's favorite although we love them all dearly.
A few months later I saw in the Saturday paper a cute black/white picture of a cat up for adoption at a local shelter, 10 weeks old named "Dexter". I smiled and said "this picture sort of looks like a little Simon" to Deb, smiled and moved on, but the next night Deb was going to bed and jokingly yelled to me "Sabrina (a cat) said she wants Dexter", and I thought "yes, I wanted to look him up on the shelter's website" so I did, and I nearly fell off the chair, he looked like a mixture of if you combined Simon and Sebastian together, long haired black and white tuxedo cat, and I thought "how cool would that be, to see him walking around here and remind me of the two boys?!", so I inquired about him, but since we have 9 cats the woman on the phone wouldn't recommend that we get him because we had so many already, what about money, etc. etc., and I understood and knew it wasn't going to happen. She did say "you and your wife are doing a very good thing with these cats, but PERHAPS ONE WILL COME ALONG THAT NEEDS HELP MORE THAN HE DOES".
Truer words were never spoken!
I realized that I couldn't adopt him, and knew he was already in a shelter at least, and would probably get a home because he was young, then I realized "he CAN'T be the only cat that looks like that", so I just punched into Google "long haired tuxedo cats allentown pa" and after a few pictures there he was, I knew it IMMEDIATELY and said outloud to myself "that's him, that's Sylvester!!!", and he was through a local agency that we already had dealt with in the past, but it got even better as he was a "courtesy" post which meant he was through a private owner, they just posted his info but couldn't take him so I got in touch with them and to make a long story even more unbearable I got him! These people live near where I work, there are many strays there and they take them in and try their best, they have hearts of gold but don't have the means to take care of them properly, but had they not taken him in I never would have gotten him! He was basically living in a small bathroom because another cat was very mean to him and always wanted to fight him, and when I took him to the vet I saw that he was thin and had lost fur because of flea bites and was loaded with fleas, I looked away with tears in my eyes and said "I don't want to see that" and the vet tech touched my arm and said "it's very treatable" and I knew that, but I explained what he meant and represented to me and she very kindly said to him "your new daddy loves you very much" and I do, he represents to me what the 2 boys meant to us plus he is now his own cat too, and at times when I hold him I feel like I am holding all 3 at the same time, and I just kiss his head and whisper "I helped you, and you helped me", as having him slowly helped heal me and get me past that awful night with Sebastian, and he is my joy and my heart just smiles every time I look at him, he looks so so good now, big plume of a black tail, black fur with some brown in just like Sebastian but white paws and tuxedo like Simon! You couldn't have designed a cat that was a better 50/50 blend of the two boys, what a great tribute to them, but he is Sylvester his own cat, and he has that nix-nut personality that Simon had, I just adore him and cherish him and him me, he follows me and hangs out with me like a dog, I play with him (and the others of course), but he will always represent something so very special to me and I hope I have him for many more years to come! Had we gotten Dexter we never would of been able to help him, and Dexter DID get adopted too so it worked out wonderfully!
I am not good with posting pictures, but if someone else is and can post it on here please do, or if you just want to see 2 pictures of him from late last year just Google "Charlie*'s webpage cat shack trexlertown pa", don't forget the asterisk * in the name and you will see him, there are a few Charlie's but he is the black and white one from the Cat Shack, Trexlertown, Pa.and his status I am proud to say says "ADOPTED"!!!! And I think Sylvester suits him better than Charlie, actually perfectly I think!!!
Thank you for listening, he is my joy, I love him dearly, he is his own cat, not a replacement for the other two but a great tribute. Funny how things worked out for the best.....
Please feel free to post his pictures if you can!
