Remembering Krista

tarasgirl06

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Another iconic shot. Oct 6, 2018:
View attachment 353693

And two more from last year.

Oct 5, 2019:
View attachment 353691
My first full-time job was at a software company who had a cheetah in their logo. They were acquired by another company. Hundreds of trade show cheetahs became homeless. I rescued two shopping bags worth. Over the years, my coalition of cheetahs (yes, that’s the collective noun for cheetahs—I looked it up) has dwindled considerably as I’ve given a lot away. They make great cat cuddle toys because they are perfect kitten size. This is Krista with one of her cheetahs.

View attachment 353692
Typical for this time last year. We were running Krista Test Kitchen because her eating was slow to low. I believe this is Tiki Cat Raw which she liked some. But not enough. This is her pulling up early. 🤦🏼‍♂️ “What else you got?”

Reading through her Care thread for this time last year, I wonder if what I thought was carryover clostridium infection wasn’t in fact her lymphoma beginning to present. Bloodwork would test clear soon. As would her second poop PCR. I would end up taking her in for a wholly unproductive inpatient stay where they didn’t do the dental I requested because they said they wouldn’t do any more work in her mouth. Thank goodness we were able to get a quick dentist appointment. I just read in another thread that the wait time for a dentist in Boston is six months! Her poop issues would persist in some fashion or another until June this year. She was 9 lbs here. Her weight loss would proceed almost without interruption until she passed away just north of 3 lbs. 😿 Like yesterday when I wonder what Rad Cat would have done for her, today I wonder how things might have been different if we got an earlier jump on her lymphoma. 🤷‍♂️😿
Those "what if's?" and questions can be torturous -- but then, I'm pretty sure you're painfully aware of that.
Nine pounds was a nice weight for Krista. Small, solid, sweet tortle lady. :hearthrob: :kneading: :hearthrob: :loveeyes:
Very cute cheetah, too. When I adopted kitten Rani from our then vet tech, she included "her lion" little stuffie, which was her security animal. He resides in the master bedroom, with Rani angel's last collar around his neck.
 
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daftcat75

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Those "what if's?" and questions can be torturous -- but then, I'm pretty sure you're painfully aware of that.
Nine pounds was a nice weight for Krista. Small, solid, sweet tortle lady. :hearthrob: :kneading: :hearthrob: :loveeyes:
Very cute cheetah, too. When I adopted kitten Rani from our then vet tech, she included "her lion" little stuffie, which was her security animal. He resides in the master bedroom, with Rani angel's last collar around his neck.
The what-ifs are more intellectual now than emotional now. If she had lymphoma going back to this time last year, that's sad that it took until this June to achieve remission. But also, we got nearly an extra year even without a remission. All of this is neither here nor there because none of it changes anything. Even though there's always going to be what-ifs, reading through her thread helps me feel better about the care I did give her.

I'm still haunted sometimes by the thoughts and images of her last night and morning and how she passed alone in a cage. I won't know how much she suffered in those last hours. But as sad and devastating as it was, I'm grateful that her final decline was rapid and did not drag on over days or weeks like I feared when considering how the lymphoma endgame might have played out.
 

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The what-ifs are more intellectual now than emotional now. If she had lymphoma going back to this time last year, that's sad that it took until this June to achieve remission. But also, we got nearly an extra year even without a remission. All of this is neither here nor there because none of it changes anything. Even though there's always going to be what-ifs, reading through her thread helps me feel better about the care I did give her.

I'm still haunted sometimes by the thoughts and images of her last night and morning and how she passed alone in a cage. I won't know how much she suffered in those last hours. But as sad and devastating as it was, I'm grateful that her final decline was rapid and did not drag on over days or weeks like I feared when considering how the lymphoma endgame might have played out.
I know.
We elected for operation for beloved Rojita when she was diagnosed with Mast cell lymphoma. It did not buy us long at all. She passed at home with me. There is no real preference when someone is terminal, IMHO, but there would perhaps -- perhaps -- be some measure of comfort in knowing my loved one was under direct medical care. In the end, though, as you say and we both know too well the result is the same.
 
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October 7, 2018:
Cuddle puddle! 😹
D3427F42-12B9-4B34-AE69-411DC16FC5BB.jpeg

Oct 7, 2019: Turkey sashimi
4DA54657-3AF7-44C8-924A-E4B010CB08A5.jpeg

Making her food was a lot of work. But the sashimi portions were always a favorite for both of us. I enjoyed prepping and serving them and she enjoyed eating them.

And sometimes pooping them on the carpet the next day.🤦🏼‍♂️😿😹

NC (next cat) will be spoiled rotten. She’ll get Rawz, she’ll get raw food, and she’ll definitely get sashimi! 😻
 

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October 7, 2018:
Cuddle puddle! 😹
View attachment 353832

Oct 7, 2019: Turkey sashimi
View attachment 353831

Making her food was a lot of work. But the sashimi portions were always a favorite for both of us. I enjoyed prepping and serving them and she enjoyed eating them.

And sometimes pooping them on the carpet the next day.🤦🏼‍♂️😿😹

NC (next cat) will be spoiled rotten. She’ll get Rawz, she’ll get raw food, and she’ll definitely get sashimi! 😻
*AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW*
(Love the sashimi plate, too. A very nice touch.)
So NC is going to be female, too? How do you know this? Or have you set your sights on a little girl already?
 
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daftcat75

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*AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW*
(Love the sashimi plate, too. A very nice touch.)
So NC is going to be female, too? How do you know this? Or have you set your sights on a little girl already?
I’ll keep an open mind. But I’m partial to girl cats.
 
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I wonder how she feels about that. I would think she'd want a greater feline presence around her.
Doubtful. She didn't like other cats. But I'm guessing based on her personality, that she probably grew up with a dog. I think she's probably happier being surrounded by dogs than cats.
 

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Doubtful. She didn't like other cats. But I'm guessing based on her personality, that she probably grew up with a dog. I think she's probably happier being surrounded by dogs than cats.
Elvis lived with a dog (Priscilla, of course) in his prior home. I think that's why he's such a doof.
 
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How very cool and precious!

I was taking out the Cabbie and Sage picture from its picture holder and found two more Cabbie (my cat before Krista) pictures hiding behind it.

This is Cabbie (Cabernet) and Merl (Merlot) as kittens:
CabbieMerlKitten-optimized.jpg

And this is Mama Cabbie getting ready to give birth. My housemates wanted to have a litter of kittens. I think a very friendly stray cat we took in named Cotton was the father. Because I remember we had a Cotton Jr kitten. But this is all over 20 years ago and we had a lot of cats go through that house.

MamaCabbie-optimized.jpg
 

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How very cool and precious!

I was taking out the Cabbie and Sage picture from its picture holder and found two more Cabbie (my cat before Krista) pictures hiding behind it.

This is Cabbie (Cabernet) and Merl (Merlot) as kittens:
View attachment 353921

And this is Mama Cabbie getting ready to give birth. My housemates wanted to have a litter of kittens. I think a very friendly stray cat we took in named Cotton was the father. Because I remember we had a Cotton Jr kitten. But this is all over 20 years ago and we had a lot of cats go through that house.

View attachment 353922
What precious photos. I love the archival pix I have, going back even beyond my own life; for instance, I have several of my mom and her beloved pedigreed, blue-blooded, cross-eyed, kink-tailed seal point Siamese boy. I have his pedigree, too. There's a historic Siamese website I found out about, and I shared all of this with them.
 
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daftcat75

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Went back over my physical pictures and found more cat photos from that college house and my first apartment.

This is Cotton.
Cotton-Porch.jpg
He was a very friendly stray that we took in.
Cotton-Bedroom.jpg
He quickly made himself at home with us.
Cotton-Table.jpg

Look at these kittens and tell us they aren't his (and Cabbie's.)
Cab-and-Cotton-Kittens.jpg
And this is Dad with Junior.
Cotton-and-Junior.jpg
 
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My second real job was at a software company that was acquired by a larger software company. Technically, I joined the larger company but I joined the team and office of the former company. That company had a cheetah in its logo. When they were acquired, hundreds of trade show cheetahs became homeless. I brought home at least two shopping bags worth of cheetahs.

This was my original coalition of cheetahs.
Coalition-of-Cheetahs.jpg

Over the years, the cheetah coalition shrank because anyone who would comment on them, was invariably sent home with one. 😍

The cats loved them. This is Buddha. She was a roommate's cat in my first apartment.
Buddha-Cheetahs.jpg

And this must be Cotton.
Cotton-With-Cheetah.jpg

And Cabbie with a bear.
Cabbie-with-Bear-Foot.jpg

I probably have no more than half a dozen left these days. There's two in Krista's trees and there are probably a couple more in the toy bins. NC will know the cheetahs like every other cat has. 😻
 
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daftcat75

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Let's come back to Cabbie and Merl. They were the first two kittens of the house.
CabbieMerlKitten-optimized.jpg

This is Merl (Merlot.) My friend was a photographer by hobby but he certainly could have made a profession out of it. He liked to have rolls developed in black and white. These are the only two pictures I have of Merl. He was struck by a car early in life. I don't remember if it was later that summer or the next summer. Very sad. That was usually a very quiet street. But people did drive down it faster than they should have. 😿
Merl-BW.jpg

And this is a shot of Cabbie with some roommates I had. They may have picked her up for this shot. She was usually picky about whose lap she sat in. She liked attention well enough. When she wanted it. But she chose me as a kitten and she was never quite as loving with anyone else.

Cabbie-Roommates.jpg
 

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Going through my old pictures, I found this one. I believe this was captured by my old PetCube camera before I changed over to D-Link cameras everywhere. It has two-way audio so I probably called her over and she responded. 😻
(2017. Before all her health issues turned my apartment upside down and inside out.)
IMG_2654 (1).JPG
 

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Going through my old pictures, I found this one. I believe this was captured by my old PetCube camera before I changed over to D-Link cameras everywhere. It has two-way audio so I probably called her over and she responded. 😻
(2017. Before all her health issues turned my apartment upside down and inside out.)
View attachment 354760
Awwwwwwwww! One of the CUTEST Krista captures. Don't you love finding these treasures you didn't know you had? I'm finding lots of little (very awkward) video clips of Tar that make me SO GLAD I took them, even if they're amateurish in the extreme.
I see you've got a Poang there. We have 3 and love them.
 
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Awwwwwwwww! One of the CUTEST Krista captures. Don't you love finding these treasures you didn't know you had? I'm finding lots of little (very awkward) video clips of Tar that make me SO GLAD I took them, even if they're amateurish in the extreme.
I see you've got a Poang there. We have 3 and love them.
Yes. That’s an IKEA chair. I trust you on its identification as you have three of them. It spares me from having to do everything from the bed.

Krista loved IKEA!

Rather, she loved supurrvising the spoils of my trips. I called her my furry foreman. She made sure all the pieces came out of the box and that I put it together successfully.

One of the fun things about old pictures is old decor. That red chaise that Krista is on is also IKEA. And gone. One of the mattress deliveries was kind enough to take it off my hands with the old mattress as well. There is also an IKEA folding desk along the back wall of that picture that is now in the office. Unfolded. 👍

I’ve put together some Target furniture since Krista’s passing. It’s not the same without my furry foreman. 😿
 
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daftcat75

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Apple did it again. While I was working on the reply above, I got a notification that photo roll had created a new memory video for me. I am so pleased and proud that I learned how to edit these. There were a few cuts and a music change needed. But other than that, I’m pretty pleased with the pictures and videos they chose. And that when I changed from medium to long, I got four times more! 😻

 
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