Yesterday, Reepicheep, one of our beloved cats was struck by a car and killed instantly.

She was only 2 years old and one of the most intelligent and loving animals I have ever had the privilege to know.

Nick and I are devastated and I am finding it hard to come to terms with her loss.

The night before she died, I spent 20 minutes cuddling her on the bed, telling her how much we loved her. She purred and padded on me with such love and happiness in her eyes.

We buried her yesterday in the garden.

She did not have an easy life, but she never complained or felt sorry for herself. Nick said her motto was "Carry on and keep purring".

Reepi was named after the courageous mouse in the "Chronicles of Narnia".

The lesson she has taught me is to face life with courage and carry on and purr though it all.

RIP Reepicheep.

Her gift to us was a beautiful kitten, pictured below with a purring Reepi, 2 hours after birth.

sad to read Vanessa, having a loved pet snatched away from you prematurely.

Of course they are 'only' pets not people...doesnt mean you dont love them though

I have been where you are and its not nice

Thinking of you both

Thank you for the kind words Kevin.

I know from past experience that the pain will gradually fade and we will be left with many happy memories. Not to mention a beautiful kitten who is 50% Reepi.

As we do not have children, I can only imagine at the worry they must cause.

Reepi went out to the road when she could have been purring on the bed with her kitten. She made that choice and that is what I am struggling to come to terms with.

It must be so hard to "let children go" and find their own way in the world and let them make their own choices, even if we know they are wrong.

(03-08-2012 08:19 AM)vanessa warwick Wrote:  Yesterday, Reepicheep, one of our beloved cats was struck by a car and killed instantly.
Hi Vanessa and Nick,
Karen and I know exactly how you are feeling having lost our beloved labrador Ailsa when she ran out into traffic with the inevitable result!
She was the light of our life, had a troubled life but was a happy dog with us.
I will send you a poem that gave us a lot of comfort via private email.
Our thoughts are with you at this so sad time.
Take care

Don



She was only 2 years old and one of the most intelligent and loving animals I have ever had the privilege to know.

Nick and I are devastated and I am finding it hard to come to terms with her loss.

The night before she died, I spent 20 minutes cuddling her on the bed, telling her how much we loved her. She purred and padded on me with such love and happiness in her eyes.

We buried her yesterday in the garden.

She did not have an easy life, but she never complained or felt sorry for herself. Nick said her motto was "Carry on and keep purring".

Reepi was named after the courageous mouse in the "Chronicles of Narnia".

The lesson she has taught me is to face life with courage and carry on and purr though it all.

RIP Reepicheep.

Her gift to us was a beautiful kitten, pictured below with a purring Reepi, 2 hours after birth.

Vanessa and Nick - I am so sad to hear of your sad loss and do know how you feel. I have been involved with animal rescue for over 30 years as well as having many rescued animals of my own. Over the years I have lost many animals and it tears your heart out. The way I have looked at it is that the animals have had all that I could provide, I have loved them dearly and I have their memories in my heart. You have 2 years worth of memories, a lovely kitten and as they say time is a great healer. Won;t feel like it now though but I'm thinking of you.
*********************


She was only 2 years old and one of the most intelligent and loving animals I have ever had the privilege to know.

Nick and I are devastated and I am finding it hard to come to terms with her loss.

The night before she died, I spent 20 minutes cuddling her on the bed, telling her how much we loved her. She purred and padded on me with such love and happiness in her eyes.

We buried her yesterday in the garden.

She did not have an easy life, but she never complained or felt sorry for herself. Nick said her motto was "Carry on and keep purring".

Reepi was named after the courageous mouse in the "Chronicles of Narnia".

The lesson she has taught me is to face life with courage and carry on and purr though it all.

RIP Reepicheep.

Her gift to us was a beautiful kitten, pictured below with a purring Reepi, 2 hours after birth.




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I think the thing to remember is cats are not really domesticated despite what we like to think.
They are just not stupid.
They know where they can be looked after and feel safe.
They are fast learners!
We don't control them they control us!!
Even Elsa the lion used to come back with her cubs and sleep in a bed under the shade of an awning.
A cat is still a lion in smaller form.
All cats pass away at some time.
Your one left an effective version of itself to you for free.
Your cat was free to do it's own thing as it would in the wild.
Leaving your house was effectively your cat going out hunting or to hook up with other cats.
That is what they do, it is in their nature.
Should she not have felt safe in your company she would never have stayed with you.
To give her the freedom to come and go as she pleased is true freedom, but knowing she always had a safe and welcoming place to return to, she did.return.
Being a cat is fraught with risks, cats get caught out sometime by their nature.
They are quite streetwise, but they can be just like a child who runs after a ball in the heat of the moment acroos a road,
I have killed a tom with my car who was chasing his desired, he only had one thing on his mind!! and didn't see my car which hit him with sufficent force to kill him outright..
I didn't see him until he sprung in front of my headlight to quickly for me to react.
Your cat obviousl had a good life and went out free as a cat,leaving you a nice example of herself for you to enjoy.
Like any deceased the best thing about them is the memories they leave behind.
Yours will always be good ones, which can be very consoling when you have difficult times remembering her.

@Don, Jane, Paul ...

Thank you so much for your kind words and thoughts ... they do help more than you know.

I also hope that anyone else who has lost a beloved pet can take some comfort from this thread, as, like Jane says, their loss "rips your heart out".

My friend Tom sent me something which helped, which I will reproduce here in the hope that his words resonant with others.

It is from his book, Recipes for Fresh Thinking.

Recipe 13: Managing Grief

Occasions

Inconsolable loss

Regret

Incompletion

Ingredients

Extension >> Imagination >> Discrimination

Preparation time : 1 hour

Cooking time : 1 month

From time to time, often against the run of play, people, animals and things disappear from our world as they continue and play out their own karmic journey.

The issue with grief is that there is often nothing wrong with us. It’s just that someone we like, respect or love decides to be no longer with us. When it happens, it really upsets our apple cart.

It would be patronising to brush this emotion away with the application of a mere three flavours of thought. Grieving is a cathartic process and it is right for it to take time and run its course.

The use of extension here refers to expanding your understanding. Life and death are a necessary part of the cycle. Nothing unreal can be preserved and nothing real can be destroyed. The soul is eternal.

Use your imagination and natural clairsentience to listen to the whispers of why people have moved on or why situations have changed. It is because it is time for an evolutionary step and the current phase of learning has come to a natural conclusion.

Having taken this leap of faith and imagination, it is time to separate the past from the future. Use your discrimination to sense what the loss means really.

The parties who have separated have only done so temporarily. If it is appropriate, your souls will cross paths again as they have done before.

If it is not appropriate, contracts have been fulfilled and the learnings have taken place.

_____________________________

Thank you all again for your kind words. Reepi lives on in our hearts, her daughter Solstice ... and here too where her passing might have produced something positive to console others.