Good bye Wheeler

Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge.
When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge. There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together. There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable.
All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor. Those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by. The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind.
They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent. His eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster.
You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.
Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together....
Author unknown...

===================

Got my cat shortly after I married my wife, we rescued him and he ruled the roost, my dogs deferred to him our other cats deferred to him, and he talked to me constantly.
Even though he had been ill for a couple years now he still was king of the house, every morning I would wake with his big blue eyes inches from my face his whiskers tickling me.

Last couple days he spiraled down hill quickly, started having trouble getting up to his food dish, and he just wanted to cuddle.

So last night I told how much I loved him, and that I knew he had hung on a long time for me but if he was tired he should move on and be at peace, and I would see him again.

When I woke this morning he wasnt on the bed and I knew something was wrong,and I found him on floor near the water dish, he probably passed just a bit before I woke, and now the house seems empty without him talking to me.

WhileI am crushed that he is gone, I am happy that he is no longer struggling and he is healthy and happy and at peace waiting to be reunited with his family.

So sorry dude ir really is like losing a close family member.
I miss all my cats so I will tell mine to make Wheeler feel welcome.
Jaguar, Jake, Panther, Billy fisher, Tooti fruity and laslo will all make sure wheeler is having a great time.

a reply to: Irishhaf

I don't like cats too much but your story touches me so much that I miss your friend even without knowing him.

They leave a void when they pass. One that will not be filled, even with other fur babies!

Ive always been a dog person, but recently I have been paying attention to the feral cats here..I initially started feeding a small girl and over time she warmed up to me, eventually came in the house and sat next to me on the computer...wouldn't stay the night, but right until the final call it was with me and showed lots of love. Sadly the life of a feral cat isn't too long and a car ate her.
I didn't realize what a sense of comfort they give just by them present until she was gone. You have my sympathy and empathy.


Since then, I have befriended a new little girl and she has moved in..she is one of the most affectionate cats I've ever owned (fam both mine and with my ex always had a cat..just never really considered them mine) and initially I felt I was sort of betraying old kitty's memory or something but she is totally different (she lives on my lap if she could). I appreciate her more because I know she adds something in my comfort zone that will be noticed when she isn't here anymore.

So I recommend getting a new kitty...bonus points if its a wild cat you had to convince to befriend you over weeks...I think they know and appreciate more the love and...constant food source (they are cats after all..your primary function is food and you get paid in cuddles)...but yeah, go find a new moggie. Check out a animal shelter

originally posted by: chelsdh
They leave a void when they pass. One that will not be filled, even with other fur babies!

Disagree a bit...a new cat can fill some areas..not all though, but a new one will add new areas to love. never the same, but equally as nice.

a reply to: Irishhaf

There are pet cemeteries that you can have your pets remains sent to like "Rainbow Bridge".

Some feel thats just a cemetery, that the pets we love that passed are still with us, around us all the time. If we speak their name they can hear us. Go ahead talk to your pet out loud. Say Hi (insert name), they love it.

Once in a while they say hi back in our dreams.

Thanks all,

Its funny when we got him he was terrified of everything, till one day during a good strong Oklahoma thunderstorm I noticed I had not seen him in a while. So I went looking for him and eventually found him curled up in the corner of the bedroom shaking, I picked him up and put him on the bed and just lay next to him stroking his back and talking to him till the storm passed.

The next day he laid claim I was his, and that started a solid decade of constant conversation with him, he also took to sleeping on my pillow (in my opinion) to watch over me while I slept.

about a year ago he nearly died, his weight dropped to below 6 lbs before the vets hit on the medicine he needed. He sprung back for a while, and in the last 15 months I am pretty sure he started training his replacement. Smokey the only female animal in the house (not counting the wife, love you dear) went from being a quiet in the shadows cat to always around me and wheeler, last few weeks she has even started talking to me when she sees me.

I really believe he knew this was coming and wanted someone ready to help comfort me.

My wifes cat is lost, every noise he hears his head snaps around to where Wheeler usually stretched out for a nap like hes looking for his brother.

I think I will have some whiskey light some candles and try to meditate, see if I can manage to ask my guardian spirit to look over him and pass the message that Jaguar, Jake, Panther, Billy fisher, Tooti fruity and laslo will be looking for some fun times.

a reply to: intrptr


that's part of my trouble today, I don't know where to go in Germany, all the vet offices are closed today, and his vet was on a military base about 2 hours away. Everybody is closed till Monday, for now I have him wrapped up in his blanket inside some plastic on ice in a cooler.

If we were home I would not hesitate to bury him in the back yard, but as stupid as it sounds I don't like the idea of burying him in another country far from his family.

a reply to: Irishhaf

Would it really be so bad to bury him in the ground he used to roam? Personally I would do it but I understand your reservations. Germany ain't so bad, they have a more varied landscape than the flat, boring and reasonably featureless Netherlands.

a reply to: LightSpeedDriver


No Germany is fine, its him being so far away from me when I move home.

I am aware intelectually that what made him him is no longer there, just more than a bit emotionial at the moment and I still want to keep him close.

Wheeler's waiting for you in a much better place...

According to many near-death sources, animals have souls and go to heaven just as human beings do. Within this section of the site, you can read the testimonies of people who had an NDE and were reunited with their deceased pets. These testimonies describe animals as having a heaven of their own of which humans are allowed to visit. According to NDE researcher and experiencer P.M.H. Atwater, "Both adults and children occasionally report being greeted on the Other Side by animals, especially if favored pets have previously died. Communication with our deceased pets on the Other Side is by means of mental telepathy.

Near-Death Experiences with Deceased Pets

I forgot to mention that I had seen all the pets I had as a child in heaven. Dogs and even parakeets whom I really loved. They had a caretaker - a man who took care of all the animals. So if anyone ever asks me if animals survive death, I have to say, "Yes!"

Susan's Near-Death Experience

Maggi was there. My beautiful dog, my beloved springer, came to me. She had died less than a month before, and John and I still ached from her absence. I felt her presence, her love, and she appeared to me as she had when she was in physical form - only younger, more vital.

If you are having difficulty accepting the idea that my first encounter on the other side was with a dog, you aren't the only one. While John thought it perfectly natural, one of our daughters became a little, upset when I told her about it. I think she would have preferred that her mother be greeted by Jesus, an angel, or at least by a family member. ...whoever is responsible for setting up the Welcome Wagon over there certainly knew what a delightful experience it would be for me to be greeted by her.

Jan Price's Near-Death Experience with Her Pet Dog

Many have felt the physical presence of their animals after they have died:

Robert and Kathy Simmons' dog, Hobbes, passed away while their son was at university. When he returned home and was told his pet had died, Moe replied: 'That’s impossible. He was just here and I patted him.'

'There was one woman who told me that at times she could feel her cat sitting on her lap purring, even though the cat had passed away.'

Animals and the afterlife: The dead pets who get in touch with their owners

A child is reunited with her Angora kitten in Heaven (@ 16:30 min):

"I remember once seeing a beautiful little girl enter heaven, the very first to come of a large and affectionate family. I afterward learned that the sorrowful cry of her mother was, 'Oh, if only we had someone there to meet her, to care for her!'

She came, lovingly nestled in the Master's own arms, and a little later, as he sat, still caressing and talking to her, a remarkably fine Angora kitten, of which the child had been very fond, and which had sickened and died some weeks before, to her great sorrow, came running across the grass and sprang directly into her arms, where it lay contentedly. Such a glad cry as she recognized her little favorite, such a hugging and kissing as that kitten received, made joy even in heaven!

originally posted by: Irishhaf
a reply to: intrptr


that's part of my trouble today, I don't know where to go in Germany, all the vet offices are closed today, and his vet was on a military base about 2 hours away. Everybody is closed till Monday, for now I have him wrapped up in his blanket inside some plastic on ice in a cooler.

If we were home I would not hesitate to bury him in the back yard, but as stupid as it sounds I don't like the idea of burying him in another country far from his family.

I know you have deep attachment to your beloved pet. The memories and Wheelers soul are not in his body. You can let that part go.

originally posted by: Irishhaf
a reply to: LightSpeedDriver


No Germany is fine, its him being so far away from me when I move home.

I am aware intelectually that what made him him is no longer there, just more than a bit emotionial at the moment and I still want to keep him close.

A "pet", especially One that has proven to You the emotion of "LOVE" has the same options available as that of a human, although animals don't have as long as a 'Review Period'. You, YourSelf carry a bit of that LOVE with You, as You travel about. So don't fret, You could be on Planet 71X and kitty'll be with You...

When I moved into this waterfront house, I did so to "downsize" and got rid of a bunch of crap I didn't need e.g. clothes, furniture, games and toys from My son but I still have a wall of all the pets ashes, I wouldn't ever do it but My Wife shares those same type feelings so their old collars accompany their urns.

Stay Hydrated...

P.S. I'd like to share a 'feel goo...better moment' Yesterday I took My 3 remaining dogs to the dog park as I do each day. As We started to make Our way to do our laps, My AffenPinscher "MagWai" does His barking. It is how He/She gets people to pet Her/Him. MagWai is a hermaphrodite and has 6 toes, 4 rows of teeth. MagWai is also a smaller dog but always is in the Big Dog area.. Anyways a Lady noticed MagWai and that every other dog in the park had stopped as MagWai continued to bark and She mentioned it to another Lady.. "Isn't that funny, they all just stopped?" and the other Lady says "That is MagWai, He's the King of the dog park..." but She said it in such a way, like it was amatter of fact.

My condolences

a reply to: Irishhaf
My deepest condolences. Know the feeling well.
Just know that our Cleo, Hunter, Snarl and Shadow will welcome Wheeler to that Kitty Great Beyond.
Ours are all buried under the pecan tree in the back yard where, when Spring kisses the landscape here, I will scatter the ashes of my Beloved per his wishes.

Wheeler will be waiting hanging with Bony, Chewzy, Belly, Baby, Brutus, Buddy, AC, Gizmo, Fritz, Missy, and Teddy.

I doubt I'll see many of my fish there, but I could be wrong. You always miss them so much and they never really leave.

a reply to: Irishhaf


Ummm...damn...I did...not...want to cry today...225 lb tough guys are not supposed to cry...

As I sat here reading about Wheeler...about what you shared together...fat tears started to roll down my face and I cried like a little girl...

Unfortunately...I too know where your at...how it feels...how thoroughly these companions dig themselves in like a tick...burrow all the way to the core of what we are...

Feels man...ahhh...feels...






YouSir

This was my buddy, sorry it took so long to figure out how to upload a picture.

a reply to: Irishhaf

I'm really sorry for your loss,it is so sad to lose an animal friend.I was just looking earlier at photo's of a pitchblack cat i had,that passed 2 years ago,i still miss her.Also a lovely b+w cat we had for many years,rescued from the SPCA. She was quite sickly too,and i had the feeling to go to her Now,and a few minutes later she passed while i was petting her.it For me too it was a relief when she passed,she was really really old and had a long good life with us.She was Very formidable,like your cat.

a reply to: Irishhaf

Aww gorgeous cat! Big hug to you.