Sunday, March 7, 2010

OSCAR SNUGGLES, KING OF TIDEWATER

















































OSCAR SNUGGLES, KING OF TIDEWATER
August 25, 1994 - March 5, 2010

In mid August 1994, a small young female kitty appeared at our house. We thought she might be pregnant, but we weren’t positive. She was sweet and loving and I managed to talk Hubby into letting me keep her. After all, we had an old, sick male that we had had for almost 12 years, Buster. So, we kept this sweet little female. We named her Mollie, but we call her Mollie Moo Cat, because her markings looked like a cow. She was white with gray cow marks. Soon after Mollie arrived we lost Buster of kidney disease. It was a slow, painful illness and we soon had to put him down.

It wasn’t but about two weeks before we realized Mollie must have had kittens. We scooped her up and took her to the vet to see if she had in fact delivered kittens. The vet confirmed she had and was probably finished. So the great hunt began. We looked and looked and looked for those kittens, we looked under neighbors’ decks, under out buildings, under storage sheds, we looked every where, but we never found Mollie’s kittens. We look for a solid week. We finally gave up, but I prayed, “Lord, you know we have looked every where we know to look for those kittens, so please move on Mollie to bring them to us.”

It was Labor Day weekend and we had been out on Sunday night. The house was hot when we arrived home, so we just left the back door standing open. I had gone from the kitchen into the bedroom to after something, but couldn’t remember what I went in there for, so I went back to the kitchen to try to remember what I was after in the bedroom. I looked up and Mollie ran in the back door with what appeared to be a rat, but I soon realized it was a KITTEN!!!!! She put this plump little gray kitten that was to be named Emmie Sweet Pea, down on our kitchen rug. This little thing was so tiny her eyes were still not open.

Mollie was ready to eat, by this time she was eating really well and was demanding food. So we fed her and then I put that little baby in a shoe box. Mollie soon wanted back out, to retrieve more kittens, we thought. We left the back door open most of the night. While little Sweet Pea and I “slept” on the sofa waiting for Mollie to return with her siblings. Finally, I closed and locked the door around 3:00 a.m.

I awoke suddenly after daylight, jumped up, ran and opened the back door. Mollie dashed in. She went straight to that kitten, fed her and then demanded more food for herself. In the meantime, I was off to Wal-Mart to buy a storage container to house this little family in our back hall linen closet. I had no idea how much of a mess they would make, so I wanted them contained. When I arrived home with all the gear (storage bin, litter box, litter, etc.) I inquired to Hubby about Mollie. She had wanted out and had been gone for about 30 minutes. I had unloaded the van with all the stuff and was in the process of putting a nice soft bed in that storage bin when Mollie ran in the back door again with yet another little kitten. This one was also gray, but he was not at all plump, he was skinny, frail and his fur was fuzzy looking. This little fellow was our Oscar Snuggles. We put those two little kittens over in the nice bed we had made for Mollie. She jumped over in with her two babies and never wanted out. So we concluded she had brought us her kittens, just like I had asked the Lord to do—He moved on Mollie and she brought the kittens to us.
We had Mollie about a year, but lost her out on the road. We were heartbroken, but we still had those two kittens.

Those two kittens brought us so much fun and joy. We had Emmie Sweat Pea for 12 years. She had gotten really fat and slow and a couple of the neighbor’s dogs killed her in our back yard. It was possible she had a heart attack trying to get away from them, because there were only a couple of marks on her. Again we were heart broken.

Then there was Oscar Snuggles, King of Tidewater. He was king, for sure. You know dogs have owners, but cats have staffs. That is certainly true. He had two servants that faithfully took care of him, babied him, pampered him, spoiled him rotten and he loved it. He slept with us most of the time, especially in the winter time, because he would get cold, even though we faithfully covered him up on the sofa, but he would always join us a couple hours after we went to bed.

We lost our sweet Oscar on Friday morning. I was going down the driveway on my way to my Mom’s, Hubby had taken the trash to the can and to open the gate for me. When I saw Hubby running to the road I knew it wasn’t good. Our Oscar Snuggles had to hit and killed on the road. We have had him 15 and one-half years and to our knowledge he never attempted to cross the road. We don’t know if he was chasing something or was just going to check out the other side of the road. Who knows? He had the beginning stages of kidney disease and had already exhibited symptoms of that horrible disease. I was already grieving over the fact that he was headed for a slow, painful death. It kills us that he was hit, but we are almost positive it was an instant end for him.

To say we are heart broken is an understatement. This happened Friday morning, early and I still can’t stop crying. I know this terrible hurt will heal in time, but right now it is almost too painful to bear. Sweet Oscar you will always be in our hearts, because you and Sweet Pea have left paw prints on our hearts. We love you, little Buddy Cat.







9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh Tee, this made me cry too! We love our cats as if they were our children, and when they leave us it breaks our hearts. Sounds like this sweet furry boy added so much joy to your lives from the moment his momma brought him to you. What wonderful memories to treasure! If we never cried, it would mean we never loved. I will pray that God finds just the right way to bring a new furry little life into yours in the months to come! :-)

Fluffy and Cayenne said...

Oh Tee & Hubby!
We are so sorry for your loss!
We loved Oscar Snuggles and always waited for his comments on George-online's blog.
Mommy read Oscar's story and she's crying too. We all are very sad and pray to God for you and for his soul.
Love
Fluffy & Cayenne

Lisa said...

They become like our children don't they? So very sorry for you loss!

George Online Cat said...

Oscar was a prince among cats, and a King in his Tidewater territory - magnificent in his dignity, glorious in his beauty, kind to his humans, and a cat who filled his place in creation with love. Ronnie and Celia and Pushkin send their loving sympathies for the loss of a truly great cat.

Everycat said...

To Tee and Hubby, we send you both warm rumbly purrs and love to ease your pain on the passing of dear Oscar. He was a superb and beautiful character cat and lived a very good life with you. We loved reading his comments on Geroge's blog and we will miss him too. Thank you for sharing the wonderful story of how he and Emmie Sweet Pea came into your lives.

Whicky
Oliver
Gerry
& The Apes

Puss-Puss. said...

Dear Tee and Hubby,

I am so very sorry to hear of poor Oscar. His story began so beautifully when you saved him, and he lived a long life knowing how much he was loved. You may be sure that he knows it still. Reading of him has been such a joy. Oscar was sent to you for a reason; I firmly believe that the love and bond between humans and animals, especially cats, is one of the little extras God gives us, which serve as further proof that he is there for us. I know how you must be grieving, but you and Oscar will meet again one day. In the meantime, may his memory guide you to the love of another of God's creatures. When we rescue them, they rescue us. My prayers are with you.

Sincerely,
Puss-Puss.

I am Harvey. said...

Love hurts so very much. Keep talking to Oscar around the house. He will hear you for as long as it takes for you to come to terms with his leaving.
Harvey the House Rabbit

June Gardens said...

He was such a beautiful cat, and so dignified. You gave him a beautiful sendoff. My heart goes out to you both.

Mary said...

I'm so sorry to read about the loss of your beloved Oscar. Our pets become true members of our family. We are the saddest of sad when we loose them. Time will make your loss less painful but Oscar will always be with you.