Sad day here.......we lost our best bud "Toby"

[Snake Farm]

He wasn't feeling well last evening and wouldn't eat or drink so we kept him in last night and took him to the Vet this morning where we found out he had a blockage in his bladder but everything was already shutting down on him and he didn't make it. He's always been an in and out cat and always done his business outdoors so we had no way of knowing he was having trouble till it was too late. I feel terrible about it but he was well loved and he gave us ten years of joy. His mother was a stray that lived near a concrete plant that I ran at the time. He and his litter mates lived in a Groundhog hole and I watched them for a month or so but could never catch any of them. Finally after predators had gotten most of them I managed one day to get between him and his hole. He was really wild and I chased him into a big stack of pallets. I tore the pile down and there was a little ball of grey fur in the corner of the bottom one. I reached in an pulled him out........I was determined to have him and he was determined to kill me! Little did he know that he was headed for a life of love and luxury.I'll never forget walking proudly into the house that evening with my cardboard box poked full of holes and bloodied from the elbows down and enough blood on my pants that it looked like I had just gutted a deer LOL. My wife looked at me and laughed and said "Well, it looks like you finally caught your cat" However it was her that won him over that night with some shrimp and he was Momma's Boy from then on.

When he was young he mostly goofed off.....

....and worked on carburetors a little here and there

The only real job he ever had was making us smile and he was great at it...

If he wasn't working he was lounging........and it still made us smile

And he loved to play with our Tabby "Daryl"......they logged a lot of miles chasing and climbing

We laid him to rest this afternoon beside his pal "Jessie" that we lost three summers ago, she was with us 18 years.

So long "Toby", we will miss you.

 

[dmw56]

So sorry about your lose its hard when you lose a member of the family. But it looks like you have a lot of great memories.

That was a great tribute to Toby!

 

[earthman]

The best cats i've had have always been rescued strays. Sorry for your loss.

 

[GJunktionMike]

Ray sorry to hear about toby

 

[YBeNormal]

Sorry for your loss sometimes pets are almost the hardest to lose.

 

[oldskool]

man, that bites!! I know it's like a family member....mine are!

 

[RoddingRon]

Tough times! I just went through the same thing a few weeks back. My heart goes out to you

 

[26Troadster]

sorry to hear. they are more then just pets, they are family.

 

[Tim...Ok]

Sorry to hear it Ray, thats never easy..

 

[Willowbilly3]

Sad for you, I love my old cat, and her new annoyance, the wild child kitten. I call them my daughter's but enjoy them a lot. Sadly we will outlive all but the last one.

 

[rainman]

Sorry to hear Snake!! Losing a pet, (family member) is never easy!!
At least it looks like you had lots of pics, (memories)!!!

 

[bob w]

Sorry for your loss of Toby.

 

[Dirtyrat]

Sorry to hear about Toby...

 

[donsrods]

That is so sad to read. Toby was a beautiful cat, looked a lot like Sassy, the one my Son Don lost a year or so ago.

After losing Sniffy and Scooter a few years ago I always look at our current cats, Lucky and Chewy a little differently. It scares me to know that all our pets only have such a short period of time to be with us before we all face what you are facing today.

It even hurts me to lose one or more of the strays that I feed every night. One will show up for months or years like clockwork and then suddenly you never see them again, and I wonder what fate they met.

All of us who love our pets share your tears and pain today.

Don

 

[42chevy]

Sorry to hear of your loss. I have been there and is hard to go through.

 

[tattoodfreak]

Sorry for your loss, Toby was a beautiful cat. I know how hard it is to loose a pet-sometimes it feels like they are the only ones that really love and understand you.

 

[donsrods]

You can tell by looking at those pictures of Toby that he was a clown. He knew he was being funny and was doing it to entertain you. Cats are funny that way, they have a sense of humor and sometimes do stuff to just get to you. All the ones we have had over the years kept me in stitches.

Just remember all the good times and laughs he gave you, and when the time is right adopt another one and give him or her the same wonderful life you gave Toby. I swore I never wanted another one after Sniffy and Scooter passed, but I am so happy Lucky and Dan's cat Chewy came into my life. It would be darned boring without them.

Don

 

[Old Iron]

Nice tribute Snake
I can tell you really enjoyed having him over the years.
Sounded like he ran from you just hard enough to let you catch him [ddd
Sorry buddy

 

[Z.Z.Rat]

Sorry for your loss. Toby's pics are really cute. We had a Toby cat too. He was a inside /outside cat & met his match one night with a coyote. Our daughters were quite upset with his ending.

 

[Snake Farm]

Thanks guys, it has been a rough couple of days but sharing it here has helped. Mornings will be rough for a while I'm sure, he was always sitting on the porch railing waiting for breakfast and a hug. Supper was rough last evening too, my wife just sat and cried He always had his own plate in the floor beside the table and ate whatever we ate for supper. When his plate was empty he would stand on his back legs and rest his chin and front paws on the corner of the table asking for more.

................. and when the time is right adopt another one and give him or her the same wonderful life you gave Toby.
Don

There will never be another like him but yeah Don, I'm sure there will be another when the time is right.........doubt that we'll have to look, they just seem to find us.

Thanks again guys for helping me through this.