Puffalump was born April 25, 1987. Her Mother just showed up on our doorsteps one day. She was injured and I cared for her and fed her and she became ours. She was expecting her litter, but at the time I did not know it. When the litter was born, she had them in the forest. She came home to eat and I knew we had a new litter of kittens. We had named her Stripe because of the designs in her fur. She came up to the house meowing like she was upset. I wondered if something had tried to harm her kittens. I told her “Stripe, go and get your babies and bring them to me so I can see them”. She turned and went back into the forest. When she returned to the house she had a kitten in her mouth. I opened the door, she came in and went to our bedroom and carefully placed the kitten under our bed. She turned, went back outside and returned with each kitten in her mouth and placed them under our bed one at a time.
Puffalump was the last kitten she brought in. We found homes for all the rest of the litter but we kept Puffalump because of her soft fur and unusual coloring and my husband, Dean named her. She looked like a Calico. As she grew, we knew she was very independent. She only wanted attention when she wanted it. Most of her time was spent napping and eating. She just had that look about her, a look of attitude.
One year later, she delivered her own litter of kittens. We kept one of this litter, also. The kitten we kept was a gray tabby and because of her squeak when she meowed, my husband named her Squeaker. Squeaker had a more loving side to her and we became quickly attached to her also. I believe Puffalump became jealous because Squeaker was more of a lap cat than she was.
Both cats lived long healthy lives and we loved them so much. At age 16, Squeaker became sick and died. This happened on September 19, 2004, while we lived in Sarasota, Florida. After Squeaker died, Puffalump knew something was not right. She acted as if she was looking for Squeaker, but could not find her. She quickly became the “#1 pussycat” in our home. She became much more loving and would sit with me. She became a lap cat also.
We moved back to South Carolina and Puffalump made the trip with us. She was 17 years old and appeared to be getting along well. In October of 2006, she began to lose weight but she did not act as if she was sick. I contributed it to her getting older. On April 11, 2007, she would not eat, but still continued to drink water. I tried so many things
to try to get her to eat.
Finally, on Saturday, April 14, 2007, she became very weak. I laid her on a soft towel and placed her in her favorite spot on the couch. She did attempt to get up but did not move much because of her weakness. I would hold her and talk to her throughout the day, but at 7:56 p.m., she took her last breath and died. If she would have lived until April 25, 2007, she would have been 20 years old. In September of 2006, I entered a picture of her in a contest entitled
“Super Seniors” in Cat Fancy Magazine.
This contest was geared toward older pets and an article explaining about them. I had a very unusual picture of her and e-mailed it to Cat Fancy for the contest, but I didn’t hear anything from it until December 2006. At this time, I received a check for $150.00 in the mail, but it was not from Cat Fancy, but from a sponsor of the contest. I called and spoke to someone in reference to the check and found out I had won first place for my picture and my article. It was published in the December 2006 issue of Cat Fancy. I was shocked!!!
It was also published in two of our local newspapers because of the unusual picture and her age. I have this magazine and both copies of the newspapers it was published in. How I wish she was still here with us. We miss her so much!! My husband, Dean, buried her in the back yard and we have since had a marker for her grave made with her name, date of birth and date of death. Many memories flood our hearts of so many happy days with Puffalump. It is so hard to let go of a beloved pet, they are members of your family and always will be. We love you, PC, Sugar Baby, Petunia, Grandma, Puffalumper, Pork Chop, sweetie, darling; so many names we called you and your memory lives in our hearts forever. We will never forget you, NEVER!!!!!!!!
Love,
| Dean & Cathy Ray |