You were born October 1, 2003. On May 29, 2004 you came home with us from the animal shelter. You had been at the animal shelter since you were a baby kitten and we brought you home when you were almost eight months old. We will never understand why you were in the animal shelter for so long. You were so sweet, so beautiful, so playful, so loving; why didn’t anyone take you home? We think it was because you were meant to be with us. The day we went in to choose a kitty, Daddy sat down, you walked right over, and you loved on him until he insisted we bring you home. You came home along with the other two we adopted that day and the one we adopted later. You were the brave explorer on day one in the house. While your siblings hid behind a tv in the basement, you decided you were done hiding and started to explore, going up the stairs and looking around. They followed you and you kept “squeaking” your meows back to them. We later joked we should have named you “Minnie” as in “Minnie Mouse” for the squeaks that day.
You were 15 years old when you died. You lived with us for 15 years. Those were 15 years of blessings that we will forever be thankful for. You were the happiest, sweetest, most loving and wonderful kitty we have ever known. You amazed us with how happy you always were. You loved everyone and everything, but you loved me most of all. You loved Daddy too, but I was your favorite. You always wanted to be near me. If you were sleeping in a different area, you would always come to me when I called you, always. I didn’t have to call for you often, because you were always close to me. Wherever I was, that was where you wanted to be. But you did love the kitty igloo, especially in the winter. You would sleep in there and would only come out if I called you.
You loved to be held, carried around, cuddled, and snuggled. You gave us so many head butts and kisses. Nothing made you happier than giving us all your love, complete with those kisses and purrs. You loved to be carried outside and held while you looked around, sniffed the air, enjoyed the warm sunshine, and attacked the flowers, plants, and bushes that dared to grow unevenly. You loved to watch out the windows and the front door; watch people and animals go by. You always greeted me at the door and were usually watching out the window for me to come home. You loved to lounge in the sunshine and would bask in the warmth. You chattered back and forth with a squirrel in the backyard and really wanted to get him.
You loved to play. No matter what playtime entailed, you would play. You loved to chase your siblings through the house and to have them chase you. You loved to wrestle with your siblings. We always got such a joy when you were young, playing with your siblings, and would suddenly go “Halloween kitty”, turning your body sideways, hunching up your back, and hopping several times sideways. Your favorite toy in the whole wide world was this beat up looking tail thing on a cat teaser. You loved that thing so much. You would pick it up in your mouth and hold it in your mouth while crying at it. You would drag it through the house with you, usually crying at it as you dragged it. You loved to play with anything, with toy mice, feathers, any toy we could dangle at you, and the laser pointer. You really loved that laser pointer. You would sprint through the house chasing after that laser pointer, including hopping at walls. You loved catnip, to roll around near the scratching posts and pads after a fresh layer of catnip came out, and to wrestle with your siblings who came near. But nothing could compare with that beat up looking tail thing on that cat teaser, that was your all time favorite toy.
You loved your siblings so much. You were always tucking up to other kitties, cuddling with them, giving them head butts and kisses. For most of your life you were the groomer of all kitties in the house. You would give them all a bath, but you were a rough groomer. You would yank on their fur while grooming and next thing you know bathtime turned into a wrestling match. I got to experience the rough grooming myself, since you loved to be on the couch behind me, kneading your dough on my back and neck and sometimes grooming my hair. You would “pet” my hair and once in a while you would bite my hair and yank as hard as you could. And those times I understood exactly why your bathing other kitties always ended in a wrestling match. The other kitties also bathed you. Especially during your last few months, Spooky bathed your head quite often.
You loved Christmas time. You loved to relax under the Christmas tree, look up at the lights on the tree and the ornaments, and sometimes play under there. You loved to relax in front of the heater and would compete with other kitties for the prime heat spots. But you were fine if they ended up getting the best spot and you had the second best spot. You also loved to stand on the electric fireplace with me wrapping a blanket around the two of us so the heat would blow straight at us.
You purred all the time. You could purr louder than any other kitty. You would start to loudly purr if we even came near you or talked to you from across the room. When I would bend down to give you kisses, you would stretch your head up to meet me and the purrs would intensify. You would stand on your back legs when I would go to pick you up, you were so eager to be held by me. You would quiver your tail in excitement, so eager for me to pick you up and snuggle and cuddle with you. You would try to tuck yourself as close to me as possible when I held you, almost like you wished I was a kangaroo and you could live in a pouch inside me. You were always so happy and soothed when I held you.
You loved to be brushed; it was one of your favorite things in the entire world. Your grandpa would say you were “hysterical” for brushing. You could never get enough of being brushed with your favorite brush, the one your grandparents gave you for Christmas one year. We kept your brush on the end table, which also had tissues and multiple water bottles. You would stand on the end table and move things around if you wanted brushed and weren’t getting brushed. Then you would start knocking water bottles off the table. You would deliberately knock one off, wait to see if we would brush you, then knock another water bottle off, repeat repeat repeat. When the water bottles were off, you would knock the tissues off, and go for anything else on the table. Many times you would get on the end table because you wanted me to pick you up and snuggle and cuddle you. I would give anything for more snuggling and cuddling time with you or for the chance to brush you again and listen to your loud purrs.
When I was on the computer you had to be getting attention. If I didn’t pay attention to you, then you would walk all over the keyboard demanding attention. You would sometimes get into the cubby holes on the desk, which you didn’t fit in very well, and would also climb in underneath the printer area and scratch all the printer paper out of the area and onto the floor.
You loved stinky shoes, sandals, slippers, and dirty clothes. Anything that was stinky and smelled like us was something you loved and would roll around in or on. We joked that your motto was “the stinkier the better”. If we tossed dirty clothes on the floor it was a guarantee you would roll around in it and sometimes would end up “wearing” some of our clothes.
You loved to sleep in the bedroom with us. You would lie under the bedsheets beside me, tucked against my side with my arm around you, your head out from under the bedsheets to rest against my pillow, and would give kisses and purr constantly. Sometimes you would just take Daddy’s pillow and he would sleep without a pillow so as not to disturb you. A few times he would have just a sliver of pillow while you wrapped yourself completely around his head. We didn’t always let you sleep in the bedroom with us; on those days you would be right outside the bedroom door waiting for me to come out. Now I wish we had always had you in there with us. I would give anything for one more night of your cuddles and kisses and purrs.
A few years ago, you started to lose weight and we thought it was dental problems. A dental surgery was planned. The pre-op blood work showed that you had hyperthyroidism. We got that stabilized and the surgery was done. During the surgery the vet noticed an abnormality with your heart and you were later diagnosed with Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (HCM). Then your thyroid numbers were off again and your medications were increased to a higher dosage than any other kitty had ever had with this vet. That was what it took to manage your thyroid condition. You didn’t mind the meds so much; we put the pills in a gel capsule so you were only actually “taking” one pill twice a day. Then your breathing started to get a little labored. The vet thought it might be connected with your heart problems, but we could never be truly sure. We had you stable though, you were happy, and we did the best we could. About seven or eight weeks ago we discovered your condition had worsened considerably. Steroid medications were added to your daily medicines and you stabilized again. Then on Sunday 8/4/19 you suddenly got much worse and we thought it was the end. Your breathing became labored and you weren’t doing well. We had the vet come for a home visit on Monday 8/5/19, thinking it was the end. We loved on you constantly, all that Sunday night and all day Monday. The vet came to the house and we found a small shred of hope. You still purred, sought out affection, had a good appetite, and were drinking plenty of water. So the vet gave you a steroid shot and we changed one of your medications to a different steroid medicine. We were told we would know within 48-72 hours if it would work. You got a little bit better and then a lot better. We were so happy; we thought we had bought you more time. But we were wrong. On the late evening of Friday 8/9/19 you took another turn for the worse. You were behind me on the couch and your breathing was rough. I brushed you to help soothe you. While you always loved to be brushed and you enjoyed being brushed that time also, you were unable to purr. Because all of your energy was focused on just breathing. You were breathing with your mouth open and couldn’t get enough air to purr. I comforted you and loved on you and knew that we were rapidly approaching the end. I had made you a promise that when you let us know that it was time I would do the right thing and help you pass. I was determined to fulfill that promise. Daddy came home when work was over and understood immediately. We gave you so much extra love and attention and you spent your final night tucked up with us under the bedsheets. That final morning, Saturday 8/10/19, you cuddled and snuggled under the covers with me. You purred constantly and gave me so many head butts and kiss after kiss after kiss after kiss. I held you close to me and told you how much I loved you, that I would always love you, and how thankful I was for the time we had together. I told you that at least we got a few extra days together and I was so thankful for that too. I told you how thankful I was that you chose us that day in the animal shelter. I told you that you were one of my favorite blessings.
Daddy and I both loved on you so much that final night, the next morning, and then early in the afternoon…that final afternoon, Saturday 8/10/19. I carried you everywhere I went the entire day and just walked around the house with you in my arms. We talked to you and brought you close to your siblings, hoping they would say their goodbyes. At one point you decided you wanted to lie on the back of the couch and your brother Spooky was already lying on one of the back cushions. I turned him around so he could see you, hoping he would say his goodbyes. He stood up, came closer, put his head right against your head, stayed still about three seconds, and then walked away. A little while later, right before the vet arrived, you were on the floor and he did the same thing again. He just walked right up to you, put his head right against your head again, stayed still about three seconds, and then stayed close to you.
The vet arrived and agreed it was time. I stood holding you in my arms while the vet gave you the sedative shot to help you relax. I talked to you the entire time, telling you how much I loved you and what a good girl you are. I walked around the house holding you, talking to you the entire time, while the sedative began to work. You relaxed and your breathing relaxed. When it was time for the final goodbyes, I sat on the couch, holding you in my arms, with Daddy beside us, and we talked to you the entire time. We told you how much we loved you, what a good girl you are, and how everything was going to be okay. We kept petting you and talking to you the entire time, as the vet performed the final kindness we could offer you. When she said that you were gone my soul shattered into a million little pieces and I don’t think I will ever be whole again. My sweet Eclipse, my little girl, my baby, take a piece of my soul with you to Heaven, that way we can still be together even while we are apart. Go and be reunited with your brother Garfield who died 1/21/13. You two loved each other so much and I’m sure your reunion will be something special.
We are so thankful that you were happy, feeling good, and enjoying your life for almost the entire time. We are so glad that we were able to protect you from suffering. You were one of the sweetest, most beautiful, loving, precious, amazing souls we have ever been blessed enough to know. We can’t begin to say how much we love you and how deeply we miss you.
Our sweet, precious Eclipse, our little girl…we love you so very much. We miss you and will until we meet again. We will love you forever and ever. We know that you are in Heaven right now and that we will see you again when it is our time to leave this Earth. Until then, RIP baby girl, our sweet little Eclipse. Remember that we will always love you.
We love you,| Eclipse |
| 8/10/19 |
| Mommy & Daddy (Amy & Sean Bullington) |