Sewanee

Fly free, dear girl. Your Mom will love forever.

Emmy in Hospital

Stewey

Fly Free, Nelson

Nelson - September 2012

Nelson, age 14, passed away in the loving arms of his parents, Marc and Wendy, at the Wisconsin Veterinary Referral Center in Waukesha, WI at 8:22 PM on Tuesday, September 17, 2013. He died just two weeks after being diagnosed with a rare disease, chyloabdomen. He put up a strong fight, but just could not overcome the complications from this horrible disease.

Nelson lived with Mr. H in northern Virginia for his first 13 years of life. He was diagnosed with diabetes at the age of nine. Mr. H had to give him up when his job changed and he could no longer manage Nelson’s insulin needs. Nelson was turned in to the Cat’s Cradle shelter in Harrisonburg, VA, in May 2012. Wendy saw a posting on Facebook about Nelson in August 2012. It said Nelson’s job was giving hugs. He had 3 strikes against him: older, diabetic, black. His picture spoke to Wendy.

On Friday, September 7, 2012, Wendy flew to Washington DC to pick up our new addition to the family, where he had been shuttled by volunteers. In his new home, Nelson was immediately accepted by his cat brothers and sisters because of his gentle and sweet nature. He quickly became the center of the household. Nelly could often be found relaxing in any of the various cat beds and baskets scattered throughout the house, but one of his favorites was in the place of prominence on his orange pad on the kitchen table. He was the first family cat to be allowed on the kitchen table, but Nelson got to… because he was Nelson.

It took awhile, but Nelson’s new parents learned how to take care of his diabetes by changing his diet and testing his blood glucose regularly. Blood from the edge of his ear was tested every twelve hours, followed with the appropriate dose of insulin. Nelson was a magnificent patient and never complained one bit.

Nelson - September 2013

Nelson will be missed for many of the things he did each day: eating grass in the backyard, sitting pigeon-toed on the stool in the kitchen at food time, softly meowing with excitement when dinner was being served, sleeping on Wendy’s pillow while nuzzling her hair, getting lap time with Marc every morning during breakfast, holding our hands with his paw, and of course, those famous hugs! He was the only cat to be allowed outside without a collar and leash (but with close supervision).

Nelson leaves behind his cat siblings Nero, Gray-V, Taggert, Dexter, Princess, Kali and Piper, and bird siblings Jazzabelle and Tino. He was preceded in death by cat siblings Magoo, Tippy, Mister and Derf. Tippy passed away from chylothorax, similar to Nelson’s disease and just as rare, in 2005.

Nelson lived one year and 10 days with his new family. Every one of those days was a true gift, never to be forgotten. Our dear Nelson, from the day you literally flew into our lives, our hearts have belonged to you. Just like when you would wrap your big, soft paws around our necks, they are now, and forever will be, wrapped around our hearts. We love you, Nelly!

MC

Paula's Dragon

Living room furniture

Rest Peacefully, Fry

Fry with his Dad

December 9, 2012--Cara and her family lost their beautiful orange boy P.J. Fry to heart disease this summer.

When we first adopted Fry and his brother, the FDMB (Jess mostly) helped direct me to Angell Memorial and their wonderful cardiology group. Fry was with us for almost 3 1/2 years, and was a big, goofy boy who never knew there was anything wrong with him despite the severity of his disease, except for the regular visits for monitoring. His heart just stopped suddenly one evening, relieving us of the necessity to make any decisions, and to go through heart failure treatment which would have been hard on all of us and for that we are grateful, even though he was much too young.

Fry and Bender.
Bender misses Fry terribly.

Guinness, Sweet Prince

Newsletter, November 2012

Long-term Foster Kitties

I'm Sandy. 911 means I'm special.

*********************************************************************************** Long-term Foster Kitties

I'm Tidus. I'm a sweet boy.

*********************************************************************************
“Shares” Save Snow and Other Diabetic Kitties

Snow, loving his furever home!!

*********************************************************************************
“Shares” Save Snow and Other Diabetic Kitties

Vinny in DCIN Foster Care

*********************************************************************************** Missi Love Auctions

Love Auctionistas—
Jerilee, Melissa, and Angel

************************************************************************************* Fantastic Foster Families

Foster Mom Carolyn

************************************************************************** DCIN’s Awesome Adopters

There's no place like home!

*************************************************************************************Our Friends Saved DCIN

YOU opened the door for BK.

***********************************************************************************

Some of Our Heroes

Wonton and her Mom Carolyn

*********************************************************************************** Some of Our Heroes

Philip's Symba

*********************************************************************************** Some of Our Heroes

Cricket and her Mom Valerie

************************************************************************************ The Small Things

Ten bucks and a share.

************************************************************************************ Mikey Likes Your Money!

Holiday MIKEY!

************************************************************************************ Transport Angels

********************************************************************************** DCIN’s Naffle Artists

Jude Abbe's painting of Darla.

Molly, Soon to be Angel Molly

Sorianna

Adopted 6/18/08 by Claudia

Lynn's Gigi

Gigi is Lynn's treasure and might have lymphoma. DCIN is fundraising for her specialist visit. See her blog for more information.

Napoleon

Linda Lee's most precious boy. Called by the angels December 24, 2004.

Debbie's Digby

Digby, 18+ year old Cornish Rex, crossed the Rainbow Bridge January 14, 2008 after fighting the brave fight.

Lisa's Spot

Spot 4/20/1999 - 1/3/2009

Ben's cats

Shown in order: Winnie, Mitty, Sugarcat Mac

Velma's Isis

Christina's Robert

Gone ahead on September 15, 2008.

Sweet Pea

Sweet Pea on August 27, 2007

Cat's Silver

Cat's Silver, he found peace on April 7, 2008.


Silver with Sun...

Woolie

Deb's Woolie March 23, 2008.

Diana's Tom

From Diana on July 20, 2008: "When I lost Tom in March, and buried him under an apple tree in the garden he loved so much, his grave was surrounded by primroses and other wild flowers. My friend Elizabeth (& Bertie) gave me a forget-me-not plant which was the perfect addition, and some other friends brought me a young rose. I planted the rose on Tom’s spot straightaway, and have been watering it every day. It’s now grown to about three feet high and this week we have the first bloom. It’s a beautiful, creamy white - perfect. A beautiful rose for a beautiful spirit.

A white rose symbolises eternal love and that’s what I have for my Tommy."



Tom died on March 8, 2008. His GA announcement is here.

Tom was a very special boy. He had acromegaly--he was an acrocat. Tom would have been 15 on March 13, 2008. His littermate Sophie remains with Diana.

I had a chance to visit with Tom yesterday. He is a joyous soul. He is close to Diana and leaning against her. Diana's grief is strong, and Tom hopes she will be able to feel him and visit with him.

Diana buried Tom in his garden, with a note of her love, photos, some of Sophie's fur, and a lock of Diana's hair. Diana's post about the garden is here. Tom is at peace, and is a soul of pure love.

Below is Sophie, Tom's littermate. She so misses Tom.