We Lost Our "Skipper" to a Car on Friday

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Alockbee - 15 Jun 2008 21:50 GMT

Hello All. I'm completly lost & devasted with the death of our Skipper
just Friday 06/13/08. We got him about 18 months ago & I kept him in
until about two months ago when I decided he could go out with our 9
year old female Maxie. We live in a very quiet seaside community of
Magnolia, MA. (part of Gloucester) & live on street with minimal
traffic. I work in sales & most of the time I work out of my home
office. Friday morning I left for 2 hours & needed to work on my small
outboard for our inflatable. It was 11:15AM when I came home & I got
the outboard tuned-up. Around 12:30PM I called out for Skipper. I
should mentioned that he would come running whenever I called for him.
I didn't come. I called again 30 minutes later & thought it was
strange he wasn't showing up @ the back door expecting him treats that
he loved so dearly. I said to myself, he's out checking out his
territory, he'll be back soon enough.

Around 2:15PM a friend of mine came by on his scooter (I own one
aswell) & asked if I wanted to take a quick ride into town. I said
"Sure..but I mentioned I was a tad worried about Skipper" I went along
my business. John stopped by 20 minutes later & then I thought I
should look around for him. I went into the backyard & called & again
I thought he would be waiting after my hour long cruise. When I
returned I thought something was just "Off" I went to the side of our
house & found Skip sitting under a tree. I said "Hey Skip, there you
are, then...nothing" Within 2 seconds I knew something was very wrong.
Picked him up & he was gone. Not a mark on him, just a little grass in
his mouth & very slightly stiff (not much) I thought for a minute he
was still alive, but my friend said "Alex...He is gone" I was
screaming "No...No..Not Skip" I held onto him for around 10 minutes &
it had not really hit me yet.

I called my wife @ work & told her the horrible news. She left work
ASAP. When I felt his body everything appeared to be in order. No
broken bones, no blood just looked like he was sleeping. Then I
thought he ate some grass that maybe was just fertilizied or something
like that. I called my local Vet & brought him in to get some
questions answered. They were so very, very kind to me. I went outside
for about 20 minutes & simply broke down in the parking lot. I'm a 42
male & I can't remember the last time cried. The pain is so
overwelming. I spoke with the Vet & she said Skipper's right rib cage
had trauma to it. I asked if he suffered & she didn't think so. I tend
to agree because he was about 25 feet from the road on our property &
I know if he had the strength he would have made it to the back door.
What kills me is that I didn't go to the side of the house! Or didn't
really do a "real" search for him! I was only 15 feet away from where
I found him when I was working on the outboard. Another thing is he
didn't meow, he kind of had this very low chrip of sorts. So, I don't
know if he was trying to cry out to me or not. I asked the Vet what
time she thought he died, she thought (2-3 hours) & it was 5:30PM
then. So it could have happened before or after I left for my scooter
ride. I think it happened before I left, which kills me to on end!

We got Skipper because our 10 year old male (Kovax) died of something
called a Thrombosis (blood clot) & wanted Maxie to have a friend. It
took a year & they got along pretty well all-in-all. This Friday night
my wife & I cried all night & we are both at a totally loss. Maxie was
always my favorite, but Skipper had such a HUGE personality & he
wouldn't give up on me, just always at my side. Saying "Look at
me..aren't I great" I gave them both my love & affection equally but
Skipper just overwelmed me with his love! A few months ago my wife
said "My god...that cat loves & adors you" You see..being @ home most
of the time I had the wonderful job of paying attention & nurturing
him. I call him & he would be there within minutes! My wife made me
feel a little better in telling me that I did a great deed in bringing
Skipper up. I cried when she said that. Now my thoughts are
"Why....didn't I keep him in?" I did for the 1st 14-15 months of his
life. Then I felt sorry for him because he would stare at Maxie in the
backyard & seemed kind of unhappy. He would still be here if I did,
but my wife says Skip was happiest when he was outdoors & I must admit
it showed.

Today is almost as worse as Friday night. My wife & I are crying on &
off all day. I felt like I wanted to post my feelings here & get a
"little" off my chest. I know many of you have lost a pet & know the
utter grief we are going through right now. I wished I could have had
him for another 15 years, but Joyce says he is now the "Official Gate
Keeper in Kitty Heaven" With his opening line of "Hey my name is
Skip...What's yours" If I had to sum-up Skipper that exactly what he
say to everyone he met. For those of you who still grieve for your
pets, I can say that my heart belongs to all of you! My hope is that
when I leave this world, my friend Skipper & my family will be there
to greet me.

Thank you for taking the time to listen to me.

Alex

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Karin Gillette - 16 Jun 2008 21:05 GMT

I am so sorry for your loss. We humans do experience a profound loss when
our animal children are gone. I remember crying many tears when my Shiloh
died years ago.

> Hello All. I'm completly lost & devasted with the death of our Skipper
> just Friday 06/13/08. We got him about 18 months ago & I kept him in
[quoted text clipped - 81 lines]
>
> Alex

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Alockbee - 17 Jun 2008 12:56 GMT

am so sorry for your loss. We humans do experience a profound loss
when

> our animal children are gone. I remember crying many tears when my Shiloh
> died years ago.

Thanks Karin: Shiloh & Skipper are with each other now. It's Tuesday
right now & I miss Skip the most in the morning. If he didn't sleep
with us, he would be waiting at the door to greet the both of us.

Below is a "Tribute to our cat Skipper" that my wife wrote yesterday
afternoon & e-mailed me. I lucky I have such a fine person for a
wife.

We lost our cat Skipper on Friday. Skip, the Gip, Gipper, Skippy.
For those of you who were lucky enough to meet him, and if you visited
us in the last year, you definitely did meet him, for he was the
friendliest of all cats. Skip, the greeter, was always there to meet
anyone who walked through our door. He was never afraid of people, in
fact, he loved them, and greeted each person with a “Hey, I’m Skip,
Come on in. What’s your name?”

We were lucky to have our wonder cat, Skip, if only for a short 15
months. I had been checking the shelters for about 2 months, waiting
for just the right cat. And he appeared on the website at just the
wrong time, right in the middle of the busiest time of tax season.
But there were 3 cute kittens on the website and I knew one of them
was meant for us. So Alex went down to the shelter, got there when
the doors opened and picked out the best one ever. There was Skip,
his paw reaching out through the cage, saying “pick me, pick me”. And
we always said, he picked a good one.

For a week or so, we had to keep him separated from our other cat,
Maxie. In her eyes, he was an intruder. She didn’t know at the time
that we got Skip for her, to be her buddy and to keep her young. And
he did just that. I remember that first week so well. I tried to
spend as much time as I could with him, even though I was working
ridiculous hours. I remember signing investor checks while he played
around the room, climbing in my lap and wanting me to stop and just
play. I took him to the office that Sunday and we had a ball. Of
course he made friends with everyone who came to work that day. I
would have loved to take him with me more but he was just too full of
life to be stuck in one office all day.

Skip found his way into all of our hearts. At first we all watched
his energy for hours of amusement. Maxie pretended to be annoyed, but
was so entertained by his playfulness. He sometimes got a little
pushy with her territory but they managed to work it out and found a
way to be friends.

Skip had the luxury of having his favorite pal, his Pop, around him
most days. That made him the wonderful friendly cat that he was. He
was full of life and always wanted to be where the action was. He
couldn’t stand to be separated from us. If he wasn’t already on our
bed in the morning he was up and at your feet as soon as he saw any
movement. And on most days if I had to shut the bedroom door while I
got ready for work, he would wait by the door for the first movement
of his Pop.

Skip wanted to be involved in whatever you were doing. If I was
putting away the dishes he was trying to explore every open cabinet.
When I did laundry he would hop into the dryer. When I was folding
clothes, there he was helping by hopping in the basket and pawing at
every sock. When he did want some quiet time, he liked the coziest
and warmest spots, a fleece blanket, stretched out in front of the
fire, on the sunny mat by the sliding door or his newest favorite, in
front of the heat from the dehumidifier. He never stayed still for
long though, especially if someone headed towards the kitchen where he
would always follow in the hopes of snagging his favorite treat.

Oh, the treats! Skipper was a big lover of treats. He was always
heading to the kitchen to accept his share. It took a while and a
little scolding but he finally learned that his pile was his and
Maxie’s was not.

Skip had fun all over the house, chasing balls for hours and loved his
sticks with feathers. He adopted a stuff lion and spent hours tossing
it around and chewing it like a playtoy. He left his mark all over
the house and we will remember every chair, and every corner as a
place he loved to play, cuddle and rest.

His newest adventures led him to the outdoors and the backyard became
his new playground. He was not meant to be cooped up indoors as he
saw his big sister Maxie make her way out every day. He wanted some
of that playground! He romped and ran and chased all the bugs away.
He stretched his long body in the grass in the sun and rested in the
cool shade. He was never fearful and loved every minute of it. So
much so that he sometimes would escape when he wasn’t supposed to.
But that was Skip, he was all about fun.

I can’t tell you what went on at home on most days that I was
working. I know I would sometimes get a call and a story of Skip’s
latest escapade. What I do know is that Skip was the happiest, most
content kitty. Every moment of his day was filled with attention and
conversation. Skip wasn’t a big talker himself but he thrived on the
activity of his daily routines. He was loved and adored every day of
his life, and his family will miss him forever.

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Riannon - 17 Jun 2008 21:06 GMT

>Below is a "Tribute to our cat Skipper" that my wife wrote yesterday
>afternoon & e-mailed me. I lucky I have such a fine person for a
>wife.

So sorry to hear about your Skipper; he sounds like he was a great little guy.
I also lost a cat this way several years ago and it affected me deeply, so
much so that I don't let any of them run free anymore. In the future, you
could try putting a harness on your other cat and walking out there with her
or you might want to build a cat enclosure - I'm sure there are sites on the
net which would show how to build them. My cats have been outside on
harnesses for so long that they no longer need to wear them; they don't run
away at all, but I always go out with them to keep an eye on things.
Take care and give my condolences to your wife too.

Riannon

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