In the Humble Opinion of LittleBill, Socialist, Atheist, and Humanist
A Very Sad Time at My House

The time has finally come for me to sit down and write about my dearest cat, Mooch. (All of my cats are my dearests, by the way, but, as you can see from the pictures, he was my dearest dearest.)

Mooch was riddled with several diseases, the last and most lethal of which was cancer, and the time finally came to end them for him.

So many people believe that animals, even dogs and cats, are incapable of knowing and showing love the way human beings do. The pictures above certainly show how wrong they are. And in fact, the inability to know and show love is fast disappearing from the human species.

Mooch and I slept nose-to-nose every night, and I will miss him terribly for every remaining night of my life.

The rest of my cats have continued to search for him, especially Sylvie. I have a fairly roomy U-shaped house with a large screened-in porch which they can enter from either side at will in order to birdwatch, so they are gradually returning to their favorite pastime of birdwatching. But FOUR is a very hard number for me to cope with. When I check on them before going to bed each night, I continue to find myself searching for the FIFTH.

As for cats’ ability to feel and express love, it is often hard to catch the most revealing shots by camera. Last year, I was lying on my bed doing exercises with my feet on the bed and my knees raised. My therapist took successive shots of Mooch coming to the rescue, but she was unable to catch the best—when he laid his arm across my ribs and DARED her with his eyes to continue with the exercise of bending my knees from side to side, which was, in the eyes of my cat, abnormal, and possibly harmful, to me.

Animals, especially those who are loved, and those who are rescued and loved, is ever-lasting from both sides. A mother loves her child from birth, but pets are loved until their deaths if they are lucky. The birth of a child is generally happy, but the death of a loved pet is always heart-wrenching. So far, I have fourteen little caskets waiting to be buried with me. I am just sorry that I did not bring those from 30 years of living in the Bay Area down here with me. And, as painful as it will be to me, I hope I will outlast those remaining, because I would not want them to undergo the grief which I have felt for those who are gone.

18 comments:

jmsjoin said...

I am so happy to see you post but so sad for you and Mooch. I know what your cats mean to you. That is a beautiful picture of you nose to nose. I can't wait for Trice to get home so I can show her. My condolences my friend A you take care!

Lily said...

It's nice to see that care so much for your cats and your cats for you.

So sorry for the big loss, but to tell you the truth I anyway don't believe that the body of a person or an animal is everything. It's just a temporary shell. The spirit and the soul, both of animals and human beings do live on. That's why I personally never get so sad about death.

I don't know if that can be any consolation to you, but I wish it was... and I wish you happiness with all your other cats that are still surrounding you!

love and warm wishes from Scandinavia, Sarah Sofia

jmsjoin said...

That was nice Sarah, Thank you, Hi little Bill thinking of you and hope you are well!

Lily said...

Thanks James.
And if I may say so: You have a very nice friend in James, Little Bill!

The picture above... you and Mooch... is definitely very, very sweet!

When I was teaching once, one of the girls asked, what the difference between psychiatry an psychology was and I said: "Well... for one thing the psychiatrists do claim that man has no soul and that we all can and should be controlled like animals..." and then she said:
"But animals do have a soul!" I just had to smile and answered:
"But don't you think that people who claim that humans shouldn't have rights are gonna treat animals well...!"

As one can see, the picture above of you and Mooch is very good proof of the fact that animals do have a soul and are not only flesh and blood! mooch really seems to love you and care so very much. But then again, I am sure that your other cats will look after you
now and one of them might want to take Mooch's place...

Unknown said...

Be comforted in knowing Mooch felt the strength of your love and will now be close to you forever. What a lucky cat, and how lucky you were to find each other.
Be well my friend.
Love you
Nancy

LittleBill said...

Thanks very much to all of you for your understanding and similar philosophies.

And Sarah, welcome to my blog. If you care to add me to yours, I would love to read about your life and your country.

And by the way, I tried to email my thanks to you yesterday, but have forgotten everything I ever knew about the computer and found out I had not finished the process.

Love you all, Anne LittleBill

jmsjoin said...

Yahoo little bill yahoo! I am so happy to see correspondence, you darling you, just relax!

Lily said...

Thanks little Bill, it's so nice to hear from you.
James and I talked about you; you remind me so much of a friend of mine who lived close to me once...

If you read this, James, how do I add little Bill to my blogs?
Do I just put in a link into the list of all blogs, or what do I do?

Dear little Bill, I have to confess, I have many different blogs, in English and in German.
There are usually lots of pictures from Scandinavia in them.

"Living in Scandinavia" is the blog where I also bring political/social issues and in "Good to Know"...
Anyway, you can get there by clicking on my name and then chosing a blog from the list.

Thanks for welcomming me so nicely and I will also read your older posts one by one.

since you don't know me, i live in denmark and have 2 grown sons and a husband, we all live on a farm, which we currently as renovating...

I am looking foreward to learning more about you. James has told me taht you have had a very interesting life and are a very special lady who cares a lot about people and animals...

take good care and I will visit you whenever I can.

jmsjoin said...

Super Sarah! Do you have the new blogger and I think you do? IT IS VERY SIMPLE. Go to your dashboard then hit layout then your blog list and add the layout! I will look to see if you even have Blogger!

Lily said...

Thanks James, I will try and do that next time, we work on all the links.
We have LOTS to erase and some to add.

Little Bill, how are you today?

How are the other cats?
We've got many "wild" cats here as well. But they seem to be doing just fine. they seem a little over-fed though... I mean they really could do more to keep the mice-population down...

Mind you, we have lots of butterflies, too... have been "chased" by lots of them the other day! Felt like being in a Disney-film!

jmsjoin said...

Hi little bill!
I have to tell you, I get great comfort out of looking at the picture of you and Mooch as I am sure you do. I am so glad you have it!

LittleBill said...

Hi, everybody. Sarah, the butterfly chase has an Alfred Hitchcock ring to it. I would have loved to have seen it, and I'm glad you saw a bunch.

Lily said...

Hello Little Billy and James!

how are both of you today?

we have had such a beautiful day here today in denamrk. warm and sunshine and we went to a farmer we know and bought corn, potatoes, plums a lots of other things.

unfortunately it's gonna be a looong night, since i can smell that the first mice have come in from the fields. where is a cat when you need one???
Somehow the neighbours' cats are only interested in comming in when we don't have mice...!

So I will have to stay up for many hours to come and secure all the food; pack it into airtight containers and glasses...

have a really nice weekend, both of you!!!

jmsjoin said...

Hi Sarah you sweetheart!
Hi little Bill I was thinking of you and mooch and just wanted to say Hi and wish you well!

jmsjoin said...

Hi little bill
Just looking around. Hope you had a nice week end and are well. You too Sarah Thanks!

Lily said...

Hello little Billy and James,

we've had a very nice and warm weekend. Lots of sunshine, but also LOTS going on. We went to a fleamarkt yesterday and spent almost the whole day on it. We've got 2 trailor full with furniture and other things and then we were so hot that we had to go to the beach to cool down!
Got plenty of fresh fruit and veggies on the way home from the farmer as well...

Hope the weather is so nice as well, where you guys are!

love, sarah sofia

jmsjoin said...

Hi little bill just want to say Hi because I am thinking about you!

Hi Sarah Sofia sure sounds like you had a fruitful adventure. Do you need that much furniture or are you stocking up? We have had the wettest summer I have ever seen but it stopped raining and is supposed to be 90 Wednesday. I am still getting everything in the garden which amazes me.

Little Bill I gave up feeding the Hummingbirds because it is more upkeep than I can give. I see them feeding off our flowers ans that is good for me until I get my trumpet vines.

Lily said...

Hi Little Billy,

How are the other cats?
What are their names?

Yes James, it was a fruitfull adventure!

Don't know, if I told you little Billy, but we are living in a big old farm which used to be completely run down, like ruin. we bought it about 3½ years ago and have been renovating ever since.
The furniture (amongst them 7 beds!) which we got last weekend are for the gallery and for the B&B-rooms upstairs.
It's a LOT of work, but also rewarding!

Sorry about the not so nice summer over where you guys are... but as I hear, sunshine is on its way!
Enjoy yourself!