Annette

Today we took our very first "fur girl" to the vet to be put to sleep. She became a part of our family before we were married. She was born under my parents porch when someone moved out of the neighborhood and left behind a pregnant cat. Taffy was the last to be captured. I had to have her because she was so hard to get. She was a very shy girl. She was the definition of a "scaredy cat". Taffy was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism in September of last year. She was so spooky that we could not medicate her on a regular basis. We managed to medicate her for several days in a row at first, but she quit coming out. She was afraid of us. When she was hungry enough she finally stayed out. We weren't going to add any stress to her spooky life and never pilled her again. She was down to five pounds. Untreated hyperthyroidism can cause high blood pressure, which can lead to blindness if not treated. At Christmas time she went blind. She was scared and confused at first but she adjusted. She was still happy as Taffy could be. Monday she would occasionally scream for no apparent reason. She did not to be in pain when we checked her over. She did the same on Tuesday, but Wednesday she was screaming all the time. Today she made absolutely no noise. She was confused, did not seem to know what she was doing. She acted like she had a stroke. We took her to the vet today after Roy came home from work. She is at the Bridge now playing to her heart's content with her kitty brother Spooky, and tripping her Greyhound brothers and sister Wheat, Icabod and Scarlett. Taffy Mattson: 10/1988 - 4/6/06 Annette and Roy

Scarlett would have been 13 years old this month. We didn't know when her actual birthday was. We always celebrated it on Valentine's Day. She was our sweetie. Annette

The mailman came early today. Roy was home alone at lunch time when the mail came. He left a message on my voicemail at work saying just to call when I got a chance. I knew something was wrong by the tone of his voice, he had been crying. I wish I would have been home. It's hard to believe that tomorrow will be two weeks since she was killed. Roy is still having nightmares about it. I just remember when she died. In reality she probably was dead in 5 - 10 seconds, but her body was in seizures a little longer than that (I think), then the seizures stopped and I will not describe her any further. Rhett is doing okay. Somedays when Roy comes home at lunch, he has puffy, wet eyes, other times he is normal; he has become a "velcro" dog. I haven't gone with Roy when he takes Rhett for his walks around the block since last weekend. It's just so hard not having a leash in my hand. Roy has always walked Rhett and I always walked Scarlett. If we reversed this the dogs would just be all confused and look at us like we were crazy for switching. I know this all will get better. I hope that will happen soon. Annette

We were heading out to meet the human parents of one of Rhett's sisters at around 6:45 p.m. and as we entered the elevator Scarlett was electrocuted and killed. Scarlett was diagnosed with a soft cell sarcoma in time for her 11th birthday. She underwent radiation treatment and a long recovery period because she was always our "special girl" who "thought" too much and managed to get at her radiation burn no matter what we did to deter her. She was not allowed to play in the ocean last year at Dewey Beach because her burn had not healed yet. This year the ocean was too rough so we took her to the bay over by the Rusty Rudder. She took a drink of water, stood there thinking and wondering (if the water really tasted salty?) and took another drink and just made a face and proceeded to lay down in the water with just her neck and head showing above the water. She just loved being pulled around in her wagon which we started doing with her last year at Dewey during her recovery. Scarlett was the princess and queen that she thought she was. She was full of spunk and "piss and vinegar" and showed no signs of ill health. She was cancer free. Scarlett's death didn't really hit me until we went to pick up our kitties who were being baby sat by Roy's sister. As Anne and I were picking up the layers of carpet protection in their hotel room (Two of our kitties are almost 17 years old and have kidney problems and do not always use the litter box.) Anne noticed the packages from the cat toys we brought. We had to buy cat toys because we couldn't have them with Scarlett. There was always the danger that she would eat them and we planned on leaving them behind for her cat. We didn't have to leave them and that really hurt. On Sunday, a couple staying at the Atlantis, Lynn and Cliff helped us with Scarlett. Lynn watched Rhett while Cliff drove us to Dover to the emergency clinic. Wearing the pink beads I caught for Scarlett during the 100th anniversary Harley Davidson parade and wrapped in her pink Circle of Grey blanket we left her in Dover to be cremated. We really miss you Scarlett. So does your brother Rhett and your kitty sisters Taffy, Lefty and Garfield. Give all your critters a big hug. You never know when you will lose them. Annette and Roy ps: I have a picture of Scarlett in the bay and have always had problems trying to post pictures. If I email this picture to someone, could they please post it for us? Thanks

Just wanted to leave a short note that Roy, Rhett and I are almost back home. We are at my sister-in-law's house north of Milwaukee to pick up our kitties who she baby sat and to also take Rhett to the vet to take care of a ripped nail that occurred when he got onto the elevator. The kitties do not know that their sister is not coming home yet. They will surely miss her too. I want to thank everyone for their support and prayers and I will post more this weekend. Annette

I'm 40 DH is 42 Scarlett is 12 Rhett is 11 Taffy and Garfield (kitties) are both 16 Lefty (kitty) is 9??