When it comes to cats, despite all the love and joy they bring to us, their lives are never long enough. When we have to say goodbye, it takes time to heal our hearts. Saying goodbye to a beloved cat is an inevitable fact of life we can’t help but dread. But, this doesn’t mean we don’t cherish all the beautiful memories spent over years together.
For mom, Christina, and her daughter, Isabella, Natasha and Smokey were two cats that left a forever pawprint on their hearts. For seventeen years they enjoyed their companionship. But when they both passed away in the same year, their loss was palpable. You see, Natasha and Smokey weren’t just cats. They were family.
I caught up with Christina after seeing absolutely adorable photos of Apricot and Buttercup, and was delighted to be able to share their story with all of the Cattitude Daily readers.
Sometimes in life, cats will come to us with a purpose. And for Apricot and Buttercup, they found their happy ending and a forever home—and in doing so, they’ve worked their magic to fill a void left inside two hearts…
First I’d like to back up a hair and tell you why we got these two kittens. We are a military family of 26 year with many, many moves under our belts. I have always had pets, mostly small inside dogs, but when we moved to Europe we weren’t allowed to take our dogs with us.
So, after a few months living in Naples, Italy, I was missing the love of a fur baby so badly that I ended up rescuing a cat. She was a short haired calico cat whom I named Natasha. I went over to look at kittens and cats and sat my carrier down. She just walked inside the carrier like she owned the place. I knew she had to go home with me that day. After about a week having her, I was at the ball field with my four-year-old daughter playing kickball and a friend brought a kitten, gray and white super soft long haired and adorable to the ball field.
She wanted to know if I wanted the kitten. I told her I was a one cat household and didn’t think that would be a good idea.
However, my daughter and Smokey saw my house very differently. Bella saw the kitten and came running off the field to hold it. Of course Smokey became part of the family. My daughter Isabella was 5 years old at the time. Last year in November, Smokey and Natasha both passed away. Smokey from cancer behind his nose and eye and Natasha from old age and possibly depression from losing Smokey. We had them both for 17 years.
Smokey
Natasha
It was devastating and felt like a funeral home in our house.
We definitely were not getting another animal for a while. Our hearts were broken. The joy and my daughter’s eyes was definitely gone. We both were depressed and lost without our fur babies. One Sunday afternoon, she and I went to the pet store just to love on some animals. It was a day when the Dover rescue shelter people were showcasing some of their animals.
These two orange tabby sweet babies caught our eye. They were both on top of each other scared to death in a cage.
Immediately we reached in and each took one. Of course we had to hold them next to each other because they couldn’t be separated. Again we were definitely not taking kittens home. We spent over an hour loving on these two babies and then… walked away. I asked my daughter if she was ready for fur babies again and she was still heartbroken from losing our beloved Smokey and Natasha. However, she called me the next day and asked if she could find out if they were adopted or not. She stayed in touch with the rescue shelter ladies for about 3 days checking on the kittens. She was adamant that they stay together. (I think you can see where I’m going with this story.)
On Thursday evening we drove to Dover and collected OUR babies.
They have been the life of the party. We just celebrated their one-year birthday, July 17th. It’s hard to believe how much love we have for these two kittens. Especially after all the love we gave to Smokey and Natasha. I know Smokey and the Natasha are looking down from heaven with smiles on their faces and purrs in their heart telling Apricot and Buttercup to take good care of us.
I’d like to give a special “thank you” to Christina for allowing me to share the story of Natasha, Smokey, Apricot, and Buttercup. Here’s to many more trips around the sun together for these orange kitties and their humans who will adore them for the rest of their days.
