All Dogs (and Cats) Go to Heaven. I hope.

I have lost a lot of cats and our sweet Madame dog this past year. They have been such good friends that I wanted to do a special post, just for them, as a tribute.


Lily and Mittens (as a kitten)


Lily's baby, Thumblina


Tiger (and another of Lily as a kitten)


Mittens (again) & Gingersnap

and another named Chowder. I don't have a picture of Chowder, but he looked identical to Tiger. Tiger and Chowder were a bit wild and didn't really like to cuddle with us, but they were the best mousers ever.

Mittens was our snuggly little boy. He let us cradle him like a baby and rub his belly. Such a sweetie!

Lily was a beauty. I've never seen her colors or markings in any other cat. A tabby face with a cream body and the bluest eyes you've ever seen. She was loving and kind and wonderful. She was the mommy of my kittens that I told you about in June.

Her kitty, Thumblina, or Lina for short, died too. She was a sweet little kitty, but she was tiny and weak. She was a favorite of both of my girls because she was so cute and sweet.

Gingersnap was a pretty, sweet cat. She wasn't at all snuggly like her brother, Mittens, but she wasn't wild like Tiger and Chowder either. I always felt that if she was tamer she'd be the best cat around.

I'm not sure what happened to these precious animals. We do live by a busy road, and they were very curious, but we also live next to neighbors who trap and kill cats. I can't blame them too much, because we do have a neighbor with a number of cats, with many being feral and prolific. The neighbors do what they think is best, I guess. I just mourn mine that I've loved and lost.

And we lost a part of our family this year too. Not a human, but as close to it as you can get. Our beloved Madam.


Madame was our dog that we brought to Utah from Kentucky. She originally came with our Kentucky farm. Her owners couldn't take her with them when they moved, so we agreed to keep her. It was one of the best decisions we ever made. She was sweet and wonderful and good.

She had come to them a young mother with pups. They kept her and had her spayed. They figure she was about 3 years old at the time. They had her for 3 years until they moved. So by the time we got Madame, she was about 6 years old. We had her in Kentucky for 5 years, and then here for 6 more. We figure she was about 16 or 17 when she finally died the first part of this month.

She was originally an outdoor dog that was converted to an inside dog. She never had an "accident" until she got so old. She is buried in our flower garden and a rose bush is planted atop her grave.

I sincerely hope that this next year won't bring the losses of last. While pets aren't ranked as high as people in our household, they still hold a permanent place in our hearts.