RAINBOW BRIDGE
We dedicate this wonderful poem to all the beautiful cats who have graced our lives, and yours. Please feel free to copy and distribute this poem freely. Author unknown.
Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge.
When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone
here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge. There are meadows
and hills for all our special friends so they can run and
play together. There is plenty of food, water, and sunshine
and our friends are warm and comfortable.
All the animals who have been ill and old are restored to health
and vigor; those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong
again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times
gone by. The animals are happy and content, except for one small
thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be
left behind. They all run and play together, but the day comes when
one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are
intent; his eager body begins to quiver. Suddenly, he begins to run
from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him
faster and faster.
You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend
finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to
be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your
hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more
into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your
life but never absent from your heart.
Then you cross the Rainbow Bridge together...
-- Anon. --
Tinkerbelle
April, 1994 - Dec, 2007
Tinkerbelle and her brother Casper were part of a litter of kittens born to a friend's cat. Both solid white, Tink was shorthaired while her brother is a longhair. Sweet, loving, a true lap cat, I helped her go to the Rainbow Bridge rather than sit and watch her bleed to death internally. She was on Tapazole for her Hyperthyroidism, and was one of only 4% of cats who have bad reactions to it. It caused bone marrow disease, which destroyed her ablilty to clot her blood. It also made her severly anemic, which cause heart problems. Several hours after having a needle draw of urine for lab work, I became aware that she was bleeding internally, into her bladder, as she was peeing blood. The ER had no donor cat for the transfusion that might have saved her, so I chose to let her go. She is sorely missed.
Five vets, two of them specialists, did not know what was going on with her, or we could have easily fixed the problem by stopping the Tapazole. The problems are reversible if caught early enough. Blood tests should be done monthly for any cat on Tapazole, with close monitoring of the hematocrit levels to check for anemia, as that is the first sign. Many, if not most, vets are not aware of this kind of reaction - I found the information when I did a search online for side effects of Tapazole - I was alerted to it by a chance comment made by vet number 6, who is now my regular vet. I post this information in the sincere hope that it will save even one other cat, as that way, her needless death will at least serve some good purpose.
Rest in Peace, sweet girl. I'm sorry I didn't know enough, sooner.
The following are some of the other wonderful feline friends we've made over the years, and who now wait for us on the other side of the Rainbow Bridge. We look forward to seeing them again.
Teupi is where it all began - a
wonderfully loving and 
extremely intelligent
cat who was with us for 18 years. His soulmate and lifelong companion, GC Fagan's
Lady Iris, could not go on without him, and died of a broken heart at 17, one month after
Teupi's death. Both of them are still sorely missed, even 20 years after they left
us.
Bear and twins Rocky and Stormy were orphans who shared our hearts and our
home for five years. They died in a neighborhood epidemic of Feline Leukemia that
was spread by an undiagnosed carrier cat. Now, we only wish they had had the benefit
of today's vaccines. They live on in our hearts.
Bandit, who stole our hearts, gone but never, ever forgotten. He died before his first birthday of FIP.
Ragsdale
We lost Rags several years ago, at age 18, to kidney disease. Gentleman, soulmate, and the total lap cat, he is sorely missed, even now.
Charlie was a
beautiful red Persian that graced our lives for 12 years before throat cancer forced us to
let him go. Sweet and loving, we miss him very much.
Callie, sweet, loving Callie, left us at age 17. Between her arthritis and the Hyper Thyroid, we could not force her to stay thru the pain. A beautiful, loving cat that will always be missed.
My sweet boy Sunshine, lost to Congestive Heart Failure in Jan of 2007 at the
tender age of 6 years. He'll be forever in my heart, and beside my pillow.
BACK TO HOME PAGE BACK TO PHOTO GALLERY
.. .......
.......... 
..........
..........
..........
Purr-fections
415 Westchester Drive
Altamonte Springs, FL 32701
PH - (407) 260-6668 FAX - (407) 260-5289
E-meow: topcat@purr-fections.com