If you have followed the posts here for ^Itchy^ and ^Copycat^, you know that in May 2004 we lost 3 cats in about half a month. Electra was the 3rd to leave us to continue her journey alone.
Electra was originally Donna's cat before we merged our clan of cats. She possessed a wonder curiosity and loved to follow people around in the house. She also ruled the roost.
In my intro post thread there is apost with a lot of images of animals in this area. One is of a lot of cows on the road (as seen from the house) and I said below it that I now hate cow day. The explanation to that statement is as follows:
Each spring a large group of local ranchers move their herds to the summer grazing area up on another mountain. The move takes them about 20 miles and includes over 1000 cattle. We missed the date the first year out here, likely on a trip to Bozeman or Missoula. In 2004 the day they were moved was May 29th and that was also the morning that Electra decided that she had enough and though she loved us, it was time to move on. That morning I was talking a lot of pictures of her upstairs, when we heard mooing in the distance. Suddenly the road was cow coated and Donna took Electra outside in her arms to see the cows. (I am starting to cry now) So when the cows are moved I remember Electra and the pain of that day. The pain was augmented as we had lost Copycat 2 dayd prior and Itchy 13 days before that. I just did not think I could take another death and survive.
So here is the bio for Electra, the prettiest striped cat in the universe.
I first met Electra in 2000. She was adopted from a no-kill shelter in Illinois around 1990. Electra was a wonderful friend to us all. She was strong willed, independent and loving. In the house she was known as the prettiest striped cat in the universe and she wore that claim well. She was the only cat here who would and could take Hamlet on and win and Hamlet learned to have a lot of respect for Electra in the time they lived together.
I will always have wonderful memories of her wanting a taste of the butter on my Sunday toast or a string bean off my dinner plate. She loved catnip and would roll in it and guard the spot where it was from all other cats. She also guarded the upstairs water fountain, as if it was hers alone, and she would let all others know how she felt about it. She loved her hooded bed and could be found it in almost every day. She had a regal air about her that you could feel as she walked onto the room. I miss seeing those monster paws with the fur tufts and hearing her deep meow. We love her dearly.
(Electra and Calliope in 2000)
After Donna and I moved here, Electra began to have problems with her colon. It turned out to be mega-colon, and due to her age it was decided not to have surgery to remove a portion of her colon, since there was a good chance she could become incontinent. Rather she was taken to her vet as 1 or 2 times a week, to get cleaned out. As more time passed her kidney values began to climb as well, and we know she was slowly going into kidney failure. Electra, like Itchy, was a fighter though and she fought it all the way to the end. On May 29th 2004 the battle was lost and we had to let her go. It was a very very sad day for us all. We had lost Copycat 2 days prior and Itchy 15 days before that. I lost it at the vet’s this time, and had my first panic attack.
I miss Electra very much and always will. Donna misses her more than I can imagine and I feel so bad for her it hurts. Electra now starts the next part of her journey where we shall one day be with her again. She will forever be painfully missed. She was the queen of the house, not afraid of anything. The house will always have a cold and distant feel in the air without her to warm it up for us. She IS and will forever be the prettiest striped in the universe.
Electra we all miss you so much it hurts.
In loving memory of Electra. The prettiest striped cat in the universe.
Electra's journey with us ended today, May 29 2004.
She now starts the next part of her journey where we shall one day be with her again.
She will forever be painfully missed. She was the queen of the house, not afraid of anything.
The house will always have a cold and distant feel in the air without her to warm it up for us.
She IS and will forever be the prettiest striped in the universe.
(tomorrow I tell you about Hamlet, my soulcat and best friend. That one will be the hardest to talk about for me. His is the image I use here for my icon)
