Our sweet Kitty Tulsa passed away 2 nights ago. He was born in 1994 and ended up at the shelter. When I walked in the door they were actually walking him back to put him down. He had been having seizures. I immediately adopted him and we started running tests to find out what was causing the seizures.. turned out he was reacting to the bleach they used to clean his kennel.
Tulsa grew up thinking he was a dog! He came when he was called, chased balls, and brought them back. When he was young he would collect socks and pile them in a corner in the closet, as he got older and we moved into a house with a basement, he liked to catch cricket spiders and would do horrendous things like remove their legs and put them in a corner and put the bodies in another pile.. I guess he had OCD! The first time I saw him with a dog he had latched his claws into the back of a German shepherd and was riding him.. or hanging off him!
Tulsa helped us foster mommas and kittens.. and I'm not sure if he was confused or just an amazing helper but he would jump into the momma cat's whelping box and pick up the kittens and take them out one by one to a nest he had built where HE would try and nurse them to give the momma a break.. It never worked but he really thought he was doing a good job and I think the Mommas enjoyed the break. He loved to let the kittens climb all over him and he'd play with them.
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| Tulsa & Fred |
Then we started fostering dogs and Tulsa ... crazy Tulsa would cat train each and every one of them, well except one.. Nala! Tulsa must have cat tested and trained over 200 dogs during his foster career! And I will never forget Daisy's Birthday Party! Daisy was our golden retriever and one year we had a really big birthday part for her, that included 36 dogs (and their people) and one Rabbit - who more or less came across as the streaker in college who runs down the street to see if he'll make it! This rabbit ran from one end of the back yard to the other right under the party tent with all 36 dogs and Tulsa chasing him! Tulsa was right at home in the middle of the pack with all of the dogs and any dog who got too curious or too fresh got a hiss and a good whack across the nose.
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| Tulsa kissing Daisy |
Tulsa NEVER Ever left our property, even though he would go outdoors. He'd follow the dogs on a walk, just to the edge of the property, then stop as we left, and then walk over to the other side of the property and wait for us to walk around the block and come up the other side and then he'd rejoin the gang.
As Tulsa got older and sicker he still wanted to be in the middle of everything so we'd sometimes put him in Buster's cart and take him for rides with Buster while we walked the dogs.. I think Tulsa enjoyed it but Buster wasn't too thrilled that Tulsa would sit on him for a better view!
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| Tulsa hanging with Daisy |
Tulsa was one very special kitty in that he helped our other animals who had passed on, cross over. When our cat Fred passed away, Tulsa was sitting with him, and actually ended up sitting on him after he passed and his body started to get cold. He was even grooming him. Watching this totally broke my heart, but I couldn't bring myself to stop him. Before Daisy passed away, Tulsa sat with her constantly, and it looked like he was praying with her.
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| Tulsa saying prayers with Daisy |
Our sweet Tulsa quietly passed away at 4:30am in bed next to me. I think it was a relatively peaceful passing, no seizures, no hospitals, no strangers in the house, no craziness, no shots, he went on his own and met all of his other kitty and doggie friends on the other side of the rainbow bridge. I'm sure he's chasing bugs, sunning himself, and chasing lizards (a recently discovered hobby) and occassionally working with St. Peter to help cat train dogs in heaven!
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| Wrestlemania with Tulsa & Simba |
