My First Baby

Before we were even married Terry bought his first house in West Linn and I went with him to the inspection of the house the previous owner said she was moving into an apartment and couldn't take the kitty {who's name was snoopy} along with them and would I be interested in keeping the kitty. I said yes without even asking Terry and that was the begining of a long friendship with Snoopy who I then named Raja after Raja the tiger in Aladdin. I found out later that Raja means king and he quickly became king of the house so it fit him much better. He was only 9 months old when we got him and although his previous owners had de-clawed him they let him be an outdoor kitty which got him into many many fights with other cats {who had claws}. There were several times where he almost met his early demise - getting an absent from getting into fights with other cats. Once he was gone for several weeks and when he came back it was obvious that he had been very sick. Another time he disappeared for over 3 months and I considered him gone for good but he returned over three months later weighing only 6 pounds {he weighed 11 1/2 before he was lost}. I still have no idea what happened to him but I am thinking he somehow was taken away from our house and made his way back home.

one of his favorite places to nap in the sun - the window sill in our bedroom

He used to get into everything

He has been a part of our life for the last 17 years and on Friday I had to take him to the vet and put him to sleep. I knew it was coming so I didn't think I would be so up set but I ended up being overwhelmed with emotion. We had a lot going on for the weekend and Ian was out of town with a friend so I didn't tell the kids until Monday night.

Terry had thought that none of the kids would notice but I thought Emily would notice however, I never expected her to be so perceptive. First thing on Saturday she asked me where Raja was because she went looking for him and couldn't find him. Later that evening she asked again saying that she and her friend Katie had looked and could not find him still. Then on Sunday she started ask if I thought Raja had passed away and by Monday she was sure he had passed away. When I told the girls that yes, Raja had passed away both girls cried - Emily cried a lot even though she had already been thinking that he was gone. She wanted a photo of him to take to school the next day and then went to bed and cried herself to sleep. Ian took it much harder than I expected, although I think it was because he was tired. I miss Raja, he was a good kitty to our family.