Guest Star: Loving Memories of Dr. Hush Puppy: A Sweet Farewell

Hi everyone,

Today’s guest post comes from Jo Singer and her beloved cat Dr. Hush Puppy.

I will never forget our first encounter with Dr. Hush Puppy. But that was before this beautiful cat earned his PhD degree based on his intelligence, his curiosity and his loving bodhisattva nature.
We will never know whether it was serendipity or something so incredibly mysterious that lead us to have the joy and delight of being able to share our love with such a precious being. Although we were about to adopt a white female Oriental Shorthair cat, fortunately instead it turned out that a five month old lilac point Oriental Shorthair named Hush Puppy found us.

This monkey faced kitten flew across the room, jumped into my lap, crawled up on my shoulder and wrapped his paws around my neck. It was definitely love at first sight for both of us. We adopted him immediately. What was truly amazing was when we brought him home there was no need for slow introductions. Mousie Tongue, our five year old seal point Siamese welcomed him with open paws.

first pictures 006

However he hissed at him once slapped him over the head and then proceeded to give him a thorough grooming.

Hush Puppy immediately started purring up a storm. He got busy exploring every nook and cranny
around the house with Mousie Tongue in the lead giving him the guided tour. Then following a light snack they both curled up for a nap with their paws intertwined.
Two weeks later we heard from the breeder with some great news. Hush Puppy’s younger brother- a white Oriental shorthair kitten named Moonraker was up for adoption. Did we want him? You bet we did.

I can’t begin to describe how thrilled the brothers were to be reunited. All three boys were inseparable.

Years later the white kitten whom we first named Trouble, was renamed Sir Hubble Pinkerton.
One of the things we will remember the most about Dr. Hush Puppy was his insatiable curiosity about physics. He would knock things off the coffee table, measuring the time that each object took to fall. He loved doing research on gravity.

While he was sweet and loving he did have one major flaw. He was an extremely vain kitty who would often spend considerable time “voguing” in front of any mirror he could find. He was also patient to a fault, putting up with Sir Hubble’s mock attacks until he had enough. One slap of a paw over his brother’s head always put an end to these feisty shenanigans.

It would take me hours to be able to describe the joy and delight that Dr. Hush Puppy and his sweet brother has given us over the years. This past January we were thrilled when Dr. Hush Puppy turned 15.

We were looking forward to giving Hush Puppy a sweet sixteen birthday party. But that festive event was obviously not meant to be.
There is a part of me that intellectually understands that when we open our hearts to loving a kitty at the very same moment we must open our hearts to losing them. But as I write this my tears flow from the pain caused by the huge hole in my heart. My husband’s heart hurts too and there is also a huge hole in his brother’s heart as well.

Sir Hubble keeps calling for his brother; searching for him to no avail. Dr. Hush Puppy’s scent lingers but he is not here and it breaks our hearts that he feels so unhappy and alone.

A devastating illness can suddenly strike a beloved cat without warning. And no matter what we may do to try to find out what is wrong and how we can fix it, we often will lose that fight. On July 22, Dr. Hush Puppy told us it was time for him to leave his body and get his angel wings. He was surrounded by the people who took care of him, who worked so hard to make him well.

Dr. Hush Puppy was wrapped in a warm pink blanket. My husband Marty held him for the last time and I held him while his loving veterinarian, Dr. Erin Holder assisted him in his passage to the Rainbow Bridge. We all miss him dreadfully and we will grieve for him for a very long time.
There is no timetable for grieving. One day, when the time is ready, we know that other kitties will call to us and they too will weave their way into our hearts. Rest sweet, dear Dr. Hush Puppy. We will love you forever.

Puppy and Marty
Photos: Hush Puppy with Marty and Hush Puppy Posing: Photo Credit: Jo Singer

Thank you for reading their story and don’t forget to email us if you’d like to have your own story featured.

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Thanks,

Marc

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50 thoughts on “Guest Star: Loving Memories of Dr. Hush Puppy: A Sweet Farewell

  1. Jill Kuhn says:

    Thank you for sharing your touching story! ?? You are correct – we open our hearts for their love which also comes with the pain of losing them. But to be loved by their furry hugs is worth the pain I believe. ??

  2. susieshy45 says:

    The choice is to either take an animal in or leave them out- one way our hearts are full but the other way our hearth is empty- For me, I would rather choose the first because though our human lives seem long compared to animal lives, someday, even our lives will end and then we will go across and find our beloved babies waiting for us.
    Susie

  3. franhunne4u says:

    Thank you for sharing your grief with us even when it hurts twice to recount it after telling us about your joyful union and the happy times you had with the Dr. All of us who have lost a pet know it is a family member dying. And indeed I have shed a tear or two reading of your loss. Maybe I am just a big softie like that.
    Sad to read that Sir Hubble is alone now and misses company.
    I had that problem 2011, but my tom was much younger than Sir Hubble. One cannot introduce a kitten to a cat as old as Sir Hubble. One could as well ask an octogenarian to take care of a 2-year-old child.
    Leaves you with two options: Go for another senior cat if you want some company for Sir Hubble. Or wait till Sir Hubble dies, too. But that might be any time from now till he is 23 (some cats get that old!)

    Not an easy decision to make. If one of you is at home it is easier to wait I’d say. But if you two have to work outside the house, he might need company.

  4. kim881 says:

    What a handsome cat and a fitting name! So sad that you had to say goodbye. Our Max has been gone for over ten years and we still miss him. He was eighteen when he died and we buried his ashes under the willow, his favourite place to sit. Our two girls climb that tree regularly. I wonder if they know that he is buried there.

  5. taphian says:

    you can really see how content he was being with you. You gave him some wonderful loving years as he did to you, too. I can surely understand your gief, as I had a beautiful cat for 18 years which died some years ago and I still am sad about it. But we’ll meet again in heaven (I hope)

  6. pilch92 says:

    Thank you for sharing Dr. Hush Puppy’s story. He was a beautiful boy inside and out. I am sorry you didn’t get more time with him, but take comfort in knowing what a love filled life he had because of you and your husband.

  7. Pingback: My Article Read (1-23-2016) – My Daily Musing

        • Marc-André says:

          🙁 my childhood friend( cat )passed away when she was very old and while and while this was very sad she had given birth to three kittens two before that so it made is somewhat more bearable for us but I felt so sorry for her children. (She wasn’t meant to be able to have kitten btw! Vet was very confused as she was meant to be sterilised for years)

          • niasunset says:

            When I was a little child, my Dad didn’t let me to have a cat. He was worried about their furs… But I was crazy with them. Our house was in the garden and there was always cat around the home. I always took them secretly to my bed. But my Dad caught them always. And The cats were crying behind the kitchen door, I was crying in my bed. In the morning when my Dad went to his office, I took them again… Then one day I watched a film, it was so impressive for a child, I cried. And I watched the film all week days… We were living in a small town, there was only one cinema… The last time I watched with my Dad. I think he was impressed too… Something changed and I had a cat then… I had many cats and all their ending were so sad and tragic… But every time I had a new one… Cats I love them so much. By the way the film was Thomasina, have you watched it. I never forget. “The Three Lives of Thomasina is a 1963 British magical realist film starring Patrick McGoohan, Susan Hampshire, and child actress Karen Dotrice in a story about a cat and her influence on a family. The screenplay was written by Robert Westerby and Paul Gallico and was based upon Gallico’s 1957 novel Thomasina, the Cat Who Thought She Was God. The film was directed by Don Chaffey, and shot in Inveraray, Argyll, Scotland, and Pinewood Studios, England. Thomasina has been broadcast on television and released to VHS and DVD.”
            Sorry for such a long writing. Thank you dear Marc,Have a nice (cat)day, love, nia

          • Marc-André says:

            Thank you for sharing all this! 🙂

            And I’d never heard of that movie but I shall see if I can get a copy now!

            When I was a child I wasn’t allowed to have cats in the house because my mum was highly allergic so instead “my” cat lived at our neighbour – she took her in because I wanted her so much and she knew that I couldn’t keep her at our own home. So I went there every day. ^^

  8. niasunset says:

    Oh dear Marc, what a beautiful neighbour 🙂 This is so nice. There are many memories about cats, I think it could be nice to write them… Thank you, have a nice cat days, Love, nia

  9. Suzanne McDermott says:

    We lost our beloved Ginger Ale a little over two years ago on Christmas Eve. He lived with me for 17 year and I still grieve for him almost daily. His Buddy, Alonso joined us for 13 of those years and lost his mind after Ginger died and fled to parts unknown to search for him. Fortunately, Miss Tallulah remains and is content to have me all to herself. Thanks for posting this beautiful memoir.

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