Hi everyone,
As many of you know Shrimp was a special online friend of ours so when we found out that she had passed over the rainbow bridge we were very sad. đ
The below tribute post will most certainly require a box or two of tissues:
Greetings Humans! ?
This is Shrimp âreportingâ from beyond the Rainbow Bridge!
Shrimp (May 2009- October 11, 2017)
As most of you know, Iâve gone over the Rainbow Bridge.
The humans are still hurting and I know a lot of you are also. Fur just a few minutes Iâm going to set aside my normal Cattitude â (yes, I still have Cattitude)- and talk to you humans about my final days as the âspoiled brat Queenâ of my house.
Yes, I suffered before I died. But it wasnât because I was abused or neglected, like some other kats.
They took excellent care of me â even when it made me mad! And what I want you to remember is thanks to my humanâs great love fur me, Iâm not suffering any more!
In fact, I see things differently now that I went over the Rainbow Bridge â things that I couldnât see or understand before.
(But I still hate dogs)âŠ
Hereâs what happenedâŠ
The day the human took me to the Animal Hospital, I had seemed purrfectly fine that morning. The human hadnât noticed anything wrong- She fed me my favorite Fancy Feast, and went on with her usual Sunday morning routine.
But she was getting ready to groom me, and she looked at my face as I laid on the back of the loveseat, and thought something didnât look quite right â then she noticed I was breathing really hard and fast.
She didnât really know what to do, so she kept checking on me every few minutes and started trying to get my vet on the phone. Apparently the vet was not answering calls on the weekends, so she started calling every vet clinic she could find and when she still couldnât get hold of anyone, she decided to bring me to my vet the next day.
She called the Creatureâs Mom and Dad and said she had to stay home the next day to get me to a doctor- (I was nervous, but glad she would be staying with me â she didnât know it, but I was scared)!
Finally, a few hours later, it was getting harder for me to breathe, and the human noticed I wouldnât eat or drink, and hadnât moved all day, and she began to be afraid that if she couldnât get me checked by vet QUICK, I may not make it till the next day.
And thatâs when I saw it â the light started to go out of my humanâs eyes, and though she tried to keep a light tone to her voice, I knew she was starting to crack. I tried really hard not to let her know how miserable I felt â but weâve always had an extra special bond with each other, and she just knew.
Soon after that, she took me to the Animal Hospital.
That place was scary! I was really struggling to breathe, and the human was struggling to keep it together (neither of us was very successful).
They took me away from my human and wouldnât let her come with me for the exam â that really bothered her because she wanted to stay with me.
After awhile, the doctor came back and said they thought I had pneumonia â and they gave me antibiotics, and fluids and a couple of hours later let me go home with my human (with more antibiotics).
The human hoped and expected that by later Monday afternoon I would be feeling at least a little better â and she watched me carefully. She stayed home with me and made me baby food and tried to get me to drink water like the vet said -but still wasnât seeing improvement.
When Tuesday came and went, and I seemed to be even more miserable, she told the Creatureâs parents and they gave her the whole week off so she could stay with me and take care of me. Every couple of hours she kept trying to get pedialyte and water into me with an oral syringe from the vet â because they had told her to be sure I was getting water and food so I wouldnât start having worse problems.
When it was time for me medicine and fur her to give me fluids, she would look at me struggling to breathe, and knowing I just wanted to be left alone, and that moving me made my breathing even more difficult â it was so hard fur her to pick me up and keep trying to push the medicine and fluids, but she kept doing it because she didnât want to take away my only hope of getting better.
At the time, I didnât like it â but I knew she was trying to help me.
She held me and stroked me, and told me how much she loved me and kept things quiet fur me, and kept telling me how precious I am to her. She thought I didnât notice it, but I could hear tears in her voice.
I had gotten up and walked away after she gave me my last dose of antibiotics Tuesday night -(even though I only managed to get to a pillow under the desk by the loveseat where she had been holding me)- and she was at the end of her rope.
Her heart was broken at seeing me struggle so hard to breathe â and knowing that there was nothing else she could do to help me.
She had been crying on and off all that day and her eyes were swollen. She got herself a cup of tea, and sat on the couch, purraying fur me, and started to cry like Iâd never heard before. Now my heart was breaking. Because I knew I was dying â but now I understood that she knew it too â and I couldnât tell her that I didnât want to leave her either.
Ever since my human adopted me, there have only been a few times Iâve heard her cry⊠But when I did, I always rushed to her, and stretched my paw up to touch her, and Iâd trill at her and snuggle up in her lap top comfort her.
This time, she wailed â Iâd never heard her do that beforeâ and I couldnât bear knowing she was hurting so badly, so with all the strength I could muster, I came out from under the desk to go to her and comfort her as I always had before â but I was too weak to hop up onto the loveseat â so I just walked over and collapsed at her feet. Then she sat down on the rug beside me â and stayed with me.
She stayed up as long as she could with me â not wanting to leave me. When she did go to bed finally, I followed her (but she didnât know it).
The morning I âdiedâ
Wednesday morning, the human woke up and called me â but of course, I didnât come. I knew I was at the end, and I was hiding under the head of the bed.
She looked fur me and saw me â and was relieved that I was still alive â (I now know she had woke up every morning afraid to look fur me â because of what she might find).
She noticed that my breathing was worse â and my eyes werenât as open as before â but she still needed to take care of Twilight, so she decided to do that and then come get me out from under the bed for my medicine.
But soon she heard me let out a long, loud wail from under the bed, and she dropped everything and came to me.
She gently slid me out from under the bed, but immediately noticed that it made my breathing harder and I wailed again â but now she knew that I was only getting worse â not better â and she placed me in a carrier to take me back to the hospital.
That was the last place I ever went with my human.
Once again, they took me away from her and led her to a purrivate room to wait fur the doctor to come talk to her.
When the Vet came in, the human already knew what she was going to say. She had gotten little sleep since Iâd gotten sick, and was exhausted and heartbroken already. The Vet told her there was nothing they could do fur me and confirmed what she had felt all along, but refused to accept.
I was dying and was in pain. The human couldnât bear me being in pain, so even though it hurt her so much she asked them to take away the pain.
The Vet laid me on the humanâs lap and then gave us a few minutes alone to say goodbye -(but the human was the only one talking)- and when I wailed again, the human called for them and the vet came in and told her what would happen.
They gave me a shot to relieve the pain and I immediately felt better, but was still unable to breathe â the next shot relaxed me and made me go to sleep.
Then, another shot stopped my heart.
The human fell apart as she saw me take my last breath; Â but it got worse when at that very second, blood began pouring out of my nose onto her â and bile from under my tail.
The technicians came quickly and took her from me to clean me up fur her and give her a few minutes to calm down.
As soon as they left the room, she tried to clean up the blood from her hands and clothes and the floor -and an assistant came and told her they would take care of it. She sat down after scrubbing her hands, and cried as though it was the end of the world â
But what she didnât know, was that I am still ALIVE. My body died- but I myself and still alive â and no longer in pain!
Thatâs when something happened that stunned her fur a minute â and made everything much easier fur her to bear â
God let me show her that I was alive (in spirit)- she looked up and saw me fur a split second sitting on the counter, and I simply looked at her and said âThank you.â
It stunned her â and she stopped  crying â and was comforted, because she realized that no matter how much I had gone through, it was now over â Iâm not suffering anymore â and in that one glance I also let her know that I knew she was trying everything she could to spare  me and make me well. And that I love her and have loved being her Baby . She knew I was thanking her fur letting me go and fur not forcing me to suffer alone.
They brought me back to her all cleaned up (in a kitty coffin) â (which made the tears start up again)- and gave her this to remember me by â
My Pawprints!
Fur all you humans out there who have lost a beloved (Spoiled brat) pet- know that they are no longer in pain. And they never furget you and your efforts to take care of them and nurse them back to health. All of us up here at the Rainbow Bridge want you to know we are watching out fur you â and not to keep mourning our âloss!â
We donât want our beloved human pets to go on mourning us-Â Â we want you to be relieved that our pain is forever over. Never again will we suffer, be sick, be diseased, be injured, afraid, abused or neglected.
Shoot! Thereâs not even any FLEAS up here! ?
What itâs like over the Rainbow Bridge
Here, the grass and flowers spring right back when we lay on them, play with them or eat them! The Rainbow is more beautiful than anything on earth â and has colors in it that have never been seen on earth!
And it rains here (fur those of us kats who, like me, love to play in the rain)- but up here, we never get wet and cold! And there are big trees to climb, but we no longer get scared when we climb to the top â and there are no kat fights here (unless in play), because we kats arenât jealous or afraid of other kats encroaching on our territory here!
There are no dangerous storms or tornados or hurricanes, or fires- nor any speeding cars or  even any mean humans.
There are insects and birds and bunnies and butterflies everywhere for us kats to catch and play with â and mice and squirrels too â but up here, when we play with them, they donât get hurt! They even enjoy playing with us because they arenât afraid of us anymore!
And there are rivers and streams full of fish that swim toward us to play! There are no loud vacuum cleaners, lawnmowers or trucks, it is peaceful and beautiful.
One more thing we want you to know â
We can still visit you! (But you may think itâs just your imagination)- just so you know â it isnât! ?
So please â donât grieve any longer â we want our humans whoâve loved and cared fur us and rescued us to be happy â because we are!
So hereâs an addition to Shrimpâs story, from me who went over the Rainbow Bridge a while before her and now chases butterflies with her on those green meadows she described so well: Do not be scared to help us over the Bridge when the time comes, and do it before we really have to suffer. Itâs one big advantage we have over our humans, that they can help us go before things get really tough. Death is not the worst outcome. It can be a blessed relief for us. Yes, they miss us (we are, after all, indispensable…), yes they will cry (thatâs humans for you!), but in the end, if they love us, they should let us go. And remember us well, as we will always remember them.
<3 awwwwww thanks for the extra extension.
Beautiful and sad :'( rest in peace lovely <3
<3 thank you
I’m so sad right now, reliving the memories of all my babies who had to leave me. Never easy.
Oh no. Didnât mean to you remind you. <3
<3 <3 <3
Such a beautiful tribute to SHRIMP! ?
Thank you <3
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OH MY. What a beautifully written piece. My beloved cat, Bosley, died in a similar way a few years ago. He also left me and my family a “sign” behind to say good-bye. Your tribute to Shrimp brought me right back to that incredible moment. May Shrimp, and all the God given special cats in our lives, rest in peace.
Thank you <3
This required a case of tissues and brought back all the memories of friends I’ve helped over the rainbow bridge. Hugs!
Oh no! I should have put up a tissue warning. đ and yes itâs made us cry as well when we scheduled it. ?
What a beautiful story. I consider myself, tough, but still cried at it.
Although, I believe that all anger and dislike is gone,also..on the other side of the bridge. So, you must like dogs now too.
what a beautiful story. <3
Thank you đ
Oh my … So sad I started crying and couldn’t complete reading until I stopped sobbing. I know Shrimpie wasn’t my kitty but this made me heartbroken nonetheless.
Hugs to you little Shrimp and your human mom. â€âŁ Shrimp kitty you were undoubtedly well-loved.
It made us cry too so we know what you felt like while reading this. đ
We loved following Shrimpâs adventures. ?
God let my precious Rocky come back and show me. It is a great comfort.
<3
Shrinp Daisy Mae and I never new you. In fact, you died before we got to know you. Sorry you suffered but glad you weren’t abused or neglected. You sound like you were a sweet cat. We are sad you died. Wish we knew you.
Thank you on behalf of Shrimp and her family. <3
I cried my eyes out. I lost my beloved George last year and this hit home hard. Iâve been trying, through tears, to write âour storyâ because he truly was the greatest cat Iâve ever had
:/ oh no so sorry to remind you of that… if you are ready to share his story weâd love to offer you a space like we did for Shrimp. <3
Thank you. I keep trying to write about my number one boy but it’s slow work!
I can imagine. :/. <3
What a sweet tribute!
Thank you <3
A lovely tribute. It reminds me of my dear boy Orion, who passed away around nine years ago, but still lies on the bed from time to time and plays with Nezumi, the calico who was his adopted daughter.
Thank you! <3
This lovely tribute brought tears, and made me think of my own kitties who have left for the Rainbow Bridge. Rest in peace dear Shrimp and peace and comfort to your humans.
<3 thank you on behalf of Shrimp
And her family.
That was very beautiful. I’ve never had a cat, but I’ve lost two birds, and the last one I had to have euthanized as he had a stroke. The finality of being with your pet … it brought it all back.
I remember when I lost my first pet. It was kind of a squirrel like animal. But the vet said he was surprised how old he got usually they live to 3-5, mine was 10! All his fur had turned grey.
It was devastating to me as he was a companion pet to me since I work from home and have no family. I vowed there will be no more pets brought into this house as I can’t go through that pain again, as much as Buddy’s presence enriched my life.
đ itâs a difficult one.
Yes it is.
A really heart breaking story bless mom and Shrimp. x???
I know. ? we miss Shrimp
Still canât read any post that mentions the rainbow bridge. Itâs been a year since Jamimaâs final journey and itâs still too soon. Cheers,H
Oh no :(. So sorry to bring back those feelings.
Itâs ok, wouldnât be human if it didnât. Just canât read about it. Cheers,H
<3