Catolli Fantastico
Good morning everyone, Yesterday was the most beautiful day we’ve seen in Sacramento this year. The air was fresh and crisp & the clouds were fluffy. At 3:45 pm Catolli went to heaven. It was so peaceful. We held his paws and petted him as he journeyed to the next life. We cried, celebrated him and it could not have gone any better. Our only regret about sending him on his way was that his best friend and nanny, Jessica, could not make it in time. We got an update from the ICU around 3:00 that there was no change from the morning which was no change from the night before. Since there was no improvement in 36 hours, every moment he stayed on the ventilator just delayed him going home. We wanted him to get to heaven as soon as possible. Thankfully, she was able to see him the day before and say goodbye for that day. She’s our little angel. Some of our favorite memories of Catolli are that every single day he awoke loving life. He was always so positive and ready for whatever the day could bring him. As all of you know he was indoor cat that loved the outside. He would wait by the patio door every morning to go outside in his cage and watch the ducks, geese, birds and fish jump in the lake. He would stay out there for hours on end just soaking in the fresh air and sunshine. He never got petted enough either. He loved the dining room rug and would flop around like a fish as we’d rub & scratch his sides. He’d flip from the left to the right and back over and over and over until we stopped. I think our record was nearly ½ an hour and we tired out, not him. We’re not sure if purring or tail wagging was more important to him. His motor always ran and his tail never stopped. Whenever Carrie was home she would chase him, wake him up and play with him. She had a great philosophy. She always said “he can sleep later”. Needless to say, whenever she left town, he’d sleep for two days straight! Every time we’d leave town together, Jessica would report that he’d help her study by sitting next to her on the couch. She’s a phenomenal student and will make a wonderful vet some day. Her compassion for animals rivals our own. Heck, she’ll probably be the one to cure cancer someday and we hope she does! Every one of you got to know Catolli. Some for a very long time and some only for a brief time. He taught us all the best lesson life can give which is to love every moment and treasure the time we have together. He brought out the best in everyone! He was a cancer survivor for almost 4 ½ years. It’s hard to believe he’s gone and our house is very difficult to be in right now. Everywhere we turn there are reminders of him playing, running, chasing us, acting like a kitten and trying to tell us he really wanted a lick of butter or taste of Doritos. Yes he liked Doritos and butter! They were rare treats. When we lived in Mpls, there’s a whole story about how his Uncle Jim watched him once when we were out town and let him have butter. We could never open a butter wrapper again after that without Catolli running to the kitchen! Finally, we’re not sure if all of you know how fate brought Catolli to us. Our Godson Christopher’s birthday is February 11th. Our tradition with him was to spend the day with him, have lunch somewhere fun, let him pick out his present and play video games all afternoon. In 2007 we rescheduled twice for various reasons and ended up getting together a couple weeks after his birthday. When we arrived to pick him up, he handed Carrie a beautiful cat and said “here’s your new cat, Aunt Carrie”. Catolli looked up at her, started purring, looked at me and started making “biscuits” with his paws. I knew we were getting that cat. However, I did not want a cat and as pretty as he was, I was ok leaving him behind. Carrie talked about that cat constantly the entire day! There was no question she wanted him. Carrie’s sister Julie foster’s cats that await adoption from a no kill shelter. She had just received Catolli (who went by a different name at the time) a couple days prior to us visiting Christopher. He was due to be shown for adoption the following Thursday. There’s no doubt in anyone’s mind that he would’ve been adopted immediately. I called Julie the following day and let her know I wanted to adopt the cat for Carrie’s birthday a month later. Julie, the saint that she is, offered to keep him for a month so he would be a surprise on Carrie’s birthday. Her husband Tim and kids Kaitlyn, William and Christopher all became very close to Catolli. It was extremely difficult for all them to let him go. They’ve told us many times over the years that Carrie was the only person they’d allow him to go to because he was so wonderful. Thankfully, all of them were very close to Catolli and visited often. Had we seen Christopher originally as planned or even at the first rescheduling, we would not have gotten him! Thank goodness for Julie, Tim and the kids! Thankfully, his prior owners gave him up to a no kill shelter. We know that we’re his 4th owners. A prior owner chipped him and we found out that he was at the humane society in Golden Valley, MN twice in his life before being given to the shelter that Julie and Tim support. There’s no question in our minds that God wanted us to have him. It really was fate. Catolli’s legacy is that all the data collected during this process will be used to help other cats with cancer and his genetic profile will be added to an incredible study. There are several other studies being done that will benefit from him in various ways. Once they collect all the tissue samples they need, he’ll be cremated and we will spread his ashes in a private ceremony. The one thing about our little Bubby Cat is he was hands down, the smartest being we ever met. Carrie grew up with lots of cats and I’ve had a few in my life. Catolli was so much more intelligent, kind, giving and understandable than any other animal we’ve ever encountered. It’s uncanny how smart he was. We love each and every one of you and cannot thank you enough for all the wonderful support over the last week! Your prayers, thoughts and good energy clearly made him better on a daily and hourly basis. Thank you all so much! Please do not hesitate to call, email or text anytime if you want more information or just want to share good memories of him. We do not have everyone’s email address, so please forward this on to anyone that you think would want to know about his passing. In closing, we must thank Kate, Steven, Dr. Hunt, Dr. Lyons, Jessica, Oncology and the entire UC Davis hospital for all their wonderful work in treating him, saving him, giving him a chance to recover and continuing his legacy. We are also grateful to Dr. McVey, Dr. Henson and the entire team at U of M that saved him 4 years ago and gave us an additional 51 months with him. They all did a magnificent job and he was in the best hands in the country – twice!! Again, thank you all so very, very much! Attached is a sketch that Jessica did of Catolli. It’s called “Grouchy Catolli”. Apparently, he was not in the mood to be drawn that day. Even the perfect ones have an off day! We hope you enjoy it. All our love, appreciation and compassion Catolli, Carrie and Johann

Drummer
Drummer passed away in the middle of the night, surrounded by his family.

Dolly
Dolly passed away after a few months of declining health. She lived out her life in a loving foster home. We will miss you Dolly.

TJ
TJ had kidney failure and lived out the rest of his life at his foster home. He was loved and will be missed.

Lulu
Folks at St Francis, Lulu adopted us 6 years ago at an adoption day at Pet Smart in Woodbury. After getting “the thumbs up” from Bert our Irish wolfhound she came home to be a part of the family. We had always had Irish Wolfhounds and the thought of a coon hound in the family just sounded right. When we drove into the driveway and up to the house Lulu started to bay like you have never heard before. She thought she was at the hunting lodge and it was time to go for a hunt. Without hesitation she checked out every tree and gave a good howl to let us know she was quite capable of doing what that nose was intended for. Bert patiently followed after her and chased anything he thought she approved of. Lulu did manage to escape on her own a couple of times and Bert would hunt her down or she would come back on her own. She went to Katie’s class and did everything she was taught but only after she decided it was worthwhile or could get her something to eat. Lulu never missed an apple in the orchard no matter how well it was hidden. Since Lulu’s arrival she raised two more wolfhound puppies which now are adults. Whatever Lulu said was law and they obeyed. She was a loyal companion to all of us. She loved long walks in the woods, her hearing was gone but she still had spirit to keep going. In May she went to the vet and got a clean bill of health but in October she just didn’t seem to be herself. After a trip to the vet and several tests she was diagnosed with cancer and given weeks to months to live. Within a week she had stopped eating and would only drink broth. We knew it was time to say goodbye. In the spring we are going to spread her ashes along the paths she loved to travel.