Max Greenberg, April 1, 1912 - February 6, 2005.
Polly Greenberg, October 16, 1916 - September 20, 2009.
I love you and miss you both very much, Mom and Dad.

Jesse, July 1993 - March 19, 2009.
Toby and Jesse came to live with me on July 3, 1993. They are my soulmate cats. Jesse was named after Jesse James. I was thinking of paired names and was considering Frank and Jesse. Toby wasn't really a Frank and the paired naming fell by the wayside. But Jesse was still a Jesse and that stuck.
Jesse was my pillow buddy and gentle friend. He loved coming up on the couch with my friend Mark and me and getting a lot of petting. When we slacked off on that, he would grab our hands and drag them over to his side. Jesse slept on my pillow and took it over (and it's a king sized pillow). For many years, I haven't used the pillow. I just made up a small bolster-like roll from a fleece and used that in front of the pillow. Jesse was my Mr. Bigpaws: he was extra polydactyl (ie, several extra claws on each foot). That made it hard to argue about the pillow.
Jesse loved the little mice with real fur toys. Those were his thing. As he aged he developed hyperthyroidism, but was fine with medication. About a month after we lost Toby, he was diagnosed with CRF, but that was still in the early stages (as it had been with Toby). In his last few months, though, he was losing weight and finally he stopped eating much and clearly had something wrong in his mouth. It turned out he had an aggressive bone tumor, and his jawbone was pitted. Our vet said he would likely not eat again, so we let him pass in comfort instead of bringing him home to waste away in pain. Jesse, I want you back with me, and I hope you and Toby have found each other and are together again now.

Toby, July 1993 - June 18, 2008.
Toby and his brother Jesse came to live with me on July 3, 1993. They are my soulmate cats. Toby was named after the old family film Toby Tyler at the Circus. He was up on the couch the first night at my house and the way he looked and the way he looked at me reminded me of that movie. I turned to him and told him he was Toby Tyler at the circus. He was a bit standoffish at first, but turned into a lovebug after a few months. He became the dominant kitty over Jesse after Jesse was ill as a kitten, but mostly they were equals.
Toby was my dear friend. He liked to get dinner and treats but he also came to me just for petting and sometimes just to sit with me or be near me. He would come sleep against my legs and feet on the bed. He liked to play hide and seek and he loved cat dancer toys in his early and middle years. As he aged he developed many diseases/conditions: asthma, mild chronic hepatitis, seizures, and finally CRF. He was a trooper about taking his meds and he did well even with all of this until the end. But sadly, he also must have developed heart disease which caused him to throw a blood clot in his legs (saddle thrombus) and put him in a lot of pain. I took him to emergency and had to let him go. Toby, I miss you very much and I always will. Please watch over Jesse.

In December 2000, Toby, Jesse, and I took a stray kitty, Lily, into our home, too. She died from lymphoma on January 18, 2003, way too short a time with us. Lily was a short-haired brown/gold/black tabby, very striking markings. She and the guys avoided each other, but they co-existed, at least. I saw her watching us for a day or two, then took her in after finding her eating a frozen mole in my front yard; she was very, very thin at the time, obviously not being fed. She became very heavy, always looking for more food, and eventually she went on a diet, which seemed to be working slowly. I think she had an eating disorder from when she was a stray. Lily liked to sleep up against me in bed and to come lay down beside me when I took the cats outside and sat supervising. Despite being heavy she was a good hunter. She brought me a few mice in the summertime. Lily had lymphoma which we found out too late to save her. I miss you, sweetheart. I will always be honored you picked me.




This is mem's friend, Moby, who left us at 10am, December 19, 2002. mem is a good friend of Toby and Jesse and gets purrs from both. He also got purrs from Lily. Moby usually got a colder reception (they would sneak away from him).

Moby taught me that dogs can be good friends. Before I knew him, I was afraid of most dogs (having been chased a little by a snarling dog as a little girl). Moby was friendly and sweet, boisterous and playful, and very loving. I taught him to growl when playing tug of war with rope and pull toys. I'm very proud of that. He loved walk time and was friendly with all the neighborhood people he passed. He was a Samoyed/Sheepdog mix and liked the cold and snow. In the winter he liked to lay down on top of the snowpile left from shoveling the driveway and stay there a while. He liked to eat snow in the winter and grass in the summer.

Moby is greatly missed. He was a wonderful holy terror. Good boy, Moby. We love you.
You'll be missed always.

Thumbs was a stray who was heard meowing in the bushes at my friend Rob's condo group in the spring of 2007. The group there started leaving out food on their decks and Thumbs was happy to eat it. Rob often left his back door open in the warming weather and Thumbs would come in to visit. One of the neighbors finally convinced Rob to admit/accept that Thumbs was living with him now. Thumbs was named by another of the neighbors because he was polydactyl with huge double front paws. In late April 2009, renal failure was found. Accelerated treatment (IVs) and testing showed the renal failure was spiking not abating. An ultrasound revealed the reaason: Thumbs had cancer, probably lymphoma, and it had spread into at least his kidneys, spleen, and liver. Thumbs was a very strong cat and other than weight loss and some inappetance, he seemed unaffected by his illness and very happy. Rob continued treating him but just at the end of May, Thumbs declined quickly. He passed on on May 28.
I met Thumbs after he became ill and got involved helping Rob treat him. Thumbs was a true sweetheart, friendly and open to everyone and very, very dear.

My sister and her family found French Fries wandering in their neighborhood in Phoenix and took her in back in 1995. She was a beautiful and quirky silky tortoise shell kitty. She spent much of her time in their linen cupboards, coming out in the evening to knead my sister in bed and then play in the house at night. When I visited, she liked to play with me, chasing the strings and toys I dangled for her. My nephew Eric grew up with French Fries, never knowing a time without her until she was released from the battle with a worsening illness on August 10, 2009. May you have many cozy cupboards at the Bridge, sweetheart.

In July 2010, my sister's family went to the Arizona Humane Society to adopt another kitty. Her son couldn't decide between two sweet kittens, so both came home. The girl was named French Fries (it's a tradition) and the orange tabby boy became Catsup. They weren't siblings, but after a bit of hissing and working it out, they became close friends. They slept and played together and shared in the love and care of the family. On June 3, 2011, Catsup wasn't feeling well and went to see the vet. It was discovered he had feline infectious peritonitis (FIP), which is currently incurable. The prognosis was poor, he would not last much longer. He had a treatment to make him more comfortable and came home to loving and comforting. On the night June 8, he became too sick to go on and my sister and family had to make the awful last trip to the vet. Catsup was the most affectionate cat my sister ever had and he was most beloved. He is sorely, sorely missed by the whole family. Goodnight, sweet boy.

This is Sundance. She lived with her brother Butch in Livermore, CA, along with my brother Rob and his wife Donna. The cats' full names are Butch Cattidy and the Sundance Kit. Sundance passed on very unexpectedly and suddenly on February 12, 2003, at 10 and 1/2. She was a petite, lovely lady. She and Butch sometimes ignored each other but other times they played together, much like Toby and Jesse. Rest easy, Sundance; you are missed.

And here is Butch. He followed Sundance on September 16, 2006. He went in his sleep, at 14 years old. Rob, Donna, and he had moved to Chico a few years prior. Butch had started to stay home more as he got older, so he arranged for more petting and loving sessions and he's left a huge void now. I hope that he and Sundance are united now and watching over Rob and Donna. Many purrs to you Butch.

This is my brother Rich's family's dog Bubba. He was nearing 11 when he left us on April 15, 2006. Bubba was a giant golden retriever who wanted to be a lap dog. He was very gentle and well loved by all his family, including his proteges Lester and Monte and his kitty pals, and all of his people. My brother used to lay down along side him on the floor and they'd just hang out. We miss you, big boy.


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