Tribute to Moo

We lost a member of our family yesterday.  Moo, our cat,  passed away.  It was a sad occasion and she will sorely be missed.

We have had Moo for about 5 1/2 years.  She received her name from Brianna who was just around 1 at the time.  She said Moo to describe every living thing.  Although most fought the name at first, after awhile it just stuck.

Moo had been sick for awhile.  We took her to the vet and they couldn't find anything wrong with her even after many expensive tests.  Still we knew she wasn't right.  We believe now that it must have been cancer.

She deteriorated before our eyes and was often secluded away.  This last week she resurfaced.  She was everywhere that we were,  seeking attention and love.  I think it was meant to give the kids some positive memories of her last days.

The night before she died, she was clearly in pain.  Roger said to her as we were going to bed, that it was okay if she had to leave us.  She made us happy and we could let her go.

The next morning she was taking her final breaths.  The kids sat around her in a circle and pet her and told her goodbye.  5 minutes after we left for school she passed away.

So for family night we had a funeral for Moo and buried her next to Dakota our dog.  It is heart wrenching as a parent to watch your children cry and hurt from sadness.  But it was a good teaching moment as well.  We talked about the plan of salvation and how it is necessary to go through these things.  This is the laboratory of life and  we learned from it.  We also talked about our good memories of Moo and we all realized that the joy she brought us outweighed the sadness of the moments.  So here is the list we compiled of the good times with Moo:

-She is the only cat we know that loved to play fetch.  We would toss pom poms or hair bands and she would chase them and bring them back to us.  Daddy especially loved this.  Pipe cleaners were her favorite things to play with.

- She loved Graham Crackers for a treat.  Her favorite ones were the generic ones called Galletas Graham.  She would even beg for them.

-  She was an excellent fly catcher and she would jump high in the air to get them.

-  She loved the smell of gun powder and practically attacked Ryan one day after he went shooting to be able to smell him.

-  She loved clean sheets.  Whenever I would make the bed, she would hear it and come running.  She would jump up on the bed and lay there as we put the sheets on.  She then loved to push her paws into the sheets from underneath.  It became a weekly game for us.

- She would hide behind the couch and jump at the kids when they peeked at her.

- She loved playing and laying in your hair, especially if it was newly washed.

-She took turns sleeping on every one's beds and kept our feet warm at night.

- Once, so Roger claims, he was standing in the family room and she jumped from the couch and landed on his head.

-The funny cat loved ice cream and couldn't wait to lick your bowl when you were done.

-  When you were in a room and the door was  closed, she would stick her paws underneath from the other side and try to get you.

-When the kids were little and in the tub she was always so curious about it.  She even fell in on several occasions.

-She loved Christmas.  The tree, the wrapping paper, the boxes and so forth.  But she had 2 favorite ornaments.  A small Christmas stocking and an ice skate with a pom pom on it.  She would take them off the tree and carry them all over the house.  When we found them, we would return them to the tree to find out late that they once again had been removed.

-She bonded with Daddy and was always talking to him.

-Since her food was in the bathroom she loved going in there every time someone went to the bathroom.  She became our bathroom buddy.

-Lastly, she loved the family.  Wherever we were, she was too.  She followed us from room to room and was just always a presence.  That is what we will miss the most.

We loved Moo and she will be missed.