# Ollie Bobba Head 04/1/2000-12/10/2011



## petmommyof5 (Dec 16, 2011)

I am writing this in remembrance of my darling fur baby Ollie who left this world for Rainbow Bridge this past Saturday. I am still reeling from the shock and my heart is still aching.

He and his sister, Greta, came into my life 11-1/2 years ago when I was young, single and all alone. I had just moved to Carbondale to attend SIU away from my friends and family in central IL. I found them in a petstore at the mall and no they weren't petstore kitties, a local shelter had their animals up for adoption there that day. I immediately fell for Greta, a little angelic faced silver tabby kitten, so beautiful and demure, almost, when I scanned over and there was another kitten, sprawled out on his back feet up in the air, all black except for a patch of white under his armpit and one spot on his belly. What a sight, pressed up against the cage where right next to him puppies were barking away, but little Ollie just lie there without a care. So it was a no brainer, I'd take them both! I took them back to my small duplex apartment and that's where the story began. 

Since that day back in the Summer of 2000, he and his sister, Greta have been with me through thick and thin, through 2 apartments, a townhome and a house. They have been by my side through a couple boyfriends, a passel of dogs (through one of the boyfriends) and now a husband, 3 stepchildren, a baby, 3 more dogs and another cat. They have been the one constant for me over the last decade. 

Ollie was a snuggler and always wanted to sleep right up under my chin, kneading biscuits on my neck. A few times I woke up with him actually lying right above my head. He liked it when I sang to him, especially the cheesy 80s song, "the Search is over". He drank out of the sink and always raced me into the bathroom to want the faucet on. He loved carton tabs, and played fetch with high-bounce balls. He was notorious for escaping outside, so I'd be out in my neighbor's backyard at night trying to catch him (he was an indoor kitty). Anyway, I could go on and on......

It was Saturday, when I was busy with my 16-month-old and visiting with my stepchildren who were visiting for their weekend, I suddenly heard Ollie yowling incessantly from the other room. I immediately rushed in to find him lying on his side on my stepdaughter's bed, panting, screaming in pain. When I picked him up I realized he wasn't moving his rear legs and his lungs were filld with fluid, making it hard for him to breathe. He was also drooling a great deal. I rushed him to the vet, the minutes felt like hours, and I could tell that my Ollie was dying right before my eyes. There was nothing they could do, his temperature was only 91 degrees. He had suffered a saddle embolus. He was suffering, so I made the gut renching decision to put him down. 

Although, he was definitely in a state of shock and didn't seem completely coherent when the vet was trying to administer the euthanasia drugs, he was trying to fight with the last bit of energy he had left; it still tears me up inside to remember. I have replayed it over and over in my mind. Thankfully once it was in, the suffering was over pretty quickly; they gave him a sedative as well to help him go to sleep. I will never forget his last breaths or his last meows, thinking I'd never hear that sound again. 

Thank you for letting me share this story with you. I am doing it for my Ollie to remember and honor his life here with me on earth. I know now he is up in heaven at Rainbow bridge, running free and healthy with all the other animals. I will never forget you Olllie, Ollie Bobba Head. Rest in peace.


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## cooncatbob (May 27, 2011)

I know how you feel this past May my beloved Samantha was stricken by cancer 5 days after her 16th birthday, I came in to find her lying on the floor in distress.
I rushed her to the vet where a mass was felt in her belly, scans revealed tumors in the intestines and around her spleen, it was cancer and extensive surgery would provide only a little more time at best.
I could bear to put my beautiful baby who'd never been sick or injured a day in her long life through such an ordeal and she passed away in my arms.
I've missed her everyday since, she was just a wonderful friend.


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## marie73 (Jul 12, 2006)

What a lovely tribute. How lucky for him that you saw him chilling in the back of the cage. He's probably at the Bridge teaching the cats how to be _cool_ (and how to run and hide in the clouds, driving the angels crazy).


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## petmommyof5 (Dec 16, 2011)

Thank you Marie. He was a special boy. How nice to imagine him running in the clouds and driving the angels crazy LOL!! Nice to be able to share with others who understand.


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## Abbie (Jan 13, 2011)

I'm so sorry for your loss. He was a lucky boy to have you though- thank goodness you were there to help him. I'm sure he's running free, causing havoc at the Bridge now. x


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## petmommyof5 (Dec 16, 2011)

Thanks Abbie. I tried to give him the best life possible. The Bridge is a much livlier and fun place now for sure


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