LETTER TO MY FRIENDS

Dear all,

It is with great sorrow that I share with you that my dear, sweet Juliet passed away on Saturday, at 6:30pm, May 23rd, 2009. She was 15 years old.

Juliet was at home when she passed, surrounded with family and friends who loved her. Our precious Juliet may no longer be with us in body, but she will always live on in our heart and memory.

I am incredibly grateful to Mia and to my dear friends Rachael and Chrissy who spent the day with us and Juliet on Saturday, to make her final day on earth a loving one. I am also grateful to the lovely and kind Vet who helped Juliet cross over peacefully, and to the compassionate Vet Nurse who helped me through this tough time.

"Rest In Peace, darling Juliet. You were always a Mama's girl, a Glamour Puss, and the most beautiful and kind cat I've ever known. Give my love to Romeo, Tiffy, Simpson, my childhood cats, and all the other cats at Rainbow Bridge."

Please forgive if I don't respond to your messages right away - I will be taking some time off to grieve and remember my sweet baby girl.

Please give each of your furbabies a kiss for me, and treasure each moment with them.

Hugs & purrs to all,
Flippy.

LETTER TO MY JULIET

Dearest Juliet,

You were my constant companion. I got you when you were a tiny, 6-week-old baby kitten. All kittens are gorgeous, but even as a baby I could see that you were incredibly beautiful and that you would be a "Glamour Cat". The camera loved you! I took loads of pictures, each one more brilliant than the next, and could not wait to show your photos to anyone who would look.

I have the sweetest, most enchanting memories of you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart, for spending your life with me. It was an absolute pleasure to be with you and to enjoy your loyal friendship and unconditional love. For just over fifteen years you spent with me, I was honoured to be your human.

Thank you for teaching me so many endearing qualities. One of the most important was tolerance. The human race would all benefit from learning to be tolerant.

I love you forever, my dearest Juliet. You will always be with me in my heart, for I have the sweetest memories of you, your pretty face, soft fur, and gentle personality.

Rest In Peace, my darling,
Until We Meet Again.
Love and kisses always,
Your Mamma. xxxxxx

THINGS JULIET LOVED

Juliet loved to cuddle with her brother and littermate, Romeo. From kittenhood they would always sleep together, groom each other, and discover new territory. At each new house that I moved to, Romeo and Juliet were eager to explore their new back yard.

Three months ago I moved into a new home, where I was able to have a proper cat enclosure installed. It is actually two enclosures, joined by one very long tunnel. Juliet absolutely ADORED the new cat enclosure. Even at the final months she loved to be outside in the enclosure. On her last day, the enclosure was where she wanted to be. I let her enjoy her final hours out there, with me keeping her company.

FUNNY AND CUTE THINGS JULIET DID

Juliet would love to cuddle with me. At first, when she was a kitten, she would sleep on my neck. I would lie on the sofa to watch TV and Juliet would mould herself around my neck. She was the best and most precious neck-warmer ever.

As Juliet became older and bigger, she no longer fitted on my neck. Instead she would take her position on my chest, in the meatloaf position, with her face only one inch away. I couldn't view the TV of course, because Juliet was so close to my face. I would try to gently push her to one side so that I could see the TV, but she always resisted. Of course Juliet thought she was MUCH more interesting than any show on TV.

Juliet would often ask for *extreme* cuddles and smooches. During these times she would purr loudly and drool and rub her face on my face and my hands. After about ten minutes of serious cuddling, Juliet would abruptly jump down off the bed and run out into the lounge room - the part of the house where the large basket of cat toys was kept. Then she would dig out her favourite toy - most usually a "Kitty Tickler" - otherwise known as "feathers on a stick". Then she would meow plaintively whilst dragging the toy to the bedroom, holding it in her mouth by the feathered end. As she did this you could hear "tap tap tap tap tap tap …" as she trotted down the hallway towards me in the bedroom. There she would give one last, loud mrrerrow, and ceremoniously drop the toy at my feet or beside the bed. As if I hadn't noticed, Mia would always tap me on the arm and say "Juliet's bringing you a present!"

Of course at this point I would thank her profusely for the lovely gift, and proceed to play with her. She wouldn't be much interested in playing though. She was more interested in actually "bringing" it to me. She was such a good cat to bring me a toy so many times. It was quite a spectacle to behold - and always one of Juliet's most charming quirks. Mia was always amused by this performance, and I was always so honoured that my Juliet would bring me a gift.

JULIET'S SWEET NATURE

Juliet was one of those tolerant cats, the kind of cat that you would want in a multi-cat household. She would tolerate her brother Romeo starting squabbles. She would also tolerate him sleeping with her all the time - after all she was very warm and cuddly, especially during the winter months. Later on, Juliet would tolerate Chloe joining her and Romeo in their kitty cube. It was squishy in there, but very warm for short-haired, thin, Chloe. Later on still, Juliet had to tolerate another cat, Jetson, who just wandered in one day and decided to stay. Then we adopted Tiffy, the troubled little white Persian girl who was used to being an only-cat. Juliet quickly allowed Tiffy to share the bed, cuddles and playtime with us. Juliet was never jealous of the attention that we gave to the other cats - even though she was technically the "first" cat. By this time Juliet was used to new cats joining the family, so she hardly batted an eye when the two kittens, Cricket and Gin Gin moved in.

DIARY ENTRY - February 1, 2001

My Juliet likes to bring her 2 feather toys (feather on a stick) to me every night. She drops them just inside my bedroom door and meows loudly. I used to think that she wants to play, but it turns out that she just wants attention, which she promptly gets… unless I'm asleep of course. :-)

Romeo prefers to bring me more "real" looking toys, his favorite white toy mousie.

Every morning I have the task of picking up usually 3-5 cat toys which have been placed systematically in a column leading from the kitty toybasket to my bedroom. On some occasions there have been up to 10 toys removed from the kitty toybasket and my instant reaction is: "The cats have had a party!!"

PLACES JULIET ENJOYED SITTING

On my chest; On my lap; On my legs, etc.; Object de art; Pile of clean laundry; Bookcase; Kitchen counter; Tiny, teeny cat beds; The closet; The Cat Enclosure; The Bed; Perched on the arm of the sofa.

THANK YOU TO ALL MY FRIENDS, FROM FLIPPY

I would like to thank everyone who sent messages of condolence after Juliet's passing. I have saved them all and read them over and over, crying as I did so. Many of you have known me for many years now, and have known Juliet through my website. I am honoured that you loved her so much.

Thank you, dear friends, for all your support and wishes. Mia and I and the cats, Chloe, Jetson, Cricket & Gin Gin appreciate your kind thoughts.

Please give each of your kitties a hug and kiss from me -- they are never with us long enough.

Hugs & purrs to all,
Flippy.

CLICK HERE to see more pictures of Juliet

CLICK HERE to see pictures of Romeo & Juliet cuddling together

CLICK HERE to send an email to Flippy

CLICK HERE to make a donation to the catpage - In Memory of Juliet