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Coloration: Van Bicolor
Likes: Oliver loved looking out the window and laying on the sofa (especially with his Dachshund brother, Rudy).
Pet-Peeves: Children, anyone who touches his tail.
Favorite Toy: His catnip toys, his feather toy, Christmas tinsel (he loved to lay on it)
Favorite Nap Spot: You could always find him on the sofa.
Favorite Food: Fancy Feast's Ocean Whitefish/Tuna.
Skills: Tiptoeng through my knick-knack shelves without knocking one thing over! And also, we lived in a house surrounded by woods, so he loved chasing field mice when they'd get in the house.
Arrival Story: Oliver was born April 15, 1988, but came to us in the Fall of 1990. We were newlyweds, and this was our first "together pet".
His name was Fluffy ... and we rescued him when his owner (whose children had grown tired
of the new cat) planned to have him put down. He was only 1-1/2 years old! So even though
our apartment at that time didn't allow pets, we brought him home and tacked down the
window shades so our landlady wouldn't see him.
It didn't take long for us to figure out that "Fluffy" just wasn't a well-suited name
for such a regal animal. So we began calling him Oliver ... short for Oliver Barrett,
Ryan O'Neal's character from Love Story.
Rescue cats are not the easiest creatures to live with. For one thing, the children who
had first owned Oliver had picked him up by his tail, snapping it at the base. This was
the source of Oliver's life-long dislike of children. When company came and brought little
ones, Oliver hid under our bed until the coast was clear!
To tell the truth, he wasn't even that crazy about me or Steve those first few years.
More than anything, he "tolerated" us. He made that terrible feline hissing sound whenever we even
attempted to come near him, causing Steve to give him the nickname "Hiss Head". And
Heaven help the unfortunate who actually picked him ... immediate embedded back claws!
But in time, Oliver began to trust us. And it was a
wonderful day when I was sitting on the sofa watching television, and he crawled up
onto my lap and layed down. After that, he was a loving companion, especially wanting
to sit in my lap when I was working on the computer. And he loved to hop in the shower
with me. Most cats don't particularly like water, but Oliver sure did. He even came to
love sleeping in bed with us, usually sharing my pillow!
But even before he came to love us so much, he always adored his "little brother" ...
our miniature Dachschund, Rudy. At first, because Rudy was so tiny when we first brought
him home, Oliver thought he was a mouse, because he would try to "bat" him around. But
the first time Rudy went rolling across the kitchen floor, Oliver realized his mistake
and became a protective older brother to him after that. They were the best of buds!
Bio: I never thought about having to lose Oliver. When he became very ill on Friday,
February 18, 2005, Steve saw that this might be the end before I was willing to admit
it to myself. Oliver layed in the floor, unable to move, and when he wanted a drink,
he literally had to drag himself to his water bowl. Steve called our vet, and then
came into the living room where I was holding and gently rocking him. He told me that
the doctor didn't think it looked good, and he felt that our little boy might have
suffered a stroke, and that's why he couldn't move very much. Steve
got out his carrier, and I placed him in it, giving him a kiss and a hug.
Thank God, Steve was stronger than I was, and he stayed with Oliver to the very end.
He passed away in the vet's office with Steve sitting right there petting him. The
doctor had given him a tranquilizer, but they didn't have to give him the last shot to
take him to the Rainbow Bridge. When the doctor came back in to check on him, Steve told
him that he thought he was already gone ... and he was.
We didn't want to bury Ollie, because we know we'll eventually move and we wouldn't
want to leave him where we lived then. So we had the vet's office handle the cremation,
and kept him in an urn in our living room. Oliver will always be a part of our
lives, and I still can't think of him or see a photo of him without breaking down.
We miss him so much. So did Rudy, who for the next two years would walk from room to room
looking for him. we lost our precious little Rudy on the morning of August 2, 2007. His
heart gave out at the age of 15-1/2. Steve built a little casket for him, and we chose a
beautiful shaded spot in our back yard for him. We placed Oliver's ashes in with him, and
now they rest together forever ... brothers and best friends here on earth AND at the
Rainbow Bridge.
Forums Motto: I Found Love in My 10th Life with Sheba
The Groups I'm In: ๑๑๑❤THE ISLAND❤๑๑๑ , C & D CRUISE LINE, Fox Den, St. Nicholas Village
Sorry it's taken me so long to getting around to working up a Catster page. But you know how I was on earth? Well, I'm even more so up here. And that means, like ole' Blue Eyes used to sing, I did it MY WAY! But I thought that three years is long enough to keep you waiting, so here goes.
First of all, I want to thank you for rescuing me, and at the same time apologize for being so slow in making up to you at first. I like you and all, but well, it's just a cat-thing and you probably wouldn't understand. But after awhile, I was really crazy about you (I just didn't like to show it too much). Also, thanks for getting me a little brother to play with. At first I thought, "A Dachshund??? They got ME a DOG???" But it sure didn't take long for me to figure out that I loved Rudy more than anything on earth.
Oh yea, speaking of "on earth" ... I really hated to leave you, Mom & Dad. But when that stroke hit me, I just didn't want to go on if I had to crawl around and pull myself up to my food bowl. I was a little scared at first, but having Daddy there with me helped so much. One minute you were rubbing on me, and the next thing I knew I was here at the Bridge! But there's no regrets. I had a good run down there (almost 17 years!!!) and no cat ever had it as good as I did when you took me in. So thanks for the love and affection, and thanks for beautiful memories that I got to bring up here with me!
I really LOVE it here at the Bridge. Oh, I really missed home at first. But last year when Rudy arrived, well that made all the difference for me. It's just like home now! And the two of us have the best time still! We've both made new dog and cat pals, but we're together through everything we do. And just like at home, I got here FIRST so I got to teach Rudy the ropes!
I'll write when I can, and let you know how things are going on this end. I'm really happy, and now that you know that, you can stop crying for me. I appreciate the sentiment, but you know I never was that big on emotional outbursts! I'm glad you have Shiloh now. She's really a looker! So just love on her, and know in your heart that your boys are okay and looking out for each other.
WOA, I just saw a mouse run by! I gotta go for now and chase it! That's another great thing about the Bridge ... you can chase mice all day long (we just aren't allowed to catch 'em!).
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