For those who have gone on to the Rainbow Bridge, and until we meet again:
Olivia
Olivia was adopted at the same kitten adoption event as Quint and was the first black cat at Colehaus in over two decades. She was very refined and extra lovey and graduated with honors from the University of Snuggling and Gentle Head Bumps.
Olivia had sleek black with faint Tabby striping underneath, making her a rare Black Tabby. She also sported a small white “locket” on the center of her chest. She had long, lean, super-model legs, expressive green eyes, and a velvety coal black nose. She enjoyed lounging with brother Quint and liked late afternoon snoozes on fluffy white towels. She was born in 2012.
Nicknames: Baby Panther, Sweet Baby O, Snuggle Bug, Shadow, Ms. Secret Stripes.
Olivia was proud Tabby Cat Club member #86.
Foibles: Believed window screens are for climbing and all the black-colored mousies were hers alone. Loved playing with milk jug rings above all else… but only the yellow ones.
Olivia’s last blog post can be found here.
Miss Newton
Miss Newton was a humane society rescue, adopted at an event to free space for the 2012 springtime kitten season. She and Dad found each other and it was love at first sight. Her fur was buff-apricot in color, the color of Fig Newtons to be exact, hence her name, and her eyes were beautiful sage green.
Smart, quick, and very talkie with just a touch of separation anxiety whenever she didn’t see Dad, Miss Newton loved green straws, IKEA mousies, high places, and Tessa, Pia Bean and Olivia. She had the very best of manners (used a napkin, though not while eating, and could identify a salad fork from a shrimp fork) and was very independent when the situation warranted it. She was born in 2008.
In July 2017, Miss Newton was diagnosed with high blood pressure and Stage 3 kidney disease. She was switched to a healthy wet food diet but sadly, kidney disease took her to the Rainbow Bridge on April 1st, 2019.
Miss Newton’s last blog post can be found here.
Her nicknames were Cindy Lou Mew and Fireball.
Miss Newton was Tabby Cat Club member #85.
Foibles: Talked all the time. Carried her three IKEA toy mousies/rats up and down the stairs. Laid on her belly with her legs stretched straight out behind her. Had a passion for Dad and nightly brushies.
Miss Newton, 2008-2019. We thank Ann Adamus for this beautiful graphic.
Ruby
Ruby was a new owner-surrendered senior cat at West Columbia Gorge Humane Society in 2012 when we decided to give her a trial visit here at home; a kind of Home for the Holidays Christmas 2012 thing. Naturally, she was confused and frightened at first but within days, began to find her place in our family. We officially adopted her before the end of the year.
A petite girl, Ruby had large green eyes and unique orange, brown and black tabby stripes. She had marbled pink and black toes and a dark brown/black stripe running the length of her back. She was born sometime between 2003 and 2005.
Ruby spent the first eight or nine years of her life living in a small, windowless sewing room in her first owner’s home. When we brought her here, she took to our master bedroom instantly, rarely going outside of the room, and loved watching birds and squirrels from the big picture window. Ruby loved summertime and summer weather and during that season, sought out sun puddle streams coming into our north-facing bedroom from the skylights above.
Perhaps saddened over the loss of fellow senior girl Sunny exactly one month ago, Ruby began losing weight and finally stopped eating in early August 2018. Appetite stimulator, syringe feeding and outright begging did nothing to help and she grew increasingly thin and lethargic. On Monday, August 13th, 2018, at approximately 12:40 in the afternoon, with Mom sitting close, giving brushies and whispering love in her ears, Ruby was helped across the Rainbow Bridge to the safe, warm Summerlands beyond by a favorite veterinarian. She is free at last to roam beyond walls and rooms, to run and nap in the sunshine she so loved. Her final blog post is here.
Ruby’s nicknames were Ruby Roo, Ruby Roo Sweetfeets and Pretty Girl.
Foibles: Ruby loved brushies before bed and snuggles with Dad. Had a playful, unique relationship with Mom who waited three long years before she could celebrate not being bitten at least once a week. Wasn’t much of a toy player but did allow Mom to pose soft toys on her head for photos. Every afternoon, Ruby insisted on a “snack” of daily kibble counted out individually, in French.
Sunny (a.k.a. Itty, Miss Itty)
Sunny, formerly known as Itty or Miss Itty, was a ginger and buff senior girl with anxiety and trust issues. She had age-related medical problems including undiagnosed advanced kidney disease, a propensity toward ear infections, a fluid cyst on her back and the need for dental work. After 884 days at the shelter, in February of 2016, we volunteered to become her foster family and in September of that year, we officially adopted her.
We discovered she tolerated other cats very well, was very independent, strong-willed and opinionated as all ginger girls tend to be. She loved our company and purred easily. She was very photogenic, enjoyed listening to reading, TV and music (James Brown seemed to be a favorite) but never grew fond of being picked up, petted, or brushed.
She liked playing with orange toys, particularly small orange whiffle balls, and upon special occasion, played chase with Miss Newton and Olivia. She thought reading the classics should be required of everyone and believed sleeping in the sun was vastly underrated. She was born in 2004 or 2005.
Despite her long shelter stay and numerous medical issues, her anxiety issues disappeared and Sunny seemed very happy at last. Her kidney disease worsened however, in April of 2018, and her weight continued to drop despite all attempts to feed her around the clock. She let us know she was worn out and tired, and while Dad held her close and Mom by her side, Sunny was helped across the Rainbow Bridge around 10 p.m. Friday, July 13th, 2018. Her final blog post can be found here.Nicknames: Pretty Sunny, Pretty Girl.
Foibles: Didn’t fear anything, including being accidentally vacuumed. Had her own special box for late afternoon naps. Followed Mom around the house and watched Dad do his chores to ensure they were done right. Was a tough, yet fair, Patrol Sergeant of Colehaus.
Zuzu
Formerly known as Erinn Zuzu and found mid-August 2013, Zuzu was a pregnant stray left behind when a family moved from the area. She was a short-haired, pudgy, orange Pixie Bobtail with large, golden eyes. She loved chin scritches and purred almost constantly. Zuzu enjoyed private conversations, whapping plastic balls, quiet tea time in the mornings with her Mom, and napping in the sun.
After giving birth to her four kittens, known as the Niblets, on October 4, 2013, and raising them all to perfection, Zuzu was adopted into the Colehaus Cats family in late December 2013. It was believed she was born in 2009.
Zuzu fell ill the weekend of September 23rd, 2017 and was diagnosed as in complete renal failure. She was called to the Rainbow Bridge on September 25th, at 3:30 in the afternoon, leaving the loving arms of her Mom and Dad to run free in the forever summerlands beyond.
Zuzu’s final blog post is here.
Nicknames: Bunny-Bun, Mama Bun, Mama Zuzu, Mama Niblet, Niblet Number One, Patrol Sergeant Zuzu, and fifty-some other nicknames touching on her slight pudginess.
Foibles: Having once self-appointed herself the Patrol Officer of Colehaus, she gave up that title to Sunny in late 2016 and enjoyed soaking up all the sunpuddles she could find in her retirement year.
Maxx
As the story went, Maxx was dumped in the neighborhood as a 4-6 month old, declawed kitten by a carload of “kind” individuals who gently placed him on the road, shooed him toward a sidewalk, and then sped away. Witnesses to the event never gave the incident a second thought. Three weeks later, with ribs beginning to show, he had made his way into our backyard where coyotes sometimes patrolled. We wasted no time adding him to our family.
Maxx was a Lynx Point Siamese with deep blue eyes with a slight cross-eyed flutter to them. He was born in 2004 and passed of kidney disease on February 11, 2015. He went in comfort with both of us and our favorite vet in attendance, and his favorite toy, his Busy Bee, at his side.
You can read Maxx’s final blog post here.
Nicknames: Maximillian Monkeybars, Little Maxx Blackfeet, Bubbles, Mr. Drama, Bubbles the Drama Cat, Mr. Grumpy.
He was Tabby Cat Club member #82.
Foibles: Carried around his own stuffed animals, specifically a Busy Bee – a bear dressed in a bee costume. When angry, he “drowned” his toys in his water bowl. Got special brushies every night because of his thick undercoat (his nightly collected fur were as big as kittens!). He never quite got along with the other Colehaus Cats, save Seth (and that was marginal at best), and tended to over-react to EVERYTHING.
Geoffrey II
A neighborhood feral stray who allowed us to become his friend. Geoffrey’s final blog post is here.
Seth
A humane society rescue, Seth was found at a local PetSmart giving hugs and kisses to an employee who let him out of his cage. He’d had a rough life before going up for adoption – he was blind in one eye, he had been poorly declawed and had weak front ankles as a result, and someone had docked his tail (!?!). None of those things mattered to us. We called him our “Comfort Cat” because whenever one of us was having a bad day, he was generous with hugs and kisses to let us know everything would be okay. He passed of heart failure on February 2, 2013. We miss his hugs terribly.
Seth’s final blog posts are here and here.
Nicknames: Earl of Orange, Viscount of Cute. Middle name was Ezekiel.
Foibles: Could roll over “on command” and was on YouTube. Insisted on drinking from kitchen faucet. His love of cardboard boxes was near-legendary. Thought Dad was the ultimate ManCat.
Cameron
A feral kitten of a feral mom living in overgrown blackberry bushes behind an apartment complex, Cameron was captured with his mom and two siblings thanks to our local Feral Cat lady and given homes. With Zooot by his side from the first day, the two were constant companions. It was true love that would last their entire lives. Cameron passed on June 16, 2012 of heart failure and perhaps, a broken heart seven weeks after the passing of the love of his life, Zooot. Cameron’s final blog post is here.
Nicknames: Stretchy Toes. The Wild One, F-O-X.
Foibles: Cameron loved shoulder massages and brushies at bedtime and walking with Zooot side-by-side.
Zooot
Zooot, sweetest ginger girl ever. That’s not a typo. There were three o’s in her name. Handraised with five siblings when a coworker’s cat abandoned them at 18 hours old. Zooot was the loudest of the bunch from the start. We kept one of her sisters as well, G.B., who lived until age twelve. All other siblings found loving homes and led happy, long lives. Zooot passed on her sixteenth birthday on April 26th, 2012 of kidney disease. Zooot’s final blog post is here.
Nicknames: Zoom. Pavarotti Pigpen. P-cubed. Little Orange Girl.
Foibles: Was first to drink from fresh water bowl. Gave sloppy kisses, but only to Mom. Loved crackers and sunshine and Cameron.
Crits
Crits was a pet store find. Crammed in a cage stuffed with too many kittens, she reached through the bars and batted Mr. Colehaus as he walked past. Lucky for us, Mr. Colehaus pays attention to such little things.
Knowing she was the only purchased cat in the house, she quickly elevated herself to Queen status. Despite her lack of claws (honestly, who declaws kittens?!?), for 22 years, without most of her teeth and weighing less than 10 pounds, she ruled the roost with an iron paw. We admired her tenacity and strong will and wish we knew what the deal was with her strong distaste for cream-colored cats. Crits passed of old age and kidney disease in 2011.
Skitters
Abused by a rotten neighbor, Skitters was locked in an attic for a month before being rescued. During that time, he ate his own fur to survive and for years following, was completely bald. Time and a healthy diet helped him regain most of his beautiful coat and his confidence soared enough for him to transision from outdoor bad boy to indoor lover. Skitters passed of kidney disease in 2007.
Geebs (G.B. a.k.a Gray Baby)
Geebs was the ultra-shy sister of Zooot. Sweet and gentle with the ability to get along with anyone and everyone, she was like the cat no one knew we had. Always hiding from loud noises and unfamiliar sounds, we wished we could have made her feel better about how beautiful she was. Geebs passed at home in her mom’s arms of heart failure in 2007.
Ian
Big Ian. Best friends with Geebs – the quiet couple. He was the tiniest kitten with the longest tail that grew into a forty-three pounder. Health issues later in life caught the attention of one of our vets who adopted him and made it her mission to get him back to a closer-to-normal weight. He finally dropped weight and lived out the rest of his life at twenty pounds.
Arie
Arie was your typical orange boy – overly curious and overly loveable. Given to us by a neighbor whose young daughter couldn’t grasp the proper way to carry a kitten, Arie grew from a scrawny, malnourished kitten to a twenty-five pound boy rather quickly. He easily took to wearing a halter and leash for outdoor romps and loved his green t-shirt.
When not getting himself into all sorts of predicaments, Arie like to watch TV, listen to music (Ozzy Osbourne was a favorite), and kept our reading books fresh with tiny bits of dark orange fur. Sadly, we lost him to what we now know was kidney failure in April of 1999, but not much time goes by that we don’t think of him and his entertaining antics.
OtRB sweethearts regrettably without photos:
Bob – OtRB 1989
Pinks – OtRB 1993
Joey – OtRB 1995
Stimpy – OtRB 1996
Dots – OtRB 1996
Geoffrey I – OtRB 1997
D.K. (Desert Kitty) – OtRB 1998
Vincent – OtRB 2000
And to the other nameless ones who briefly entered our lives, may peace be with you.
