At the time of your reading this, Bubbles has passed away. She will always be missed and will remain in our hearts. She has meant so much to our family and deserves to be heard. She certainly always wanted to be heard while she was living. She will be remembered as a very special mother and a very very special pet.
Bubbles is considered the matriarch of the whole family. In this particular case, Bubbles is the mother of a good portion (if not most) of our family of cats. She is the mother of Skittles Zipper, Brackers, Rascal, and Precious. We no longer have Precious.
Precious was given away to a good home and a woman who needed a “Precious” companion. We have lost contact as of this posting with Precious’ owner but within our last contact both the owner and Precious were in good health. We hope that continues.
Hind site being 20/20 though, the decision to find a home for “Precious” was always a decision that was regretted. One example…the whole litter of cats had similar issues through life. Some genetic. Thyroid issues were a problem… and almost all of them developed something having to do with the thyroid (with the exception of Brackers).
We worry that precious could develop issues with her thyroid and symptoms can be elusive at times (if not all out blown off or completely missed by someone who isn’t aware of what to look for). Having kept the rest of the family, the consensus is that one more cat wouldn’t have mattered. However; we carry some solace in the fact that Precious went to a good soul who needed a companion.
There were four other cats to the litter (listed above). All were very healthy at birth… and continually stayed “relatively” healthy their entire lives. Eventually issues showed up but generally not until their senior years.
Bubbles came to us as a feral stray. Not the typical feral cat, she was curious enough to get close and hang around. She had been coming for food (a daily habit) when one day she showed up and had obvious signs of pregnancy. After the initial visits outside to get her comfortable… She was lured into the hallway… eased into the house… and hasn’t left since.
Well, initially she went through the screen in the window to get back outside, only to circle around the house and come right through the hallway door again a few seconds later. Since THEN… she hasn’t left excepting for the visits to the vet. She became an instant member of the household… dogs and all. We had two full size dogs at the time (Chow mix and Golden Retriever) who were just enamored with the new house guest and then eventually the five kittens she would bring with her.
She had no issues using a litter box. By the time she came in the house, Bubbles wasn’t just pregnant but was very pregnant. She was to the point of looking for a place to have the kittens. We had a big cardboard box that we placed a blanket in and she was more than happy to use that.
Bubbles had her kittens and after trying to find homes for them… and really only finding one that met the standards we needed to see in an owner… the four other cats were welcomed to the household (making five including bubbles). They brought a heap of love along with them. Bubbles was always a good mother. That’s the way it was well into her litter’s teens and then their senior years. She was always the matriarch and the rest of them knew it, including the dogs.
Relatively speaking, Bubbles was kind of on the small side. Literally half the size of some of her sons. She was full of energy and rampaged daily. The others would just step aside and hope it ended quickly. If it didn’t (or someone got in her way) Bubbles would get her paws a’ flailing and a’ swatting with the claws extended. No cat or human dare get in her way.
She definitely maintained her dominance among the others right until the end. The true sign of a matriarch. Bubbles was always first to try things… first to get treats… first to explore and play… the first to welcome people home. Everyone had to check in with her when coming home.
Bubbles was a very vocal cat. Constantly wanting attention… constantly in need of something. She directed things with her voice and would talk to you if you were talking to her (and even when you weren’t). Her whining was a complaint then… but now is one of the things you miss most.
A very active cat, Bubbles was usually trim and svelte her entire life. Initially she was a free feeder on dry cat food. Usually the best stuff we could find but we came to realize that dry cat food had a number of issues. Bubbles started putting on weight and as she got older she developed some issues with her thyroid.
Both issues improved when we switched all the cats over to wet food (another story for another day). While Bubbles got her Svelte figure back… her thyroid issue stayed with her always and she was taking methimazole (thyroid medication) for the rest of her life.
She was a superb companion that wanted love but always gave it back. Almost from day one she fit right in to our little family despite her slightly feral background. We built some cat furniture for her (and the others) where they always played happily on them or found a great place to sleep.
Everyone got along with Bubbles and she treated them fairly (usually). That includes Belle ‘n’ Paws, however; Paws had a competitive dynamic going on with Bubbles. Bubbles was Queen here and Paws must have fancied himself a King at some time in his past. The difference being that Bubbles had claws and wasn’t afraid to use them. Where Paws does not.
In fact you could call it the norm that Bubbles had claws out and everyone backed off. Paws may have made a lot of noise but he backed down as well. It was never in dispute who ran the place. Anyone who raised any kind of a challenge to her authority was swatted aside… to include the dogs and us as well.
She let you know if she didn’t want you poking around her or even combing and brushing her. Her claws had to be kept clipped because she had no hesitation in bringing them to bare if she thought she had to. Sometimes she’d look you dead in the eye with her claws fully extended on an out-stretched claw with a look that said “don’t make me do it.” You know she meant it too. You genuinely could see her calculating out the dynamic.
