Pebbles has the honor of being our first cat we owned as a couple. We consider her a rescue because she was the last of a litter of kittens that we had seen at a local pet store. We had a dog at the time and we were there getting food. It turns out a family had dropped off a litter of kittens to the pet store. We assume they couldn’t take care of the kittens and the kittens were so young that they should have still been with their mother which was no where to be found. The per store was a small pet store and was never really clear on the full story.
They didn’t normally deal with selling kittens or cats and they weren’t equipped to handle kittens, never mind these kittens that were supposed to be still with their mother. The pet store usually handle supplies and occasionally we would see rabbits and small animals like mice but essentially they sold pet supplies and food.
The store started getting rid of the kittens quickly. They were selling the kittens for fifteen dollars each. They weren’t trying to make money on the kittens, they were only looking for some money to recoup their expenses for keeping the kittens fed and taken care of them for the short time they had them. It turns out that all the kittens were “pretty” and unique so they went rather quickly. By the time we went to the pet store to grab some dog food for “Goldie” our golden retriever, all the kittens were gone except one plain grey cat.
While checking out of the store, this kitten was walking around the cash register at this pet store. The store didn’t have cat cages or observation booths so they kept her at the register for people to see when they came in. The kitten seemed enamored with me and was just so cute in her curiosity and her walking back and forth on the counter, I started asking questions about her and learned her story. The issue was that this small pet store was not equipped to handle a kitten that was so young and she normally would have still been nursing with her mother. In fact, the store was already giving her kitten food and they completely realized that the kitten was something they weren’t really going to keep doing.
They had already started making plans to bring the kitten to the ASPCA but at the time if you brought an animal at the ASPCA, you were expected to also give a money donation. I believe it was about 25 dollars at the time. This small pet store hadn’t brought this kitten yet because they were hoping that someone would indeed be able to take this kitten off their hands and welcome her into their home. That’s when I came into the store to buy dog food.
I instantly fell in love with this kitten and took on the responsibility of taking her. I gave the store $15 for taking care of her for the few days they had her and I took her home. Once home I realized that this kitten needed a name. I started thinking of the perfect name but I didn’t like anything I was coming up with. Finally I sat down to eat, and grabbed a box of “Fruity Pebbles” cereal to eat and I almost knew immediately this would be her new name. I asked the kitten what she thought of the name “Pebbles” and she started rubbing up against me that told me she loved it as well. Pebbles finally had a name and new home.
Pebbles was very young but she had already been introduced to kitten food and really wouldn’t touch anything else at this point. We tried nursing milk and tried getting her to drink kitten formula but she had already gotten used to the kitten food so we eventually came around to her thinking and just started picking up kitten food regularly. While it was the easier route for us, we had initially tried to get her on a better regiment of feeding. Pebbles just wasn’t interested in nursing with milk any longer.
We took Pebbles to the vet. She needed a full round of shots. She was essentially a rescue with no veterinarian care under her belt so we started her with the vet we were already taking Goldie (the Golden Retriever) to. Pebbles didn’t like the vet but I’m sure that attitude came with the shots and blood samples that always seemed to be part of the initial visit. Pebbles was a healthy kitten and besides her very young age, there was no real issues for her.
Pebbles had a problem keeping still. She started getting into everything in the apartment, and when we’d go to work, we’d come home to little issues that had told us that Pebbles started getting into things and was curious enough to start taking things apart and ripping up things. Initially it was cute but when she started getting into important papers and knocking things on to the floor, we started realizing she didn’t have enough toys. So we splurged on a number of toys. This seemed to be the answer for about a week but I started thinking that Pebbles needed something else.
Without telling my better half, I made a trip to the ASPCA on my day off. I initially wanted to see what they had for kittens. I had made the decision that Pebbles needed a friend or companion and thought another kitten would be the best answer to our problem at home and her playing alone. It just so happens that the ASPCA had gotten a litter of kittens in and they had just come of age where they could be given a new home. It’s been said that you don’t choose your pets, they choose you. That seemed to happen with Pebbles and when I went to the ASPCA that day, there was one kitten in particular that walked right over to me and started the loving rubs.
I didn’t initially go to get a kitten. I was only there to look and I could bring my better half later if I felt they had candidates for a companion for Pebbles. We had already talked about getting Pebbles a companion but it was something we would do together. However, another kitten had found a soft spot in my heart and it wasn’t long before I had coughed up the donation fee and Pebbles new companion was on his way home with me. It was my day off so I got to initially introduce the new kitten to our home and Pebbles.
Pebbles took to him immediately. They started to play and run around the house like they had been friends since birth. I then waited for my better half to come home from work and explain the situation. She was initially upset because we had left the idea of getting a new kitten a joint decision but I had clearly done it all by myself. However, after a short explanation and seeing the two of them together, she came around and seemed to drop the whole touchy subject.
We had to come up with a name for our new family member, and as you can imagine, it didn’t take long to come up with the name “Bam Bam”. It wasn’t just because of the obvious connection with the “Pebbles” name though.
It turns out this new kitten had a habit of smashing his paw to the ground when he’d play with Pebbles and he wanted her to get away from him. It seemed obvious to us that “Bam Bam” was the perfect name and “Pebbles and Bam Bam” became a team. They later would become a bonded pair of cats but this was clearly the beginning of their friendship.
It turns out that Pebbles and Bam Bam were about the same age. Pebbles had already been with us for a couple weeks before getting Bam Bam and they were almost exactly the same size. It wasn’t long before we had to get Bam Bam fixed and then shortly after we brought Pebbles for her spay. This wasn’t a particularly happy time for Pebbles as some spayed cats don’t have a good experience. It’s not that the experience was bad but it was prolonged with Pebbles not enjoying the whole process and seemed depressed as well as very sore.
Medically the whole procedure had gone fine but psychologically we think Pebbles REALLY didn’t like what had happened and she had a bout of depression initially. However, she eventually came out of it and there were no issues or complications medically. It was cute and heartwarming to see Bam Bam sleeping with her constantly. They were a team but Bam Bam clearly wanted and liked his alone time by this point and you could tell he was concerned. Things did return to normal as Pebbles got her groove back.
As mentioned, Pebbles and Bam Bam became a bonded pair of cats. One wouldn’t do anything without the other and they obviously liked each other and were a team. If one was doing something mischievous, the other was either “lookout” or heavily involved themselves. We have one story after another where these two cats had developed elaborate plans they had obviously planned or were in total sync with their thoughts. It was cute while also being alarming when they had put their thoughts together. These were two smart cats.
We had a wonderful 13 years with pebbles before Pebbles developed hyperthyroidism. It came on suddenly. She started losing weight and lost her robust appearance within two weeks. She also started vomiting more consistently. Every cat vomits occasionally with a hairball or when something doesn’t agree with them, but this was different and became more frequent. Upon bringing her to the vet, we learned that she had developed kidney disease.
Looking back at the situation in hindsight today, we felt the veterinarian misled and misinformed us then. The vet informed us that that Pebbles had kidney disease and there wasn’t much that could be done. He explained how she could get fluids daily and also said that hyperthyroidism doesn’t exist in cats. He mentioned the kidney disease would require fluids daily and Pebbles would suffer through the entire ordeal. We didn’t know it at the time but our veterinarian was very wrong.
Pebbles was with us for 14 years. She passed away after complications with this kidney disease. While today, we might have been able to extend her life with home care, medications, and lot’s of love, We were told the disease didn’t have a recovery rate and it was thought the best thing for Pebbles was to think about her quality of life. With a heavy heart, we made the decision to help her cross the rainbow bridge. We now know after having several cats with hyperthyroidism and hypothyroidism, that it these conditions are very manageable and cats can live enjoyable and happy content lives.
As mentioned, we now know better and the internet has enabled a person to do an extreme amount of research that generates a tremendous amount of information to make a more informed judgement and decision about your cat. In other words, we wouldn’t make the same mistake again.
While Pebbles is the first cat we rescued, she is also the first cat rescue that crossed the rainbow bridge in our family. We miss Pebbles constantly and she always remain in our hearts. W ehave many stories with Pebbles and health issues that developed through the years so expect to see her referenced consistently here at the site.
