Happy Birthday at the Rainbow Bridge, Austin

Karen Jo:  It's kind of a sad day here.  Austin would have been one year old today.  I did manage to get him a birthday present.  A week or so ago some jerk came by and stole three of my four solar lights, including the ones marking Herman's and Austin's graves.  Whoever it was didn't get Emma's because I buried her right next to the house and her light can't be seen from the street.  Today I went out and got replacements for the stolen lights.  The store didn't have the stars, so I got a sunflower for the front yard and hummingbirds for Herman and Austin.  A hummingbird was what I originally chose for Austin, so he got a straight replacement.  I hope whoever it was doesn't come by and steal them again.  I did put Herman's and Austin's much farther from the fence, so someone would have to actually come into my back yard to get them.

We still miss Austin, Rocio in particular.  Rocio misses Austin the most at meal time.  I would feed the two of them in the safe room and close the door, so they wouldn't hassle Oja while she was eating.  These days, most of the time, instead of running for his dish, Rocio just lies on the floor, looking very sad.  I have begun placing his food next to his head when he does this, or he will just lie there and Bambino will eat his Stinky Goodness.  He rouses himself to eat and shares with Bambino, who insists on sharing with all the boys.

I know you are having a grand time at the Rainbow Bridge, Austin, but we miss you down here.  I imagine you and Herman play chase and kitty rasslin' a lot, while Emma watches.

Remembering Austin

Karen Jo:  Here is Austin in action, which is how I most remember him.  There are things about Austin that I never got around to blogging about, so I thought I would do a remembrance post about him.  He was the most silent cat I have ever known.  All I ever heard out of him were the oofs and hunhs he made while rasslin'.  I never heard him meow at all.  He had other ways of communicating with me.  When he wanted to remind me that it was time to feed the kitties he would just stand and stare at me.  Every kitty here has a flat dish for canned food and a bowl for kibble.  Austin knew which ones were his and always ate out of his first.  When I would pick up his canned food dish, he would leap up and grab it.  I would show him that it was still empty and he would stand by where I would put it down full.  Sometimes he would run into the kitchen to watch me fill it, then run back to his room to wait for it.  This didn't stop him from sampling Rocio's dish as soon as I put it down and often Rocio would eat out of Austin's dish while Austin tried his.  As far as I know Austin only ate kibble out of his bowl.

I wear fuzzy plush socks to bed to keep my feet warm.  Austin thought they made great toys while they were on my feet.  He would grab at them and gently bite my toes.  He would rub his head all over them.  Once I took them off, he had no interest in them.  He never got tired of rasslin'.  Once he finished with Rocio (meaning Rocio ran off) he would look around for Spyro for another round.  After Spyro ran off, he would check to see if Oja was around.  She rarely was.  She knew what was coming and wanted no part of it.

I don't remember Austin being terribly interested in the toys on the floor, though he would play with them.  He loved the wand toys and would leap up to get them.  Da Bird is much in need of new feathers now, he played so hard with it.  He was just so full of life and fun that it is very sad to remember that he is gone.  I have some nice photos and memories of him and he might have send a present from the Bridge.  There is a new kitty in the house named Bambino.