A Happy Cat & Dog
Pet Sitting Services of Marin
Since 1996, Insured
415-453-2716
Alfie
No cats have touched my heart as deeply as Alfie. He was a loving stray red tabby who shyly appeared in my backyard. As time passed, I tried feeding him and he began staying around more often and seemed hungry. This went on for several months and he would come running over to greet me as I came and went from my house. At the time, I had 4 indoor cats and he would peer into the sliding door at us as if he wanted to be a part of the family. That could never happen because he was a major sprayer of his scent all around my yard. I was certain he was unneutered.
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After about 8 months, Alfie, as I had named him, showed up with a pellet gun wound on his forehead and seemed out of sorts, laying on my deck and not his usual active self. I called an animal control officer out as I thought the worst and that he may not recover. He even allowed the officer to pick him up and place him in a cardboard carrier, something he would never allow a stranger to do.
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As I spoke to the officer and had our backs turned away from the carrier, Alfie burst through the top of the carrier and ran off. I was certain he was ill and that I may never see him again.
A few weeks passed and he returned. He was himself again and his wound was healing. A few weeks later, it opened up again but finally healed up, his fur grew back over it and I no longer could see it.
Four years passed when I noticed my outdoor Alfie began losing weight. He surprisingly, allowed me to place him in a carrier and on to a vet we went. His tests showed he had hyperthyroidism and needed medication so I began placing it in his food. I also found out he had been neutered but it must have been done late, after he got into his habit of spraying his territory. It dawned on me that the spraying was probably the reason he had been booted out of his original home. Also, the vet estimated his age to be 11 to 13 years old.
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He went on to live 4 more years and passed away in my arms to heart failure. I still miss his bright light of love and trust in me to care for him.
Rosencrantz
Through my years of cat sitting, I've lost several clients to illnesses while pet sitting for them. One of them was most challenging and is about a huge feral cat named Rosencrantz.
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His guardian was an elderly gentleman who needed surgery and was about to enter the hospital. He was very devoted to his cat and kept a window open for him to come and go through with several feeding stations inside his house. He warned me that his cat won't enter the house if a stranger is in it and that I would only see him at a distance in the yard. After a few weeks of feeding Rosencrantz, the sad news came from the guardian's grown children that their dad had passed away in the hospital and to continue feeding his cat while the house was up for sale. They supplied the food and each day I would see the cat in the distance. I was very worried that the new owners might have a dog or not want to continue feeding Rosencrantz.
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The day that the new owners moved in was the last time I fed the cat so I left them my phone number along with a letter explaining the situation. They not only called me right away but said they had a dog but could contain it to an area away from Rosencrantz and offered to purchase the cat food and continue the feedings. I was so relieved at this unexpected outcome.
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One day, 4 years later, I received a phone call from the owners letting me know that they hadn't seen Rosencrantz for several days and felt he had passed on because he always showed up like clockwork for his feedings.
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Their willingness to feed him all those years and letting me know of his passing moved me to tears.