R.I.P. Milton

Our beloved Milton passed away last week.  We received word from the lovely couple who adopted our cats that his kidneys had failed him.  Shortly after we moved we received word that Milton had been in a fight with a racoon and we thought we might lose him then, so this came as a surprise given that he seemed to be recovering just fine.

Here is what they wrote:

I 'm very sorry to pass along the sad news that Milton passed away yesterday. Despite that after his surgeries and being confined, his leg was doing fine, and he seemed be happy as always, we noticed he lost weight very rapidly over the last week or so. 

I have been home in Indiana for 4 days, and Garrick and I had a conversation Thursday night that Milty needed to be seen, he seemed sort of lethargic, just laying around and sleeping. So Garrick took him in yesterday morning for xrays, and blood work, and we found out his renal levels (kidneys) were off the charts, along with 2 others. The doctor had never seen levels so high before. His kidneys were failing and there was not a lot that could be done other than temporary solutions that would help for a little while but the problem would continue to recur. Looking back Milton's renal levels were high following both surgeries, at the time they said it could indicate a problem or it could have been aside effect of the surgery. They said kidney failure could be cause by any number of things and I guess there's just not much you could do about it. He drank water all the time, but it his kidneys weren't hydrating his body properly. So we decided against prolonging his life and putting him through more stress.

I wish this hadn't happened while I was away, I can't believe the timing. But Garrick was with Milton so he wasn't along at the vet, and to make him more comfortable yesterday. I called to say hi and I loved him over the phone. We're both a little shocked, I thought he might not be feeling well, but I never thought it he would have a condition that couldn't be dealt with. We are very sad, we'll be missing him around the house, asking for water at the sink, sleeping on my pillow, but we are comforted to know he won't be suffering now. We've got lots of cute photos and good memories to think about.




Needless to say, we are pretty heartbroken.  Milton was our first baby and we loved him very much.  He was a quirky cat who was full of personality.  He loved to cuddle and was SUCH a lover.  Though we had to say our goodbyes when we left DC, we loved thinking of Milton and Cowboy frolicking in the backyard and giving love and snuggles to their new owners.  I am comforted to know that he did lots of frolicking and snuggling over his nine years.  I only wish he could have had nine more!

We will miss our sweet cat.  Our dear Millpie, Millicent, Milly, Miltonion.  He lived a happy life and made our lives much happier as well.

Goodbye dear friend.

News From Mrs. Allen's House

Jason and I lucked out when we were able to sell our house (without an agent) to the first people that saw the house.  In fact, we had two full-priced offers on the house within three days of putting it on the market!  The young couple that ended up buying the house reminded us a lot of ourselves a few years ago (read:  pre-Charlotte) and we were so happy to see our house go to a couple who seemed to love it as much as we did.  The most remarkable part of the sale was that they didn't only buy our house, but also our car, a lot of our furniture, and all the tools in the shed.  They even took over the care of our precious cats, Milton and Cowboy. 

A few days ago they sent me an email full of pictures of the house and cats along with an update on what they've been working on around the house.  I thought I would share some of the pictures with you.

They've painted the front door red, and removed the stump from the fallen tree:

 The living room is more modern, but still very warm and welcoming:

See our old wine rack and TV?  I think that might be our old mirror over the fireplace as well. (UPDATE:  Jason said that isn't actually our TV.  They must have put ours in the bedroom!)

I was so happy when they asked if they could buy the claw-foot table!  A lot of blood sweat and tears went into fixing that up!

 For reference, here is what the room looked like when we were there:

They've had a number of trees removed:

 It's a good thing, too.  Nobody wants this to happen again:

Summer storm, 2010

We LOVED seeing pictures of our dear house, but were most happy to see pictures of the boys.  We miss them so incredibly much.  In fact, it is hard for me to think of them without tearing up.  We're so relieved we were able to find a good home for them.

Milton and Cowboy

Milton and Cowboy

Jason and I have spent the last six months preparing our cats to immigrate to the UK. There were lots of vet visits and loads of paperwork involved. At one of their more recent vet visits however, we learned that Cowboy's heart murmur had gotten worse. The vet suggested that with his weak heart, the plane flight could cause a problem for him. He didn't say not to travel with them, but it started us talking about what would be in their best interest. We came to the realization that they would probably be happier not having to go through the stress of being in cages for 12+ hours and enduring a long plane flight. We were heartbroken at the thought of leaving them and we would both end up in tears whenever we would try to talk about it.

We had some friends offer to help find them homes, but no one came forward offering to give them permanent homes. We decided we would just take them with us if it came down to it, but we were still holding out hope that we could find a good solution. I mentioned our predicament to the couple that bought our house and they said that they might *might* be able to take them. The thought of them being able to stay in their own home, with their own yard to run around in made us happy beyond belief. It would be the absolute perfect solution! I wrote up this little presentation to help woo them:

Meet Milton:

Milton loves to lounge:

And cuddle:

And roll around being cute:

He also enjoys a good cup of coffee:

Meet Cowboy:

Cowsy loves being outside:

He enjoys long, cute snoozes:

He LOVES playing under the sheets when it's time to make the bed:

He had a thing for martinis early on, but now mostly sticks to water.

If you choose to keep Milton and Cowboy, they will provide the following:

Lots of cuddles for you and for each other:

In fact, they'll cuddle you even when you're not looking your best:

They'll make you laugh:

And they'll be unbearably cute:

Just, FYI. ;)

Amazingly, they agreed to take the cats and seem to be looking forward to getting to know them. In fact, when they were over the other day the woman said to Milton, "I'm going to be your new mommy!". It breaks my heart to think that I will no longer be their mommy, but I know that they will be in excellent hands. The couple that purchased our house is really wonderful and I know that they will provide a happy, loving home for our sweet boys. We hope that they will send us updates now and then. We will miss them so much.

A Day in the Life

Charlotte's day begins with a diaper change. Jason is generally in charge of diaper duties and he somehow manages to change Charlotte on her table while still allowing Milton to keep his favorite spot:


After getting a fresh diaper, Charlotte gets some breakfast. At her last doctor's visit, the doctor suggested that I pump some breast milk for her so she gets used to taking a bottle. She took it like a champ!


Sometimes this happens after an especially big meal:



A couple of times a day Charlotte has her play time. She likes to lay on the Boppy or in her crib and play with her arms and legs.




She also has been enjoying her little lamb bouncing chair:



She also spends a lot of time just sitting around looking cute:



For the most part though, Charlotte's days are still spent engaging in tough cuddle. What a life!