Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Honoring Those We've Lost

Thanks to long expiration dates on pet food, when Tara passed away last summer I bagged up and set aside her leftover cans of food with the intention of keeping it for the next kitty. Then Truffles came along and a couple things went wrong:

1) Tara was an adventurous eater who enjoyed a wide variety of brands and flavors; with the rare exception, Truffles only eats Fancy Feast.

2) Tara loved fish; Truffles' tummy is extremely sensitive to fish and prefers chicken, turkey, and beef.

So the bag of food sat there. For 14 months. As silly as it seems, I could not let go of that food. It was Tara's. Finally a light bulb went off in my head and I realized that Tara would want that food to be in the tummies of kitties in need.

So last Wednesday, on Truffles' Gotcha Day, I donated all of this food to the shelter that I adopted both Tara and Truffles from, in Tara's honor. The shelter is currently over capacity so I am very happy that I was able to do this.


Last week the cat blogosphere shed a bucket load of tears over the sudden passing of Sparkle the Designer Cat. This Friday, August 29th, Sparkle's human is having a Memorial Service at her blog. (I have never seen this done and think it is absolutely incredible.)

A commentathon will be held, with $1 for each comment being donated to Tabby's Place, up to $500. In lieu of flowers, you may also make your own donation in Sparkle's honor to Tabby's Place. Sparkle's work to help cats in need is continuing even though she is no longer physically with us. Please spread the word so we can help to make this one of the largest donations Tabby's Place has ever seen!

28 comments:

brokenteepee said...

I am sure Tara appreciated her food going to feed other kitties. I made a donation to Tabby's Place in Sparkle's honor

Layla Morgan Wilde ( Cat Wisdom 101) said...

Everything has a time and purpose and I'm so glad it was time to let go. Every shelter is full and every bit helps.

Athena Cat Goddess Wise Kitty said...

Yes, that is a wonderful thing to do.

We shall be there to remember Sparkle as well.

Purrs xx
Athena and Marie

Golden Daily Scoop said...

What a great thing to do, we will be remembering Sparkle too!

katsrus said...

Very nice of you to do. We will be remembering Sparkle too.
Sue B

Kitties Blue said...

What a bountiful donation. Bet the shelter was over the moon. So super generous of you. The memorial service for Sparkle is unique. We already made a donation in her memory, and besides the commentathon, we sure hope others will do that as well. Janiss is so generous, thoughtful, loving and caring, we thought it was the least we could do. Sparkle definitely will be missed. XO, Lily Olivia, Mauricio, Misty May, Giulietta, Fiona, Astrid, Lisbeth and Calista Jo

Unknown said...

What a wonderful thing to do to honor Sparkle's memory and achievements. I will be sure to stop over and leave a comment on Friday. Happy WW!

Hannah and Lucy said...

We have sent a donation to Tabby's Place too in memory of Sparkle too.
Luv Hannah and Lucy xx xx

Groovy Goldendoodles said...

Very sweet way to honor her.

Two French Bulldogs said...

What a great way to honor Tara
Snorts,
Lily & Edward

Anonymous said...

Very sweet of you to think of the shelter for the food. I usually only adopt adult cats from shelters (I did allow my daughter once to adopt a kitten but the rest were mid-aged) and usually the ones no one wants. I can no longer adopt any more since I still have several older ones with many years left ahead of them, but I wish people would check out an adult cat when going to the shelter to get their family a pet.

ROCCO LOTEMPIO said...

two paws up from ROCCO

ANGEL ABBYGRACE said...

I did the same exact thing with Abby's food. I kept it for almost a year until I was able to let go of it also. So I understand. I don't know why some things we must hang onto until we are ready to let it go.

Kitty Cat Chronicles said...

What a wonderful thing you did donating Tara's food to her rescue organization. That is such a sweet idea, and we are sure it made Tara proud. Sparkle's mom is also doing a wonderful thing with Sparkle's Memorial Service. We love hearing about such generous efforts to help kitties in need!

Angry Girl Fitness said...

Aw, that is wonderful. What a kind gesture.

Summer at sparklecat.com said...

What an awesome idea! My human had a lot of meds left over after Sparkle was gone, but she was so upset that she tossed them all - she didn't want any reminders of what Sparkle had to go through the last couple months of her life. She probably could have donated some of it, like the Pepcid AC (which it OTC) and the appetite stimulant. Plus the unused needles from the sub-q fluids. She just doesn't think sometimes. Thanks so much for spreading the word about Sparkle's memorial service - we really appreciate it!

Mariodacatsmom said...

How very kind of you to donate that food. I'm sure the shelter was thrilled to get it too. I will be making a donation this weekend in Sparkle's memory. I like the idea of a commenton.

Pawesome Cats said...

It's always hard to part with those things that we associate as belonging to one of our pets that have passed, I did the same thing when I lost my beloved Rose in 2007. But, I am sure the shelter appreciated your generosity and it's a great way to honour Tara's memory.

Cat and DOG Chat With Caren said...

that is soo wonderful that you did that and I am sure it will be GREATLY appreciated!!!
We donated to Tabby's Place yesterday....we will be at the commentathon too!

Unknown said...

Hooray! Glad to see that it will be filling the bellies of so many kitty friends!

The Diamond Dogs said...

That's wonderful that the food went to help kitties in need. We were shocked and sad to hear about Sparkle's passing and we will be joining in the commentathon....

Unknown said...

What a great idea! And an amazing way to commemorate our beloved Sparkle - love it.

Cathy Keisha said...

Great way to honor Tara. I don’t like fancy brands either. I’ll also be honoring Sparkle’s memory with the commentathon.

Cats Herd You said...

What a lovely gift from Tara to the shelter kitties! Like many others, we have held onto food, medicines, and other things for a long time before finding somewhere to donate them. Letting go happens in odd stages sometimes.

Marty the Manx said...

What a great thing to do! We will be there Friday too!

Karen Jo said...

It was wonderful of you to donate Tara's food to her shelter. I am sure the shelter was thrilled and Tara is proud of you. We will be at Sparkle's memorial service.

Spyro and the gang

GLOGIRLY said...

This is such a heartwarming post and a beautiful gesture of generosity and love.
Bless you.
xo

CatInTheFridge said...

That was so kind and generous of you. I've been using Rocky's food to feed our sickly fosters. I cried when I opened the first few cans, but I knew it was better to help them than to just sit. It's so hard and we totally understand.- Alana.