It took me a while to write about this, but I think it is time.

I had mentioned in a previous post that my mother in law had gotten a ragdoll kitten of her own. His name? Sid.

The picture bellow is one of the first I ever took from Elvis and Einstein, the day we visited the breeder for the first time and chose our kittens. I had shown it before on my first post ever at this blog. On that post, however, that picture was cropped as to show only Elvis and Einstein, but the original image included a third kitten, Sid.

From left to right: Einstein, Elvis and Sid

He was a lovely cat from the beginning, cuddly and smart, everything you could wish for in a cat. My mother in law and her husband loved him with all their hearts and only wanted what was best for him, their special beautiful kitten.

Sid, a beautiful lilac ragdoll kitten

However, they started to feel he might be lonely when they were not around and brought home a little friend for him, Mischka, another ragdoll kitten. Sid loved Mischka, and they were as close as possible, always together, but Sid still looked sad more often than not and kept eating less.

My mother in law took him to the vet everytime he needed, and more (to check everything really was ok). At last, a vet diagnosed what he had, a virus had mutated and became deadly. If Sid was lucky, he would have two weeks to live and would die a painful death. My mother in law was inconsolable, she went to another vet to get a second opinion and the diagnosis was the same.

After those awful news, she and her husband took the day off work to spend with Sid and say goodbye, as he would be put to sleep the next day.

Sid looked tired, he welcomed the cuddles but didn’t have the energy to correspond. My husband and I spent some time with his mother, her husband, Sid and Mischka that day. Mischka was meowing like he knew something wasn’t right. People say cats are intuitive, I believe it.

Me, kissing Sid goodbye

The next day, Sid crossed the rainbow bridge, it was peaceful. He is now buried right in front of a tree that can be seen from my mother in law’s flat.

I will finish this post with one of the most beautiful poems I ever read. I guess anyone who ever lost a beloved pet may find solace reading it:

“By the edge of a woods, at the foot of a hill,

Is a lush, green meadow where time stands still.
Where the friends of man and woman do run,
When their time on earth is over and done.

For here, between this world and the next,
Is a place where each beloved creature finds rest.
On this golden land, they wait and they play,
Till the Rainbow Bridge they cross over one day.

No more do they suffer, in pain or in sadness,
For here they are whole, their lives filled with gladness.
Their limbs are restored, their health renewed,
Their bodies have healed, with strength imbued.

They romp through the grass, without even a care,
Until one day they start, and sniff at the air.
All ears prick forward, eyes dart front and back,
Then all of a sudden, one breaks from the pack.

For just at that instant, their eyes have met;
Together again, both person and pet.
So they run to each other, these friends from long past,
The time of their parting is over at last.

The sadness they felt while they were apart,
Has turned into joy once more in each heart.
They embrace with a love that will last forever,
And then, side-by-side, they cross over… together.

– Steve and Diane Bodofsky –”