On May 21st I shared the passing of our beloved cat, Conrad. I want to thank everyone for the thoughtful condolences you left on that post…they helped me very much through that difficult time. Now I want to share with you happy memories of his life throughout the years.
We adopted Conrad in 1999 from our local shelter. I’ll never forget that day. We must have held 15 or more different cats. They were all sweet but none felt like they were “the one”. There was one buff colored tiger cat staying to the back of a cage. I had a buff tiger when I was young, so had to see this one. He was shy and reluctant to come out, but when they put him into my hubby’s arms, he snuggled right in. We knew he was the one.
He spent the first two weeks in our home hiding under a bed. He didn’t care for our dog; but eventually he learned to come out and just avoid her…as he did with most of our dogs over the years (until later). Company who came to our house never saw him, but he was always loving and affectionate with us.
You can see in some of the above photos why I called him our “golden boy with the golden eyes”. He was an outdoor cat to start with, but later stayed indoors with his sisters Katie and Samantha who came along in 2002. He and Katie were extremely close.
Katie died from cancer in 2011. I know how much Conrad missed her….he yowled at night for quite a while. We still had Samantha, but she had always been a loner and they just weren’t as close. It was not long after that when Conrad started showing his age. He stopped grooming himself and got too lazy to always use the litter box. He went through many tests more than once at the vet, but nothing was ever found wrong with him other than aging. It’s always been my theory that his heart was broken after losing Katie.
However, something else happened that was good. After a while, he stopped hiding out all the time. He spent more time hanging around, even when the dogs were there.
He started entertaining us with silly antics like seen below, which I’ve written about here quite a few times.
He became our chief photo bomber whenever I was doing treat tastings with the dogs.
He and Sam even became a bit closer.
His health was clearly declining, but he fought on right up to the end. He never gave up his will to live, his old and frail body just gave out on him. Now we have cherished memories. I love the photo below….golden cat and golden dog blended together in the golden evening sun.
I want to thank our friend JoAnn from Sand Spring Chesapeakes for sending this special candle along with a card for Conrad. We won a prize pack from her and finding these things in there really touched me. Now I have this favorite photo of Conrad and Katie on display with the candle.
Conrad has been laid to rest in our memorial garden along with past feline and canine siblings. I’ll be sharing photos of the garden once I have all my summer plantings done, I bought a special golden plant just for him.
That’s a lovely tribute to Conrad you have there. One of the nice things about the blog is so many precious memories and photos are recorded here. It’s a nice thing to have them all in one place.
I don’t know what it is about ginger boy cats but they are truly special cats. The picture of him with Samantha is so beautiful and the golden boy with the dog is my favorite. He reminds me so much of my ginger boy Danny especially in the later years when he was thin and his fur all mussed like Conrad’s (and he reminds me of Rhette when he was overweight!). What a great cat and what a great life he had.
We are looking forward to seeing the garden. Sandra
I meant Katie sorry I got them confused!
No problem! Thank you, Sandra. He was a great cat, and actually come to think of it, I’ve only had one other cat that lived longer than he did. It’s tough to see them aging, so skinny, and not taking care of themselves, but it’s better than losing them at a young age, I think.
Awe, tears to a wonderful tribute to a very special kitty. You had many great years with him and many great memories to live on in your heart! You are so welcome, the candle is l beautiful next to his picture. Your memory garden is going to be a very special place to visit this summer.
Working in that garden has been my favorite project ever since I started it. I’ve let some of my other gardens go, but that’s OK. I just wish we didn’t have to keep adding to the numbers in there. 🙁
Aw I teared up reading this…what a wonderful heart felt tribute to the gorgeous golden boy Conrad xoxooxoxox
Thank you so much, Jenna! xxooxxoo
Precious memories…..and they’re always there – waiting for us to pull them out and “see” them in our minds and our hearts. Conrad sounds like a super special guy…….you were lucky to have him in your lives and he was lucky that you found him and gave him a lovely forever home.
Hugs, Pam (and Sam)
Thank you, Pam and Sam. I think it worked out well for all of us, didn’t it? I’m so glad we made the decision to go to the shelter that day (it wasn’t an easy process, but that’s another story).
SO SORRY TO READ ABOUT CONRAD. DIDN’T KNOW HIM BUT FELT LIKE WE DID FROM YOUR POSTS. HOW SWEET THE WAY HE WAS WITH KATIE YOUR BLACK AND WHITE CAT. HE WAS WITH YOU A LONG TIME, AND IT SOUNDS LIKE IT WAS FILLED WITH GOOD TIMES! SO SORRY FOR YOUR LOSS.
Thank you so much! I’m glad that others enjoy reading and learning about him and the wonderful life he had, and we had with him.
This is a beautiful overview of Conrad’s great life, Jan-I love the Conrad and Samantha pic from this year. Such wonderful memories to cherish…
Thank you, Lynn. It was so rare that those two snuggled…I’m glad I have the photos to remember that moment!
What a beautiful tribute to your golden boy. Purrs….
Thank you all!
What a sweetie. I am glad you have so many wonderful memories and photos of him.
Thank you. I’m so glad I started this blog, because it has made me capture so many more precious moments that I might not have photographed otherwise.
I was one of those people he would hide from, until the last couple of years. 🙂 I really enjoyed him letting me hug on him recently. Im sure he’s with Katie now…
I like to imagine that it was a very happy reunion with those two, just as it was for Kobi and Maggie!
What a beautiful tribute! Conrad was indeed a lucky kitty to have you – and vice versa! All the wonderful memories will keep him close to you in spirit.
Thank you, Sue. We were all very lucky to have each other!
Wonderful tribute. He won’t be forgotten and is now reunited with his sweet Katie.
Thank you. I like to think that Conrad and Katie had a very happy reunion!
What a sweet post with so many lovely memories; though, it did make our mom tear up. Conrad reminded her of several of our brofurs and sisfurs who have gone to the RB. May you always cherish his memories. XOCK, Lily Olivia, Mauricio, Misty May, Giulietta, Fiona, Astrid, Lisbeth and Calista Jo
Thank you all so much for coming by and sharing in our memories. xxoo
It is so fun to see how he changed over the years in looks and personality. It looks like he truly had a great life and now he can be with his BFF Katie.
I am so glad I went all the way back looking at photos, because it brought back some memories I had forgotten! He really did change a lot over the years. Even though he looked scruffy at the end, I did always remember what a handsome cat he was in his younger years. Knowing he is with his Katie now brings me so much comfort!
What a beautiful tribute. You gave Conrad a beautiful life, but we are just never given enough time with them.
I’ve only had one cat that lived longer than Conrad did. But as you said, it’s never enough time no matter how long it is. Thank you so much for coming by and sharing my tribute.
Okay, I am officially ugly crying. I don’t know if I told you that my first pet as an adult (18 yrs. old) was Miss Gitty. She adopted me from our local humane society. She lived to be 20+ but passed away two weeks after her best friend and our first dog, Madison did. I know it was a broken heart even though they vet said it was a stroke. I have never tried to replace her. ♥
I don’t remember the story about Miss Gitty, but she sounds like she was very special. I can only imagine how difficult it must have been to lose two pets so close together. How wonderful that you had a dog and cat that were best friends! Ours have always gotten along, but I don’t think any were really close.
It doesn’t matter how much time goes by, does it? We still miss each and every one.
Thanks for such a wonderful post about the cat with the golden eyes. I loved it to read about Conrad and to watch him… even when I have leaky eyes now….
He was the one who won our hearts at the first look… probably hos golden eyes have magic power :o)
Thank you so much, Easy, what a sweet thing to say! It makes my heart happy to know that you have enjoyed Conrad so much. I love the thought and I think you are right that his golden eyes are magic. <3