Dear Iolair,

Thankyou for taking the time to e-mail me regarding Koshka. It is very rewarding to hear that he was so well loved and that he gave you so much pleasure during his lifetime. I can only hope by the time this reaches you that the sorrow of losing him has started to fade and only the warm memories remain. I remember the joy of the 1st time you saw Koshka as a 6 week old kitten and the immediate bond you both formed. What a pity you live so far away in Northern Ireland as I have a lovely black male Persian kitten at the moment that I would just gladly give to you as I believe they all deserve to have the love and affection that Koshka recieved.

Many regards Margaret.
(Koshka's breeder, Australia.)

Dear Sementawy,

I am sorry to hear about Koshka. Vicky told me about it the other day, and I was devastated! If it is any consolation, his spirit probably went into our baby girl Paris.

Vortigern Aedui.

Dear Sementawy,

The wrenching pain one feels when a loved one moves on... is that piece of you that goes ahead to lead you on your own journey toward reunification. An assurance of continuity, perhaps? If the farewell torments the living as it does, how can the one departing toward the unknown leave such a bond entirely behind...Koshka himself could not bear to go on his way without that part of you to light his path.

I do know the pain. My Coco suffered congenital congestive heart failure...with her end also in my arms at the vet. It is such a fast thing, once the shot has been administered. But when they look at us with such desperate misery in their eyes, pleading for Mommy to fix it some way, somehow, what else are we to do? All we are left with is the comforting knowledge that we enriched their lives in return, and the bittersweet knowledge we did the right thing in letting them go.

And in these times a long life well-lived is, indeed, a privledge befitting a creature so royal.

You did the right thing, and now he stands guard over your spirit.

*hugs and tears*

For Koshka

Aphrodite Theocrities.

Koshka's Rules:

* My singing does not provide cultural enrichment.
* I will not wake Seme and Fenton up at 3 a.m. for breakfast.
* I will not faithfully chase the cursor around the pc screen.
* I recognize that you brought that other cat home as a friend for me and not as a target of guerrilla attacks.
* I will not crawl behind the pc and unplug everything just because I feel I am not getting enough attention.
* I will not bite the vet, (again).
* Mummy's Egyptology research papers are not prey, nor are they a bed.
* We do not kill our prey in the house.
* We do not leave bits and pieces of our prey on stoves, beds and kitchen bench tops.
* Computer and TV screens do not exist to backlight my lovely tail.
* I will not sprawl on the books Seme is trying to read.
* I will not jump to the top of the refrigerator and then projectile vomit all over the kitchen.
* I am a carnivore. Potted plants are not meat.
* I will not scan pictures of my butt when playing near the pc.
* The piano is for humans to play.
* I will not turn the tv/stereo/VCR/DVD) remote at 4 am.
* A silk Dior suit is not to be pulled off its hanger and used as a nest.
* I will not bury Fenton's Hugo Boss ties in the herb garden.
* The bed is not a WWF wrestling ring.
* I will not turn off the answering machine when I am playing.
* I will not call someone on the phone. (Yes, this happens). 1: Step on the speaker button. 2: Step on speed dial button.
* I will not (hang up the phone|press the buttons) when Seme is on the phone to Australia.
* I will not press the reset button on the computer.
* I will not walk on the keyboard.
* I will not throw up on the keyboard.
* I will not demand (to be fed|to be petted|to go out) when the humans are having sex.
* The vacuum cleaner is my *friend*.
* I will not sink my teeth into the neighbours Rottweiler's jugular again for stealing my food.
* I will not jump off the ceiling fan when Fenton comes home and turns it on! (I have NO idea how he got up there!! It scared the S**T outta me).
* I will no longer hurl cactus plants off the window sill and onto Seme's head when she is climbing the back stairs loaded with groceries.
* I will not balance my 10 kilo body on Fenton's full bladder.
* I will not put my paw under a moving sewing machine needle!
* I will not wait until my Fenton and Seme have visitors before I go and get a tampon from its box and bring it downstairs to kill it.
* I will not drink the bathwater while my human is taking a bath!
* I will not head butt the control pad/joystick when Fenton is 10 seconds away from completing a game after 2 hours.
* I will not bat every toy I own under the couch and then howl until someone comes and gets them (at 3 a.m.) for me.
* Fenton's car and house keys are not toys and are certainly not something he wishes to play search-and-find for when he is late for work.
* I will not jump on the kitchen counter and make off with the roast beef/roast chicken/roast lamb/ or Seme's sushi.
* 10 kilo kitties should not climb to the top of small trees and cause them to bend then break in half.
* The goldfish like living in water and should be allowed to remain in their pond.
* I will not get on the roof, meow frantically, then claw Seme as she tries to rescue me after climbing up three floors to the roof via the drain pipe.
* I will not use car windshields as slides when I have muddy feet.
* I will not reset my human's alarm clock.
* I will not stalk my neighbor's elderly cocker spaniel and scare it half to death.
* I will not knock statues of Bastet off the nightstand at 3 AM in order to get Seme's attention.
* I will not jump onto the toilet seat just as Fenton is sitting down.
* I will not play the game "tiger attack" when Seme is sunbathing the garden.
* I will not steal all the nifty shiny things from Seme's jewelery box on top of the five-foot tall clothes dresser, then bury them in my litter box.
* I realize that you are not trying to get away from me when you close the bathroom door.
* My human does not need rescuing from the bath.
* Looking adorable after misbehaving will not negate my crime.
* I will not stuff my rather large self into the rather small bird feeder (with my tail hanging out one side) and expect the birds to just fly in.
* The next door neighbour's bird *likes* to be left in his cage.
* Running down a ladder head first is a silly thing to do.
* I will not bring home tiger snakes as a gift for Mummy, no matter how much I love her!
* I will not play "Charge of the Light Brigade" with the other cat in the hallway at 3 a.m.
* I will not ignore my new toy only to suddenly find it interesting at 3 AM.
* I will not open the window coverings and cause the unclothed Seme to flash her neighbors.
* I will not soak Seme's beaded Versace clutch purse in my water bowl.
* Vases of flowers are not food.
* I will not pee on /throw up in/chew on/ or mangle/ nor will I go to within two metres of Mummy's brand new ultra expensive Jimmy Choo's.