G.M.,

I am so sorry to hear that you lost your precious Baby Cat. Ever since you mentioned last week that he was ill, I had been hoping he would pull through. We lost a three-year-old cat to feline urological syndrome in 2002 after our vet had made a very valiant effort to save his life. I know that it is painful to lose a pet and want you to know that you are in my thoughts today.

Have you seen the kits that you can use to make homemade stepping stones? I remember seeing one that had little letters so you could put a message into the stone. Of course, you can make a stepping stone type grave marker without buying a kit, but you'll have to come up with a way to put the words in the stone. I have seen the word kits in gardening catalogs before but they were sort of pricey. I have used alphabet cookie cutters to put words in things before. I think my set of ABC cookie cutters was from Wilton and I got it at Hobby Lobby, Wal-Mart or Target several years ago.

I've linked a page for you that tells how to make homemade stepping stones and think you could adapt the directions to make a pet memorial marker. If you want to look at some of the pet memorial stones they sell on-line to get some ideas for what you could put on your stone, google pet memorial stones. I hate using the word 'stepping stone' because I don't mean to say that you should make a stepping stone and 'walk' on him after he is buried. What I mean is that you could follow the stepping stone directions to make memorial markers to place on your pets' graves.

One thing I have done in the past after we had to bury a precious kitty was to plant catnip near his grave. That catnip reseeded itself and came back year after year. The other cats were drawn to the catnip, of course, and I liked to think that when they visited the catnip they were visiting him too, if you know what I mean. You could do the same thing with catmint if you want a blooming plant there.

Once again, please accept my condolences for the loss of your beloved pet.

Dawn

Here is a link that might be useful: Making concrete stepping stones

sorry to hear of your loss (((hugs)))

I am so sorry to hear about your little kitty, Merryheart. I know how much it hurts to lose a beloved pet. I worry a lot about urinary tract problems in my cat since my best friend lost her cat to it years ago. I think it's fairly prevalent in cats. I feed my cat Purina One 'Urinary Tract' formula. I don't know that it helps, but it makes me feel better, and she likes it.

I've made stepping stones for my dogs that have died, and they are nice additions to my garden. I had a pet cemetery at my old house where I planted plants with the same names as my pets. I had grave markers, and stepping stones, and also had a bird bath set up there. For cats I have seen very precious little grave statues that are cat angels. They look very nice in your garden. If you know of a shop that has a laser engraver, they can make a marker with a picture of your cat with her name on a rock, a stepping stone, on granite, glass, or nearly anything. My brother's company has a laser engraver and they sometimes make pet grave markers.

Another thing I like to do is plant trees in memory of my dogs that have died. I have a weeping willow that I planted for my all time favorite dog, Star. I hated to leave it when I moved, so I am taking cuttings of that tree to plant at my new house in memory of Star. That sounds crazy, I know, but I can't take the dogs' graves with me but I can take a cutting of "their" memorial tree. I have one tree still in a pot from when my dog Maggie died that I'm going to plant here. It's a corkscrew willow that I call "Maggie's tree". I also have a pine tree I brought here that belonged to my grandmother before she died, and it's "Grandma's tree". I realize you don't have an acreage like I have so maybe don't have enough room to plant a tree for your kitty. But it's my very favorite living memorial I do in memory of my pets. I also have a Southern Bottle Tree I made in memory of my friend Larry when he died. I found the cedar tree in his back yard with all the branches cut off fairly close to the trunk. I have no idea what Larry had planned for it, but I brought it home and "planted" it in my garden to remember him by. Eventually I covered all the limbs with cobalt blue bottles, and made it into a bottle tree. I think it's beautiful. :) But it's still "Larry's Tree" and reminds me of him in my garden. He was a gardener too and I think he would have liked it. I could send you a picture of it if you're interested.

Here is a link for a kitty memorial stepping stone. If you'll see the seller's other items further down the page, she has some nice cat memorial items.

Again, I'm so sorry for your loss. I know planting a memorial garden for you kitty will help you in your grief.

Dawna

Here is a link that might be useful: cat memorial stone

Thank you everyone for your condolences. This is much harder that I even thought it would be. This little guy was one very unique kitty. Even our vet said he had only ever seen two others in all his many years of practice which compared to our Baby Cat. The girl who assisted him in surgery said she really thought Dr. John was going to cry when Baby didn't make it. He was that special. My patio and back yard are so lonely without him. He followed me around the yard to look at my flower beds, and stayed on the patio most of the time. So this is really hard.

I now carry our little precious Carah Joy, a 3 pound apricot poodle, who is truly our constant companion, around with me more than ever. I thank God for her!!! I may take her plant shopping with me here shortly. haha

I love all the ideas you have given me Dawn and Dawna! And Dawna I found a real cute little stone on EBay that I just may buy. It can be personalized.

I love the idea of planting a tree of some kind, since in that area we have a dead red oak and it needs to be cut down as soon as we find time. I think I would perhaps prefer some ornamental tree or tall slender bush rather than a large growing tree. They will have to be able to endure our horrible soil though. We would get into trouble with our veggie beds getting shaded in the mornings if there were a large tree there so just as well the red oak didn't live to grow large.

I appreciate any and all ideas to make this area a nice one.

G.M.

G.M. - so sorry about you losing your kitty. My three dogs and three cats are my family (no kids), and I know how hard it is to lose one. A few years ago, when I only had one dog and zero cats, my dog got an auto-immune disease and died after several varied and valliant attempts by the vet to save him. I went home afterward and in two hours I was on my way to the pound to find another companion. I couldn't stand being at home all alone. Ever since then I have had multiple pets. It's still awful when one dies - I've lost two more since that day - but I at least have someone left to comfort me, which helps. How about a red bud tree in kitty's honor? They make dappled shade and don't grow super tall. In fact, I'm transplanting babies off of mine all around my yard to give full-sun plants a little break in the day when the sun moves across the red bud. In our hot-hot summer sun, 6 hours is enough! And lots of my plants get many more hours than that. Good luck with your "memory garden" - I'm sure it will be lovely and comforting. Carolyn

G.M. i feel for you so much and know how hard it is for you. May i suggest you get another kitten when you feel ready.

With all the pets we have through life there are always a couple that seem extra special even tho we love all our pets. I love the idea of a redbud tree, and they are very hardy,and catnip
I have a dogwood tree and Iris for my dogs grave.
vickie

I'm so deeply sorry for your loss. As a cat lady myself I know how special and individual each cat is. I assume you are familiar with the poem about the Rainbow Bridge associated with the death of a beloved pet. There is a miniature rose called Rainbow's End that, aside from being a terrific rose, is often used as living reminder of our beloved companions who are waiting for us on the other side.

I am so thankful that I have my little 3 pound poodle! She is with me all the time and I take her with me every where that I can. She is truly more of my child than anything. Since all the grandkids live 1300 miles away I just devote myself to her completely.

But still my patio is so lonely without my Baby Cat. He was the most loving, sweet cat I have ever had. And I have had many. I have played cat mid-wife a number of times...and ended up back years ago just over run with kitties...lol.
I am torn between thinking of looking for another and feeling like any I would get would be so inferior to our Baby....he was just so special. I thought he was only that special to us until he spent so much time at the vet hospital and they all realized it as well.
And such a beautiful cat too...oh my. I will post some pictures of him soon so you guys can see him for yourself.

I also have concerns over possible field mice and things coming around. He took care of so many things, even some small snakes! Where we live we have open fields close around and tend to get varmits which I might not have known we had if the cats we have had didn't bring them to us after they had taken care of them.

I am just so shocked at him leaving us so soon. My last cat lived to be over 18 years old!!! I know now I will get a female if I get another one. The males are the ones who are prone to the urinary problem. It is rare for a female to have it according to our vet.

Thank you all for your suggestions. I will need a little time to think about what I want to do and get to handling it a little better before I can really work on that area too much. Right now it is just too sad. But you have all given me lots of things to think about and plan for a little later on.

Thank you for your kindness!
G.M.