WCB: A tribute to Sundance

We’re very sad to read of the passing of one of our online WCB friends, Sundance from Sher’s site, What Did You Eat. Sher took in Sundance about a year ago as a feral kitten and nurtured his loving personality, bringing out the bright, beautiful cat within and getting an immense amount of love and companionship in return. We are very sad to read of the loss, as pet owners everywhere know the acutely tender pain that comes from losing a beloved pet whether it has been with you for a year, or for many, many more.

Sadly, Sundance contracted FIP, and Sher made the tough decision to end his pain, a very difficult choice but one that speaks lovingly of her devotion to the comfort and care of her pets.

Please go to Sher’s site to see her loving tribute to Sundance. The photos are gorgeous, but then again, so was the subject. We will miss you Sundance, we will miss your antics and comical looks and your beautiful ginger stripes.

This is the text of a wonderful, poignant book by Cynthia Rylant called Cat Heaven. Someone sent it to me after I lost one of my precious felines, and I love how it made me feel.

Cat Heaven 

The way to Cat Heaven is a field of sweet grass where crickets and butterflies play. A cat may be late in getting to Heaven . . . there’s so much fun on the way! But an angel will wait at the yellow front door, wait til a kitty comes home. And when he arrives, he’ll give him a kiss and some milk
in a bowl all his own.

There are trees in Cat Heaven, trees made just for cats, trees growing so green and so high. But no one gets stuck in a tree anymore –if a cat wants down, he will fly!

And oh the toys, kitty toys everywhere, thousands and thousands go by. There are buttons and baubles and small cotton mice –there is catnip afloat in the sky!

There are angels, of course, with soft angel laps where kitties can purr loud and strong. The angels will rub kitties’ noses and ears and sing them a Cat Heaven song.

And when cats are hungry, there’s God’s kitchen counter all covered with white kitty dishes, full of tuna and salmon and mounds of sardines, and wonderful little pink fishes.

The cats in Cat Heaven are so loved and spoiled God lets them all lie on his bed . . .
He walks in His garden with a good black book and a kitty asleep on His head.

Then when a cat needs, he may just simply ponder and watch the blue world deep and wide . . . He will watch the old house where he once lived and wandered, and the people who loved him inside.

All cats love Heaven, they know the way there, they know where the angel cats fly.

They’ll run past the stars and the moon and the sun . . . . . . to curl up with God in the sky.