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R.I.P. Mister Hemingway, 15 August 1989 - 17 May 2007

Anohito

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24 Dec 2006
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Our beloved animal companion, Hemingway, lost his battle with deteriorating kidney function and an infection that would not respond to antibiotics on 17 May 2007. We will miss him very much.

There is a memorial photo of him added in the Hemingway, Digital gallery of the Pets category in my photo pages. The photo is actually an older film photo, but it has not been in the galleries before. I put it in with the digital photos to serve as his final photo. The two photos preceding this one are actually the last two photos we took of him (February 2007).
 
Very sorry about your loss.

Funny how things go. A friend lost their cat a month ago to old age. A cat showed up on her doorstep a few weeks later, and she took it in. She placed an ad in the paper, but no one claimed her. Last week the found cat had 5 kittens, 3 of which look like her old cat who died. She found homes for the mother and 4 kittens and now has a replacement for her loss. I went to visit them all today and boy are cute, wished they stayed kittens forever.
Thanks for shareing your grief with us Anohito.

Uncle Frank

:(
 
I'm sorry for your loss, Anohito. It sounds like Hemingway was almost 18 years old?! You had him for a long time. I know pets can become part of the family.
 
I am very sorry to hear about Hemingway. What a great name, I bet he lived up to it. It's always difficult to loose a member of the family. He will be missed. Hemingway must've had a really great life with caring owners; to have had such a long kitty life is the proof.
 
Sorry to hear about your loss Anohito.

Sometimes I find our animal pets give us more comfort than that of our closest human friends.

I have three dogs in this house, all of different ages, and will really miss the eldest when its her turn to visit the kennel in the sky.
 
Thank you all for your kind comments, both public and private. Even with both of us in the house, it seems empty and lonely with both of the cats gone now.

Hemingway was not really named for the author, but to honor the many polydactyl cats at Hemingway house in Key West, Florida. There is some disagreement about how many cats he actually had in Key West. Some people say he did not actually have a large number of cats until he moved to Cuba. At any rate, both Hemingway and his sister Margo had an extra toe on both front paws. When the cats were named, a female-related name was needed, of course. There was the daughter, Margaux, but that spelling is a bit odd, so the standard Margo was chosen.
 
Sincere condolences on your loss, Anohito san.

I think I know pretty well myself that losing a pet can be just about as trying as anything else you can think of facing in life. Our thoughts are with you...

Possibly in the spirit of tribute to Hemingway kun, who obviously meant so much to you all, how about posting a couple of photos of the little fella here for us all to admire and comment on?

mos :)
 
Well, after a great deal of effort, I have managed to put some images of Hemingway into this post.

The first picture (from left to right) is the last photo we took of Hemingway, In February before his final illness. He is relaxing on his favorite chair. This winter we had put a heating pad kept on warm (while he was in the chair) on top of the regular pad.

The second picture was taken in December 2006. Hemingway had a fascination with string from a very early age and liked to chew on it. Last year he figured out that dental floss was "people string" and liked to chew on it too.

The third picture is from the same December 2006 group.

The fourth picture was taken in November 2006. Hemingway did not usually take a nap while he was being held, but in this case, he settled down and slept in my arms for 10 - 15 minutes.

The fifth picture is our memorial picture of Hemingway. The actual photo is an older one (of Hemingway in his prime) to which I added the text.

I must say I am not happy with the image insertion functions here. It is not a user-friendly system. The following links will show better images than those actually imbedded in the post:

http://edgarjlaw.smugmug.com/gallery/1270904#134806595-L-LB
http://edgarjlaw.smugmug.com/gallery/1270904#123975451-L-LB
http://edgarjlaw.smugmug.com/gallery/1270904#123975434-L-LB
http://edgarjlaw.smugmug.com/gallery/1270904#123975365-L-LB
http://edgarjlaw.smugmug.com/gallery/1270904#153650484-L-LB
 

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Really cute pictures! My brother's polydactyl cat "Chase" looks like your Hemingway! Thank-you for posting them..........
 
Many thanks for sharing Anohito san - Hemingway was obviously a much-loved friend, who enjoyed a happy and long life with you :)
 
Again, thank you all for the kind comments. Regarding Hemingway's appearance, several years ago, a friend-of-a-friend came over with a friend of ours. The friend-of-the-friend is a vet tech and he observed that Hemingway's facial structure was more that of a kitten than an adult cat. At the time Hemmy was more than ten years old.
 
I worked at a cat only vet clinic for many years so I've seen a lot of cats. Your Hemmy has the big round eyes and facial structure of a kitten. The white feet and stripe on his face really add to his kitten appeal. Truly a cute cat.
 
I worked at a cat only vet clinic for many years so I've seen a lot of cats. Your Hemmy has the big round eyes and facial structure of a kitten. The white feet and stripe on his face really add to his kitten appeal. Truly a cute cat.

Thank you. He was quite photogenic (I may be biased about that), but for years it was difficult to take photographs of him because he was or had become afraid of the camera. Early in the 2000s I thought that maybe he had become afraid of the camera flash. So, I bought a disposable camera with very fast 800 film that I could use indoors. Using that camera and other simple cameras, I was able to get him accustomed to the presence of a camera.
 
Hemingway's facial structure was more that of a kitten than an adult cat. At the time Hemmy was more than ten years old.

That's interesting! I've never thought of cats and kittens having different facial structures!
 
This past Friday, we had our little memorial service for Hemingway at which we read our tributes and took photos of the flowers, etc. The picture below shows the box in which Hemmy's ashes will be kept* and a couple of his favorite toys. The Christmas stocking with the red mouse was the last toy he played with. During his final illness, when we were out in the kitchen one evening, we briefly heard the tinkle of the bell on the Christmas stocking.

*Along with Margo's, which had been temporarily removed. Eventually, we will scatter their ashes someplace.
 

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It's clear to see that you all treasure life very carefully indeed Anohito sir. In that sense, while ostensibly sad, this thread expresses something actually rather beautiful, inspiring, heart-warming.

😇
 
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