Savannah is gone—I am thankful she chose me
HIYA! MOM L HERE—with leaky eyes…
At 12:58 AM, PDST, July 9, 2024 my world ceased to move. A silent soft gasp stopped movement in the universe as my precious heart kitty, my Nana, began her painless journey to The Rainbow Bridge. With her Dad P and me by her side, me holding her swaddled in a soft blanket, we whispered our love in her ears and cradled her like our baby and then we asked the compassionate emergency vet to release her to begin her trek. Savannah, my Nana, is gone.
Thank you Ann for this heartfelt image of my Nana.
My sweet special rescue girl has been the light of my life since December 2011 when Peter and I brought her home to foster her. She had been dumped in a night drop box at the county shelter in 2010 and after a few months of not being able to get this shy terrified cat adopted—they placed her on the euthanasia cart.
My Intake Photo: Kill Shelter
A fellow volunteer at the nonprofit we volunteered at pulled her to foster her until a spot opened up at Kitty Corner. Bless Miss Tammy for saving Savannah for us and paw hugs for Miss Chrissy for keeping her safe at Kitty Corner until we found her.
But, there at Kitty Corner, she languished, seldom touched, hiding from the volunteers and potential adopters for over a year. The Peter and I started to clean once a week at Kitty Corner and Peter found her hiding in a small cubby against a wall. Such a gorgeous kitty; Russian Blue gray and white toes in front and full white socks on her back paws—a white bikini on her tummy and stunning white chevron under her chin. And those glorious green, turquoise, gold eyes! Such long white whiskers.
After one month, December 2011, we realized that Savannah needed to be our forever kitty and on January 3, 2012, we officially adopted her. She had already begun her path of recovery and she and I started her blog February 2012—Savannah’s Paw Tracks: A former shelter cat making a difference. And that she did—make a difference in the lives of many cats and dogs. She became their rescue champion. Using her blog to Paw It Forward by helping them find medical care and forever homes.
Savannah, my Nana, was the creator of this blog. I have simply been her typist. Her calm demeanor, silly antics and steadfast trust in us helped me help her to find her Real Self. And this blog has always been her way of sharing her journey of recovery from trauma in her first six years that we will never know the truth of. But Nana, aka Savannah aka Savvy aka Savvydo—definitely left her paw prints all over my heart and my soul.
I see her every day, all day out of the corner of my eye. I catch a glimpse of her watching me from the top stair or hear her meow that always meant she was ready for another bite of food or ready for her treats. My days over the last two years of holding her in hospice care were completely dedicated to watching over her.
We knew she had many life-threatening health challenges; CKD stage 1, then stage 2 and finally early 2024 stage 3, IBD, heart murmur, severe arthritis. She was diagnosed in 2020 with hyperthyroidism but we cured that through the Radio Cat treatment as Nana hated taking pills. We talked with Nana and we three decided that we wanted her to be comfortable but would not take extreme measures to keep her with us for only a few more days, hours. We gave her fluids every other day for 18 months, and same with transdermal prednisolone.
On Monday night, July 8 about 10 PM PDST, I saw her try to cross the living room to reach me on the couch. She kept falling to her left side—I feared the fluids I gave her in the late afternoon had pooled in that left leg and I caused her lack of balance. But then I realized Nana simply could not stand. Her left leg was useless. Peter carried her upstairs to me on our bed and we held her and cuddler her while we talked over what to do.
My heart knew this was it. Nana had been sleeping very close to either Peter or me and right up against our chest, shoulders; practically in our faces. She has been saying goodbye for about a month. Domino has been keeping very close to her over the last two weeks. It all came together that night July 8—Nana was going to leave us. I finally told Peter what I thought; she had thrown a blood clot. She had a stroke.
We left by 11 PM for the emergency hospital. Me riding in the back seat with Nana in her carrier with the door open so I could comfort her with my soft touches. She hated riding in the car.
The vet working that night was incredibly skilled and compassionate. She examined Nana then asked us to first tell her why we brought her in. We recounted all we have been doing for her over the past 2 years and then I told her I was certain Nana had a stroke. The vet was relieved that we already knew that Nana wasn’t going home with us. So, she made a room comfy for all of us and brought Nana to us and gave as much time to say our good byes as we wanted.
Nana just went to sleep. Past all pain; her sweet face so relaxed and trusting. But the light had gone from her brilliant green eyes and I knew my heart kitty was on her way to join our precious Sage at The Rainbow Bridge. She is forever free of old age and a body deteriorating from age. My girl is chasing butterflies and sharing sun puddles with our Sage. Peter and I will be with them again one day—
Thank you from my heart for all the kindness her readers have shown her. My heart kitty, my soulmate, my love forever.
PAW PATS. MOM L
Here is a video of images of our memories of her—I made this five minute video to help me in my deep grief over her passing. I know, it was “expected”—but it never happens the way we hope it will . I wanted her to pass peacefully in her home. But fate had other ideas. So you won’t hurt my feelings if no one wants to sit through this video. Peter and I agreed on the content to reflect our most beloved memories of all that Nana brought to our lives and to the cat and dog blogging world.
Her first months with us Her favorite toys Being Silly She loved stairs Sage and Domino wanted snuggles Fun with her blogging pals Her Paw It Forward projects Her love affair with stuffie Sibe Nanuk Those darling pink toe beans Dad P and Nana AdventurCats Momma’s beautiful Nana
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Savannah's Paw Tracks 