When you live on the road full time, life comes along with you. It’s not like a vacation, where you can imagine that things are on hold for a while.
Case in point, my intrepid traveling companion, Walter the Cat, has crossed the Rainbow bridge, as people like to say.
He was a wonderful traveling companion. When he’d hear me start hitching up Flo the Airstream, he’d get get settled down in his traveling position – under the covers on my bed.
When he’d hear me returning, he’d be at the door meowing. I always imagined him saying, “Hello! Now get in here and feed me!”
At the end of the night, he’d follow me to the bedroom and jump up and get cozy. When it was really cool – or even cold – he’d snuggle under the covers with me.
In the last month or so, Walter really started failing. First he started refusing to eat. I tried him on all sorts of canned food. For a while, he would lap at the sauce and eat a bit of the meat. In the end, he wouldn’t touch it and he would only sniff at his water.
One thing I have learned in my travels thus far is that there are always people out there to help. My thanks go out to Tammy and Dr. Devon at Valley Animal Hospital in Tucson, who treated me and Walter with great kindness.
Walter was a great companion to my father. He thought Walter had a limp, so he named him after Walter Brennan. Personally, I thought he had more of John Wayne’s swagger than Walter Brennan’s limp.
In any event, Walter has gone on ahead and there is a hole in my heart today.
Oh, Kim, this makes me so sad. 🙁
Thanks, Catherine. He was great company. I am going to miss him.
what a beautiful tribute! I’m so sorry for your loss…
Thinking of you, Kim.
Thanks, Valerie! I appreciate your sympathy.
Thanks, Sarah.
Uhg! So hard, Kim! I am so very sorry! Walter was a beauty and a great companion, it seems.
Thanks, Julie. He was a great companion and I’m going to miss him.
This is a beautiful tribute to your dear Walter. I love the story of the rainbow bridge and I have no doubt at all that whatever bridge we cross at the end of our own lives, our beloved animals are there, too.
Thanks, Joan. Walter was Some Cat.
Dear Kim- please know that I am sending kazoo love. So sorry for your loss. It will seem a little lonely without your bud on the road. What a great adventure you gave him. Wish you were closer so we could all offer comfort in person.
Glad I knew Walter. Lively photo of him and your papa. Wishing you comfort and rest.
Oh Kim, I am so sorry. Walter was as lucky to have you as you were to have him. Treasure your memories with uplifting feelings, forever. All of us who have lost a dear pet, in the past, have that hole in our heart, today.
Thanks, Tim and Jan. These holes in our hearts link us all together.
Thanks, Patricia. I am feeling so warm and wrapped in love. I am so lucky to have so many wonderful people in my life.
Oh, so sorry to read of Walter’s passing, Kim.
Thanks, Kath. He was a sweet cat and a real trouper.
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Thanks, Cinthia! I’m glad you are finding this site informative.
Kim…my deepest sympathy on losing your beloved Walter. He was a wonderful kitty and a good traveling companion. Thanks for sharing your special tribute to him. You are in my thoughts.
Thanks, Carrie. Walter was a wonderful companion, but I am glad that his suffering has ended.
Wow, what a handsome cat Walter was and what a lovely tribute.
Great pic of your dad and Walter.
Wish I had a pic of Buzz with Freckles — they liked to keep their friendship secret, lol. (Freckles is also terrified of cameras – the flash? – currently trying to cure her of that.)
You’re in my thoughts as always.
(Enjoying catching up on the rest of your blog.)
Thanks, Susan!
I miss both my old guys, but that’s life. Too bad you didn’t have a photo with Buzz and Freckles. I never used a flash, so maybe that’s the secret.