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August 2004: I am very sad to inform you that we (my mother, my brother Mark and myself) have guided Basha, our dear boy, to the rainbowbridge. It was a very hard decision, but we felt it would be kindest to Basha to let him go now before he was not able to do anything anymore. He had been losing weight for two years now, this past summer even more, he was more skin and bones than muscle and was just capable of walking and sitting down. This Thursday my brother and myself went to my mother's house, had a long cuddle with Basha and then left for the vet. I took Basha in my arms to go there, he is such a cat that will not try to get away. At the vet's we cuddled some more until he got the anaesthetic so he would fall asleep. He did not like this at all, it hurt him a bit, there was also little muscle left to get the needle in. I let him hang in my neck until he felt nauseous, which is common with anaesthesia, then we had him lay down on the table, stroking him until he fell asleep. Then Basha got the 2nd needle with the overdose in his heart, and he started breeding slower until he finally left us. We took Basha home with us and buried him in our garden, next to the outside run. Basha will always be in our hearts and we will miss him a lot.
Arwen's oldest godfather is Basha, a sweet teddybear of 15 years old. Basha came into our lives as company for Shiwa and had the same parents as she does. When we went to Best to choose a kitten Basha he attracted attention immediately, he was the smallest of the lot. It wasn't an easy choice, but Basha was the one. Hisactual name is Bengeltje (means naughty boy), but it was a mouthfull to call. For some reason his name became Basha. Once settled in he grew a lot and from the kitten with the big head he became the cat with the big body. He has always loved food and was usually a little too big for a Siamese, but still slimmer than many ordinary lapcats. Basha owns a "typical" Siamese voice, very loud. When he yelled when we were on the phone (it's more like yelling than talking) the other side thought a baby was crying. Recently no sound came from his mouth at all. It was a funny sight, Basha mewing without a sound. It was kinda quiet, but after a visit to the vet, some antibiotics and cough syrup his voice came back swiftly. Goodbye peace and quiet.
In contrary to Shiwa who was a very intelligent cat Basha is stupid. He still hasn't managed to catch a bird, they always outsmarted him (he could catch frogs unfortunately, they can scream!). If a door is ajar he sits in front of it and yells, instead of opening the door with his paw. Luckily he compensates all this with his cuddliness, he is nothing but goodness. You can easily pull his tail and once a visiting 2-year-old pulled him up by the neck, he didn't do a thing. His favourite hobby is sleeping, preferably on your lap. He holds the purring record in the house, he's absolutely the loudest. I learnt him a trick once, when I pat my hand on my chest he'd jump into your arms. He's not much of a jumper anymore nowadays and he gets to your legs and climbs up with some help, old age has shortcomings.
Basha was a foster mother to as well Arwen as Murron, he thought those little cuties were very interesting and wanted to give them a full washing immediately. He set them at ease in that new strange environment. Murron tried to drink from his nipples, but there's nothing there. Once at ease the ladies wanted to play with him too, but that's not his thing anymore. He is a sunning buddy however and often Basha bakes with the two ladies in the sun.
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Date Last Modified: 20-08-2004
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