RIP Rowdy

This week, I had to say goodbye to a dear friend. Rowdy is the second cat we lost from the original group of the three wild kittens we raised. Oreo was the first.

Last Sunday, Rowdy became very ill. I knew he was sick from the way he was acting, and he also felt warm. I got him out of the bushes where he was hiding and brought him up to the carport. He slept in the same place on the love seat all evening.

The next morning, he was still in the same spot. He hadn't moved all night. A few hours later, he got up and he could hardly walk. His left front foot seemed injured, and he seemed dizzy. I immediately gathered him up and took him to the vet.

I left him at the vet while I went to work and waited for a phone call. Honestly, I thought he had contracted a cold or something, the vet would give him an antibiotic and he'd been fine.

A girl from the vet's office called - they wanted to draw blood. I said okay. She called back and said his white blood count was too low...which is indicative of feline leukemia. They wanted to test for it. I said ok.

The next call I got was from the vet himself...when I heard his voice, I knew this wasn't good. Rowdy tested positive for feline leukemia. His fever was 106. He was very, very sick. His white blood count should have been around 5000 - it was 1000. The vet told me, he most likely would be picking up everything that came along as his body didn't have the defenses to fight off anything anymore. He also told us this was very contagious, and could easily be given to the other cats, if it hadn't been already.

It was time to make a tough decision. I went to talk to Bill, who is a "co-owner" of these cats and who loves them all dearly. We decided it was best not to put Rowdy through continual sickness and pain, and it was best for the other cats, as we had no way to separate him.

So we went to the vet's office to say goodbye to our dear friend. Rowdy was with us two years. He touched our hearts in more ways than you can ever imagine. He was unique and special...and we will miss him forever.

I made him his own personal grave marker. It's pyrography on wood with color pencil, and sealed to protect it from the weather. Linda is going to plant some pretty flowers on his grave, too.

RIP my dear Rowdy...we loved you the best we could, and we are so sorry we had to say goodbye too soon.

*The other two cats we have left tested negative for this horrible disease and have also been vaccinated for it. The vaccine is only about 70-80% effective, and there is no cure.

Cat Painting #10, Music Man

Rowdy has found a new toy to play with - the family keyboard. He likes to walk across the keys and hear the noise and eventually will lay down on them. We captured this delightful photo of him doing a cute little dance across the keys, showing his fancy footwork along with his musical ability. :)

Music Man, oil pastel on board, size 8x10" $100

Cat Painting #10, in progress round 2

Well this is as far as I've gotten today on this painting. Since it's almost my bedtime and my eyes are watering, I'm stopping for today and will pick up on it tomorrow...which will actually be the hardest part, as I'll have to paint the keyboard Rowdy is sitting on. So looks like I've got my work cut out for me tomorrow!

Cat Painting #10, in progress

I would have to pick a difficult scene to do on an 8x10" board. It's tough to do an animal "full body" on this size board and get the realism I desire with oil pastel. I'm not saying it can't be done...it's just more tedious and time-consuming. Mistakes are inevitably made and just take a while to repair. So this painting of Rowdy, who is sitting on my keyboard, is challenging, and will be challenging throughout the entire process. Not to mention, the photo I'm working from is awful as far as lighting, but I like the pose, so I've taken on the challenge. It will take longer than one day, I already know that! Here's an in progress photo of what I've got done after about 3 hours.

Oil pastel cat painting #5 in progress

Today's painting is based on a sweet photo of Rowdy as a baby sleeping on his Momma. It's called "All Tuckered Out" and this is an in progress shot of today's painting - painting #5 in my series of 365 Cat Paintings.

Planning the Escape oil pastel cat painting

Rowdy may look all sweet and cute here, laying on this royal purple pillow, but in reality, he was planning his escape route from the scene I'd set up to photograph. Which is typical of this cat...he doesn't like to sit still for any length of time - especially when there's a camera involved. Unless he's sleeping, of course. :)

This oil pastel painting is size 8x10" on canvas board and is available here. This is the 3rd painting in my new series, 365 Cat Paintings.


I brought the 3 paintings I've completed outside to re-photograph them and be able to show their true colors better. Nikko wanted to assist, so I made her hold her own painting up and snapped her photo. I know, she looks less than thrilled. :)

Here's a photo of the three paintings I've just completed. Rowdy, Nikko and Oreo. As many bird and animal paintings I've done, I still find cats the most difficult. I don't know why. I guess it just fits the personality of the cat --> challenging. :)

Oil Pastel Painting of Rowdy in progress

Today I'm working on a painting of our sweet Rowdy. Here's an in progress shot of what I've accomplished so far.