I’ll be seeing you, little Roux…
Sorry for the radio silence around here this week friends, we experienced an incredible loss in our little family last week! For the past month and a half our little Roux has been struggling with cardiomyopathy. He has been on meds to keep his chest from filling with fluid, but a little over a week ago the medications just couldn’t keep bailing him out enough and we ended up having to put him down. It was the hardest decision that we have ever had to make, but we know it was the right decision for him.
For those of you who aren’t familiar with Roux, he was the most brilliant amazing cat I have ever known! He was a wonderful model and my mom and I had so much fun with photographing him that we created and self published a kid’s book about him. You can see more about that here. It always amazed us how such a small cat could be larger than life in so many ways!
We don’t have children yet, so our pets are like our babies, our fur children. We have loved and lost some amazing cats in our lifetime. You never really stop missing them completely, you just get used to them not being physically present. We’ve always said Roux and Beau are my heart. This loss feels all the more sad since we weren’t ready to say goodbye. Roux was not quite ten. We’ve lost two amazing cats way before we felt it was their time. Some cats are just so fantastic, so wonderful, that they are like Mary Poppins in a way. They come into your life and make things better, teach you how to love a little deeper, teach you how to love life even more than you already do, and then when they feel like their job is done, they move on to another family, to fill another heart. My heart and my home feel quite empty at the moment, but I am filled with so much gratitude to have been able to spend the last nine years with my little bear!
Some of my favorite things about Roux were the little things that made his personality so cute. He was the happiest purringest cat ever. You could look at him and say his name and he would instantly start purring. He loved going to work with me every day and loved having his photo taken by my mom so much he would go sit on the backdrop in our studio and wait to be photographed. He had the most veracious appetite and although his favorite thing was turkey, he’d eat anything including watermelon, peaches, olives. Whatever I was eating, he wanted some. He loved stuffed animals and would play fetch with his stuffed puppy. He was prissy and so talkative. He loved to perch on the skinniest part of my sisters leg. He purred all the time and he was like a velcro cat. Always wanted to be with you. If he couldn’t be on my lap when I was sewing, he’d be content to curl up next to my foot under the table. The thing I am going to miss the most is having him as my cuddle buddy at night! For the last nine years I have gone to sleep and woken up almost every night with a cat in my armpit and his little chin on my shoulder. In the end we were blessed. We were loved by an extraordinary cat. Roux was love, pure love in a tiny little cat suit.
To my little Roux, I will always love you, always miss you, always keep you in my heart! You were my baby, my kitty love, and one of the best friends I’ve ever had. You’ve made me laugh, comforted me, made me happy, made every one of my days sweeter. You were better than the best!
I am going to be taking a few more days off from blogging. I need to take a little break, but I promise I will be back very soon. Thank you all for your support and love!
Ashlee, I am so sorry for your loss. It is always hard to lose a kitty, but he was well-loved and adored by you. God bless you. Lisa N.
Sorry to hear about Roux. I went to look at your shop on Etsy and didn’t find any products listed for sale right now. We have an adopted dog and cat. Was Roux a certain breed? Funny I hear our Cleo (the cat) snoring in my closet right now otherwise I wouldn’t even know she was in my room until she pounced on me in the middle of the night. Glad Roux had such a loving home. Pat S
Hi Pat! I didn’t realize my shop was empty and forgot to renew everything. I will be adding Roux’s book and prints to my Sweet Sophie Blue Etsy shop soon. Will post an update on the blog when I do. In the meantime, if you’d like to order a book, just let me know. To answer your question, Roux was a Lynx Point Siamese, but his type was a wedge head or oriental style. I think they also classify them as oriental colorpoint short hair. I’ve had siamese all my life, but decided I wanted a lynx point when one of my favorite teachers in college told me about her lynx point that would eat off of a fork and wait by the window for her to come home every day from work. That’s so funny you have a cat that snores! They are all so special to us aren’t they! Big hugs to you 🙂
First of all…best name ever, for a cat. Second, I only needed to see the picture, and I knew what this was about. I hope you find peace soon, even though I totally understand what it feels like to wade in the deep deep waters of the loss of something so unusually unique, and amazing.
Thank you so much Leigh! He was named after Roux, the Gypsy from the french movie Chocolate, and Toulouse from Toulouse Latrec who painted cats, also french. We are slowly coming back to a sense of normalcy around here. Thank you and Big hugs to you!
So very sorry for your loss. Take your time & greive.
I am so so sorry for your loss…..Roux was family and he is gone from you physically….but never ever spiritually….he is there….you will see him out of the corner of your eye, or feel his presence…..Until you can meet again….
I am sorry for your loss. Losing anything or anyone is always a difficult thing, especially when you get great joy from them. You have wonderful memories and of course, Roux was one lucky little star.
Thank you Pat! We definitely have wonderful memories of our littlest man! Thank you for your sweet words!
Oh, I am so very sorry. I know how much we love our purring babies and they fill our hearts and our lives. The loss is real. Take your time. Hugs to you!!!
What an amazing cat Roux was! Thank you for sharing. Our beloved cat is 18 years old, so every day we have with her is another gift we treasure.
So sorry to hear of your loss..your words are a loving tribute, “pure love in a tiny cat suit”..so dear. We also had to put down a pet dog this month..even ‘tho it’s a hard decision you just don’t want them to continue to suffer. They’ll always be in your heart. xo
Thank you Tammy! So sorry to hear about your pup! Making that decision is one of the hardest things we have to do isn’t it, but at least we know it was the best and most humane thing for them in the end. Big hugs to you darlin’!
I am so sorry and saddened by your loss. We lost our 10 year old Maine Coon in a similar fashion. I know the pain. What an amazing cat, Roux, and so beautifully memorialized. The angel photo….I have no words. My heart goes out to you and everyone who has fond memories of sweet Roux.
Thank you so much Tiffany! So sorry to hear about your kitty too! I am very lucky to have such an amazing photographer for a mom, I have so many wonderful portraits of all my babies. Although I will say, Roux was definitely our favorite to work with! We miss him every day, as I’m sure you miss your kitty! Thank you for your sweetness! xoxo
Ashlee, I’m so sad for you and your loss. Sweet Roux was so loved and looks so happy in all those amazing photos. What a character!
He will always be in your heart.
x
I’m so sorry to hear about your loss. I had to put a pup down three years ago now and I still miss her every day. There’s nothing like loving a pet! I’ll be thinking about you!
Thank you Amy! So sorry to hear about your pup! It’s amazing how much they touch our hearts, isn’t it! Our fur babies are the best! Love seeing your little pug on instagram! So cute! Big hugs to you darlin’!
I’m very sorry to hear about Roux. He sounds like a very sweet cat. They are definitely part of the family!!
I’m so sorry for your loss. It’s hard to lose our fur babies.
Oh how heartbreaking! What an amazing cat -your photos are a beautiful tribute him. I will look for the book about him.
Thank you all so very much for your sweetness and kind words! I cannot even begin to tell you how much it means to me! Seeing your comments and feeling the love and well wishes has been a great comfort in the last couple of weeks! Giant hugs to you all!