Remembering the Kitties

I have had four kitties in my adult life:

Xavier, Prince, Meishka & Winston, all of which were rescues.
We got Xavier first in the fall of 2007 when he was about two months old, when I was “done being out to sea on ships”.

In the spring of 2008, we got Prince at six months old, another tuxedo, to “match” Xavier so X could have a friend and playmate. They bonded and got along well. Unfortunately, Xavier didn’t make it to a year old. He passed away from FIP at 11 months old in June of 2008.

Wilda,  Xavier, Prince (2008)

Xavier, Prince (2008)

Prince (Easter 2008)

Prince (Halloween 2008)

Xavier (late 2007)

Xavier, Prince (2008)

We had Prince as a single kitty for a while, then got Meishka at two years old in  March of 2009. Meishka was a gorgeous flame point Persian with sky blue eyes, and as beautiful as he was sweet. Prince and Meishka bonded quick and appeared to adore each other. These two snuggled, played and napped together frequently. They were “besties”. 

 

Video of Prince chasing his tail with a Meishka appearance in the end (2014). 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWYDwtICLnc

 

Meishka (2009)

Meishka (circa 2013)

Meishka, Prince (2012)

Prince, Meishka (circa 2014)

Prince, Meishka (2015)

Prince, Meishka (2018)

Prince, Meishka (2019)

Meishka, Prince (circa 2013)

 

Prince (2021)

In 2016, we attempted to foster a little gray and white ten year old Persian named “Baby” who needed a home. A purebred Persian, complete with “papers”, he was an irresistible little kitty that we fell in love with and decided to keep, thus our “foster fail”. We re-named him “Winston”, but mostly referred to him as “the baby” most the time, since he was such a little cat.
Kitty dynamics being what they are, Meishka and Winston got along OK, but Prince and Winston not so much.
Liz would often say “Prince is handsome, Meishka is beautiful and Winston is cute”.

There were occasions when I caught all three kitties together.

 

Winston (2017)

Winston (circa 2018)

Meishka, Winston, Prince (2016)

Winston and playtime (2020)

Winston, Liz, Prince, Meishka (circa 2018)

Meishka, Winston (2019)

Winston, Meishka, Prince (circa 2018)

 

We had all three together for nearly four years, but as the year 2020 was bad for the world, it was also a bad kitty year for us. We lost Meishka at thirteen years old in April, then Winston at fourteen years old in December.
We had Prince and Winston together for a few months, and even then, there were moments.

 

Winston, Prince (2020)

Prince, Winston (2020)

They were (and still are) very much loved! They loved us too!

Wilda, Prince (2009)

Liz, Meishka (2012)

Wilda, Winston (2019)

Wilda,  Prince (2021)

Wilda, Meishka (2014)

Liz, Meishka, Winston, Wilda, Prince, Christmas Day 2017

 
Prince was our trooper or “cockroach” kitty, having survived the three other cats and living the longest, but we lost him in September 2022 at fifteen years old.

They were all great cats, each with their quirks, but all were full of love and are greatly missed.

 

Xavier (2007-2008)

Prince (2007-2022)

Meishka (2007-2020)

Winston, "the baby" (2006-2020)

 

Losing our last one in September 2022 was certainly the end of an era in our house, since we will not be getting more kitties and have other plans moving forward.
Rest in peace my sweet boys. I will always love and remember them.

Meishka & Prince (2009) Luv bugs!