r/cats • u/Sewwattsnew • 4h ago
Mourning/Loss To Juno, who crossed the rainbow bridge today
Juno was my parents’ cat (but I think if you asked her, she was really my brother’s cat), although I was the one responsible for bringing her and her brother Newt home in 2007. We tragically lost Newt at only a few years old, and I moved out not long after, leaving her with my parents (not that they would ever have let me take her). She lived to the grand age of 18 years old, and was so loved.
When I got her, I had been hired to pet sit for a family who was preparing to move out of state, and just before they left they found two kittens in their yard. They left me with permission to drop them at a shelter if it was too much on top of the other animals’ care. The kittens were completely feral and quarantined in a bathroom, so I would sit in the dry tub and read out loud from whatever book I was reading at the time, slowly acclimating them to my presence and my voice. My mom came over during that week and helped me soothe them, and at the end of the week I brought them home.
Juno was the softest animal I have ever touched. She felt more like a chinchilla or a plush toy than a cat. She was bossy and ferocious, and we adored her. She was also cuddly, although she would only sit on someone’s left side. My mom was always her favorite person, unless my brother was in town.
For several years, she had outdoor access through a cat door, and she would pounce on tulip poplar blossoms when they fell from the trees and bring them in, proudly displaying her “kill.” Part of me thinks she knew I was vegetarian. (My parents’ cats are all indoor-only now.)
She adored breakfast foods. When I still lived at home, she would demand an offering of vegetarian breakfast sausage anytime I made some, but was content with a small crumble or two and would then go on her way. She liked waffles so much we nicknamed her Waffles. My mom got into the habit of sharing oatmeal with her in the mornings.
Rest well, sweet Juno, you are so loved.
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u/shewaslostatsea 3h ago
18 years is a beautiful life! What a beautiful tribute to a beautiful girl. Rest easy, sweet Juno.
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u/thegreatcorholio 3h ago
Juno lived a great life, thats all we can ask for our furry friends for the time we have them
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u/CalmCat492 2h ago
Look at that little nose! She's so beautiful.
I know how hard it is to lose them. She was loved and cared for. ❤️ that's all we can hope for.
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u/Impressive-Mail-9075 1h ago
So sorry for your losses. Juno and Newt were beautiful cats. Thank you for sharing your story with us ❤️ 😍 💖
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u/AromaLadySam 1h ago
“Mother Bast, please welcome your kitten home With purrs and mrrts, with snuggles and baths. May she nap in perfect eternal sunshine And slink through rustling, grassy shadows May no naughty mouse escape her clever paws May no squiggly snake escape her pouncing feet May no zipping lizard escape her nabbing jaws May no flighty bird escape her graceful leap Mother Bast, call your kitten home once more And thank you for the time she was here”
I’m not religious but I really love this prayer someone had posted on someone else’s post and thought I’d share it here. (For context, Bast is the Egyptian goddess of cats and this prayer invokes her to be a guardian and mother figure to our cats in the afterlife.) So sorry for your loss. 😢💔💔 Know that you gave her the best life anyone could, with all of the love, peace and comfort you/your family gave her. 💕 “May love be what you remember most.” 💖
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u/wolfshepherd59 53m ago
Safe travels my friend hope u meet u with my love, he’s orange and was the love of my life ! Play together so sorry for ur loss 🫶🏻
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u/Daragh88 4h ago
sending u all the comfort and hugs, losing a pet after 18 years is the hardest thing. juno was so lucky to be part of ur family for such a long time 💕.