Mark and I are very sad to say we had to say goodbye to Princess Tassie last Friday, 29th December. She had been off her food over Christmas, and the vet found she had an inflamed gallbladder, and her liver was declining, making her jaundiced. Our vet attempted to treat her, but her blood test results deteriorated rather than improved, and he felt she wouldn’t recover. She was with us both, being stroked, loved (and bless her heart, still purring) as she went to sleep. Although we are heartbroken by her passing, we know we did the right thing for her.
As many of you know, Tassie has been our companion for almost 20 years, born in the Northern Beaches of Sydney in early 2004. She has lived a life unlike many felines, having adapted to camping and then caravanning and joining us on our travels.
She was flown across Australia to Perth in Western Australia and after exploring the south-west corner, accompanied us on a crossing of the Nullabor Desert as we made our way slowly back to Sydney. She has sunbathed on sand dunes on the South Australian coast, rolled in red-sands of the outback, and looked with confusion at the big red rock we call Uluru.
She once took herself off and sunbathed beside crocodile infested lagoon in the Northern Territory, nearly giving us kittens in the process, and protected us from a rather small dog in the rainforests of the Daintree in Far North Queensland by briskly slapping its cheeks several times. Noosa was a favourite Queensland location, and the loved watching boats from her daybed overlooking the Noosa River.
In Victoria, she chased lizards near Lakes Entrance, and reclined on a balcony in Melbourne, before taking over our friend’s house on the Mornington Peninsular.
At the grand old age of 18, she took her second flight, around to the UK with a stopover in Dubai, taking it all in her stride and exiting her crate at London Heathrow with a head rub and her ever present purr before heading to Somerset. In the UK, her travels were a little more limited, with a few motorhome trips in Somerset and Devon her sum travel total, with life more about sleeping than dog slapping.
Tassie has been the best companion we could have ever asked for. She has made us laugh almost every day, and our hearts are bursting with grief for her loss. She is so much more than just a pet. She has been a friend, a confidant, a hot-water-cat, a travel buddy, and has enabled us to see the world through different eyes.
In true Tassie style, as we left the vets, eyes wet with tears, a magnificent rainbow appeared, as though she was wielding her feline magic once again, sending us a message to let us know all was well, she has crossed the bridge and a new era is beginning. Rest in peace Princess T, you touched many, many lives, and will never be forgotten.
Not the end of year summary we had hoped to share, but hopefully when things are less raw, we will be able to. We trust you had a lovely Christmas and wish you all the best for 2024. We will be back soon.
I am so sorry for the loss of Princess Tassie . She was so loved that she sent you a rainbow ???? . Always in your hearts ????
RIP Tassie . .
All rainbows make us think of her now, and we have seen some amazing ones in the past week. She will not be forgotten, she taught us a lot, particularly about slowing down and noticing the little things. Thank you xx
Wow what a life! In my next life I want to come back as Princess Tassie! So sorry for your loss!
I think a few people feel the same way. Few humans and seen and experienced what she did. She was a special feline indeed xx
So sorry to hear about Tassy. What a wonderful cat life!
Thank you – we spent a lot of time with her and knew her well. She is definitely going to be missed…will always remember her looking for mice at your house – checking out your wardrobe 🙂 xx
Awe. I so enjoyed the cats away stories and pictures that included Tassie. I’m assuming it was named after purrrr. I mean her.
So sorry you had to let her go. Our furry friends are truly a part of our families and it hurts so much when they leave us.
Glad you have so many good memories of her. Thank you for sharing. Condolences.
Kim Anderson
Thank you – yes, she will never be forgotten – we definitely got to see Australia through feline eyes – we will never forget her first view of a horse, and the horror when she saw another cat walking through the paddock! We had to close the blinds so she could blink! xxx
I’m so sorry to hear of Tassie’s passing. She certainly had a wonderful life with you both. RIP Princess Tassie.
Thank you. We are often told she has seen more of Australia than most Australians, and I can believe that’s true. She was a unique character that brought us a lot of laughs and joy over the years xx
Princess T was a truly amazing cat ???? treasure the memories and be assured she had the best life possible. Sending you both a huge hug from the Sunny Coast ???? ???? XX Deb & Hank
She was indeed. Not all felines would be happy to travel in this way, we really were very fortunate when she chose us to be her family xxx
So sad Catherine and Mark to hear of Tassie’s passing…..a true family member and travel mate….rest assured she had a wonderful life thanks to you both .R I P Miss Tassie ( from all your worldwide audience and friends ) XOXO
Thank you – spoken as someone who truly understand what it is to say goodbye to a precious furry companion. Appreciate your thoughts and messages, it means a lot xx
Dear Catherine & Mr A I’m so saddened to hear of Miss Tassies passing what a wonderful wonderful life she had my condolences to you both
She was so loved so well traveled & certainly lived a long exceptional life with you both traveling around the country
Sending hugs ❤️????????????
Thank you xx picked up her ashes today, so hoping for a step towards closure this week. xxx
Catherine my sunflower & flag emojis have turned into question marks my apologies
Fay
Hi Mark & Catherine extremely sorry to hear Tassie has passed on, know how you feel as having lost some beautiful dogs in my time, all well here had a great xmas & New Year, Olive is still going ok , looking forward to another trip away when weather is kinder, sometimes around 38 cheers from Bob & Olive
Thank you Bob, that means a lot. Pleased Olive is still doing well. 38 degrees is ridiculous, and we see there has been a lot of rain in parts again. Take care both of you xx