Ah Toni Toni Toni. I remember the day she was born. My cat Tigger (who we were told was a boy) gave birth to Toni and her siblings behind our couch on October 5th 1996.
From the beginning, Toni was an affectionate cat who demanded constant attention when you were near her. All you had to do was simply LOOK at her and she would meow like crazy until you started petting her. Once you did that, she DROOLED all over your hand. If you stopped petting her for even ONE second she would rub (and drool) on your hand until you started petting her again. And if you picked her up (she was a shoulder cat) she would meow and drool in your ear.
We also thought Toni was a boy (her original name was Antonio after my cousin)...until SHE gave birth to kittens in the bathroom on October 15th 1997. She was a wonderful mother to her babies. Unfortunately, one of them passed away during birth so she was left with two adorable orange boys: Boxer and George. George ended up running away about a year later, but Boxer (who I call my fat friend) stayed. Toni and Boxer were always together from the moment Boxer was born. Once both were old enough, they began sleeping in the garage together. They shared the garage until the day Toni got sick.
Toni's sickness came out of no where. We came home from the store on September 2nd 2009 and she was breathing quite heavily. We packed her up and took her to the emergency vet. The vet told us she had an enlarged heart and fluid around her lungs. She told us that even if she drained the fluid around her lungs there was no guarantee she would get better and sometimes the nicest thing to do is to put your pet to sleep so they won't suffer. After me and my mom cried from about an hour, we made the very tough decision to put her to sleep and end her suffering.
My mom and I are not the only ones in our house mourning. Toni's son, Boxer, has slept inside for the past two nights. He went outside briefly only to come back in just a few hours later. Toni's "dog" Buddy is also quite sad. He leaned up against me earlier and buried his face in my leg (which is his way of requesting attention). I knelt down and hugged him, telling him that we would get thru this loss together and he buried his face under my neck. My big guy misses his chasing kitty very much. And it makes me sad to know that my other "furries" are hurting so bad from this loss.
Toni Toni Toni: we miss you very much and hope they have lots of ribbon for you to eat wherever you are. Say hi to the other pets for us okay? We love you.

Love Always,

Grandma, Great Grandma, Tigger, Boxer, Jack Daniels, and Buddy