Rosie was my family’s first cat (and pet!). She passed away on Sept 7, 2022. We had to put her to sleep because cancer had rendered her lower half unusable.

I struggled to write this shortly after her death because it was too hard. Rosie was a great cat. She was a rare female orange tabby with freckles on her nose. She was shy and would hide when people were around that she didn’t know. But she liked to sit on laps and be petted in the evening when she rested.

Rosie showed up in the backyard of our house on 36th St in Rock Island. She was an older kitten. Madelyn was not quite three years old and had desperately wanted a kitten. I was hesitant on getting a cat or really any pet at all. I was very busy with work and children and was selfish about my remaining time and I was worried that a cat would be another chore for me. So I was lucky when Rosie showed up in the backyard and Sarah and Madelyn started feeding her. Because it was really great that we got her.

Both Sarah and Maddie wanted to keep Rosie and I fairly quickly relented saying they should take her to the Milan animal shelter to see if she was chipped. So Sarah and Madelyn took her there and they wanded her finding no chip. Against the policy of shelter the employee released Rosie to Madelyn’s care. I guess the were supposed to wait 48 hours to see if someone came looking for her but because my daughter was so excited about the cat they sent Rosie home with her.
Madelyn quickly confirmed the name of Rosie-Rose-Roseville or Rosie for short and we were all very happy.

Rosie was a pretty street smart cat. The first 6 or so years we had her she stayed happily inside the house. But after a while she became very bored with her limited space and regularly tried to sneek outside. At this point we made a fairly questionable decision and made Rosie and Indoor/Outdoor cat despite the busy street next to the house. We are very lucky Rosie was never hurt when outside. We felt letting her out would greatly improve her quality of life and I do belive we are correct in this. Once she was able to come and go at will Rosie seemed very happy.

Rosie spent the next 5 years or so killing most of the rodents around the house and sunning herself happily by the neighbors pool. She HATED other Cats and would regularly get in fights trying to defend her territory. She wasn’t a large cat but she was tough and had no qualms mixing it up with anyone. She was an aggressive mouser but did not typically kill for sport. Most of what she killed she ate and she helped keep the house free of mice. Which is something I always respected about the cat.

On May 24, 2015 we got Beau the dog. Something Rosie never really forgave us for. Which is too bad. Beau loved Rosie because she was part of the family but Rosie HATED him. Sadly since Beau was always with us Rosie didn’t come hang out on our laps as much. But we still saw her.

In 2016 we moved Rosie from the house on 36th Street our new house on 44th St by Saukie golf course. At first this was another insult for the poor cat as she was taken from her hard fought territory in the old house but I think she quickly warmed up to the place as the yard was large and full of lots of mice and the basement had many secret places she could hide. There was a lot of fights and a couple trips to the emergency vet as she re-established her territory but I think she eventually came to feel very comfortable on the back deck in the sun.

My girls really loved Rosie and she was a great Cat for them. She never scratched or bit and enjoyed their attention. She didn’t mind the occasional pick up by an excited 4 year old.

I’m not really sure what else to say about Rosie besides that I’ll always miss her. She was the family’s first real pet (sorry fish you don’t count) and we really enjoyed having her part of the family.

Rosie when Maddie found her

Rosie on Easter 2022