Tsunami – April 7, 2007 – August 13, 2020
Celebrating Tsunami
It’s not every day that you fall in love at first sight, but I became smitten with Tsunami from the first moment I lay eyes on Tsunami.
Did you know that this magical moment actually occurred over a photo?
The year was 2007. After a series of devastating losses that included Rainbow Bridge crossovers by our beloved Maine Coon cats Sampson, Adonis and Angelica, my family was finally ready to open our hearts to another kitten. We searched near and far to find the purr-fect kitty and then, one day, I spotted Tsunami.
He was only 3 weeks old at the time, but he was so filled with charisma, brightness, and joy, that he easily stood out among his littermates.
We visited Tsunami when he was 7 weeks old. “Sumo”, as he was called then, stole my husband’s heart by curling up and taking a nap in his flip flops!
From the moment Tsunami officially joined our family when he was 14 weeks old, he turned our lives upside down. He knew we were his family and he totally adored us. He followed us everywhere and studied us for hours on end, watching our every move. He knew our habits inside and out. We watched and doted over him as well, and he loved all of the attention we lavished on him.
Of course, not all of Tsunami’s early antics filled us with joy – he had a few naughty habits in his bag of kitten tricks that we worked hard to break. For starters, Tsunami was an early bird who loved to eat around the clock and was highly intent at getting us up at the crack of dawn to feed him. One of his most annoying habits as a kitten was his daily trick of jumping in the windows behind our bed at sunrise, loudly rattling the shades in our ears, and blinding us with sunlight until we got up!
He also disrupted our work whenever possible. He derived great joy from startling us by popping out of the tiny openings in our keyboard trays when we least expected it. He also had the very bad habit of biting our telephone and keyboard cords in half so we couldn’t talk or type. The naughtiest thing he ever did, however, was break my keyboard tray by zooming down the hall and landing upon it at such a high velocity that it came crashing to the floor with a ferocious thud!
I often get asked how such a gentle adult cat ended up with such an unusual name as Tsunami. If you ever experienced him tearing down our narrow hallway, running between our legs and semi-toppling us on a daily basis as a wild little terror kitten, you’d understand why his name immediately resonated with us!
In spite of his kittenish misdeeds, however, Tsunami was our Little Prince Cat who was totally spoiled and could do no wrong. He loved eating human food more than cat food – his favorites were Thanksgiving Turkey and Costco Chicken – and he preferred being hand fed or fork fed these delicacies like a human. As an adult, he grew to be so tall and long that he could actually stand on his hind legs and countersurf whenever poultry was on the menu!
Tsunami was an extremely sensitive cat with a very high Emotional IQ. If you needed a companion cat because you were in emotional pain, Tsunami was the one who would sit with you, listen to your sob stories, and bear your burdens.
As a kitten, Tsunami loved to play Houdini. When he first arrived in our home, he would disappear for hours on end, which caused me to fret and worry to no end. Determined to find his hiding spot, I combed every spot in our home. I finally found him once I crawled on my back and discovered that he was crawling in a little sac he had created for himself in the underside of the bed!
Speaking of beds, Tsunami had a special knack for being able to find the exact center of the bed to plop in (he was known far and wide as The Bed Hog because he’d take up the entire bed and the covers too and turn himself into dead weight so you couldn’t move him).
Tsunami loved to play games and do puzzles as a kitten – the laser pen and the round scratcher with the ball you could swat in a circle were among his favorites. He also loved hunting stuffed mice and chase toys when he was young – at one point, he got so protective with one of his prey mouse, he began to growl when anyone got near it!
The one skill he never could master, however, was the simple act of opening a slightly open door. Instead of sticking his paw inside of it and pulling it open, he inevitably would lock himself in the room and give us all sorts of grief when we came to rescue him!
Tsunami’s world was rocked a few months later when his new brother, Legend, joined our home. While this was initially not a good thing in Tsunami’s eyes – in his world, every home should have only one Prince – in time, they became the best of buddies. When Legend unexpectedly crossed the Rainbow Bridge several years later, it was a heart-wrenching time for us all.
In December 2013, Magellan – Tsunami’s real-life half-brother – joined our home and Tsunami was an amazingly gracious big brother to him. Even though it took Magellan some time to adjust to the fact that another cat pre-existed in HIS new home, they eventually became friends and Magellan began to look up to his big brother for advice and training in all things cat.
Over the years, Tsunami led a pretty amazing life. He made his debut at Create With Joy in November 2009, when he was 2 ½ years old, and quickly began to amass a fan base. For many years, Tsunami regularly graced us with his presence at our Wordless Wednesday Blog Hop, where he entertained us with his antics, educated us about cat-related topics, and served as a Taste Tester, Product Reviewer and Brand Ambassador/Influencer for many of the top brands un the pet industry. In 2019, he retired from the public eye so that he could enjoy his twilight years focusing on the things he loved most.
Tsunami’s 9 lives spanned from April 7, 2007 – August 13, 2020 and he lived each day of them to the fullest. He was a cat who loved life – who knew how much he was loved – and who gave as much love as he could to everyone whose path he crossed for all of his 13 years.
Tsunami will be greatly missed but through the magic of the Internet and through the memories he’s created in our hearts, his legacy lives on.
Farewell, Sweet Tsunami. Our loss is heaven’s gain.
Special Thanks
Saying good-bye to Tsunami two weeks ago was so hard, but the heaviness I have felt has been lifted in great part by the outpouring of love that I have received from all of my friends in the blogging community, silver and gold, old and new. Thank you for your love and kindness – I cannot convey how much you have blessed my heart.
I’d also like to give a special shout-out to three very special people within the cat blogging community who have gone out of their way to support me during this difficult time:
- Kevin Hattori at Animal Shelter Volunteer for being a rock, a sounding board, and a source of emotional strength.
- Terry Frum at Brian’s Home for spreading the word about my loss among the cat blogosphere and other acts of support and kindness.
- Ann Adamus at Zoolotry who generously donated her time and her talents to create my beautiful memorial badges!
May God reward your love and kindness one hundred fold!
Rainbow Bridge Remembrance Day Blog Hop
The Rainbow Bridge Remembrance Day Blog Hop is an annual event that was created 5 years ago by my friend, the award-winning cat blogger and author Deb Barnes, of Zee and Zoey, to help pet lovers commemorate the pets they’ve loved and lost, just as she was commemorating the loss of her beloved cat Mr. Jazz.
If you would like to share about your pets, please feel free to link up below. Deb has left the party open for the next 31 days to give everyone plenty of time to participate.
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It’s so hard to lose our babies. They bring us such joy.
Thank you for joining the Feline Friday Blog Hop.
Have a purrfect Feline Friday and weekend. ♥
Twitter: CreateWithJoy1
says:
Thanks for hosting Sandee and thanks for stopping by!
That was such a beautiful tribute to your dear Tsunami, we felt like we knew that precious soul. We know how difficult it is to suffer such a loss. When Brian first came home he had a brother, Ivan, a Maine Coon. They were instant pals from the first moment. Brian was devastated when Ivan screamed in the middle of the night and ran for the Rainbow Bridge just nine months later. Hugs from all of us.
Twitter: CreateWithJoy1
says:
Thanks Terry. Poor Brian! Legend was very close to his littermate brother before he joined us.
When I heard the news that he had passed I was heartbroken for him.
THanks for everything.
I can feel your pain at the loss of wonderful Tsunami. Ann Ademus has such a heart for those with grieving hearts and she and other wonderful blogging friends reached out when I lost my fur kids.
Praying for your broken heart, no matter how long they are with us it’s never enough.
Anita
Twitter: CreateWithJoy1
says:
Thanks Anita. Ann is amazing – such a loving, generous woman!
Praying for you and your beautiful angels Tucker and Jasmine as well.
Twitter: truebookaddict
says:
I’m so sorry to hear of the loss of Tsunami. My heart goes out to you, as I know how hard it is to lose a beloved pet. Sending positive thoughts and hugs your way. Rest in peace, dear Tsunami. <3
Twitter: CreateWithJoy1
says:
Thanks Michelle – I hope you and your kitties are well.
Twitter: truebookaddict
says:
We are doing well. We have all moved to Michigan, and added a new addition to the family. Another black kitty named Merida Brienne. I will have pics of her up on Cat Thursday next week. The older gals aren’t too thrilled with her, but hoping they will eventually accept her. Fingers crossed.
Twitter: CreateWithJoy1
says:
Ooh, I can’t wait to meet your new kitty Michelle!
Please link up when you post and leave a comment –
My fibro-brain is extra crispy these days!
Every love is different, and there will never be another Tsunami, but that there was a Tsunami to love is the miracle and your lives are forever entwined.
Twitter: CreateWithJoy1
says:
Thank you so much for stopping by Bernadette to celebrate Tsunami’s life. The fact that we ended up with Tsunami and his brothers – 3 incredible cats from NY when we are in CA – is a miracle in and of itself!
I completely fell in love with Tsunami while reading this post! He sounds a lot like my Bear Cat. When Bear was younger, there were days he brought me to tears because he was always in something. At times, it felt like I had a whole crew of two-year-olds by looking at the path of destruction Bear could create in no time at all! Now that he’s almost 15, I miss those days so much. We join you in remembering Tsunami and we are incredibly sorry for your unfathomable loss.
Twitter: CreateWithJoy1
says:
Thank you SO much – after reading your comment, I couldn’t resist visiting your site and I fell in love with you and your cats too! I know what you mean about missing all of that creative destructive kitten energy once they are all grown up! Look forward to getting to know you.
Such beautiful angels, special each in their own way. How they filled your lives with love and joy and now may their memories be a blessing forever ~ as they run free in the fields of heaven. Thank you for sharing these lovely stories with us.
Twitter: CreateWithJoy1
says:
Thank you so much Ann for helping me to celebrate Tsunami and Legend with the beautiful memorial badges you so lovingly created for me.
I am so sorry to hear of the loss of your dear precious Tsunami.
May all your sweet memories be forever treasured deep in your heart.
Twitter: CreateWithJoy1
says:
Thanks so much for your visit and a very Happy Birthday to Dalton (four – wow!)
What a stunning remembrance for Tsunami. Those Maine Coon cats steal our heart. I had my Miss Darcy and I miss her desperately. Even though I have had kitties since her and love them I still miss her
Twitter: CreateWithJoy1
says:
Thanks for your sweet comment. We love all of our cats but our Maine Coons leave indelible purr-prints on our hearts.
This is such a beautiful post. While I don’t get to blog as much as I used to, Tsunami stole my heart the moment I first came to your blog. He reminds me so much of my gentle giant, Zee, and my heart goes out to you. Thankfully, he will forever be in your heart. Warm purrs and love from Deb, Mr. Jazz, and the Zee/Zoey gang.
Twitter: CreateWithJoy1
says:
Thanks for hosting this wonderful event, Deb. My heart always jumps with joy whenever I hear mention of the amazing Zee (who I associate with Tsunami in my mind). Much love always to you! 🙂
This is such an amazing tribute to your beloved boy. Tsunami had the very best life there with you, Ramona, one full of love and joy. Surely those are true measures of a life well-lived. Thank you for loving Tsunami so much and so well, and for sharing him with all of us. His legacy definitely lives on!
We hope you, Roy, and Magellan are doing okay. Please know we are thinking of you all lots, and sending love, and purrs and prayers of comfort your way.
Twitter: CreateWithJoy1
says:
Thank you, dear Kevin. I don’t know what I would have done without you and Tracey throughout all of this.
One of Tsunami’s greatest legacies (and the legacies of all our amazing pets) is how they have managed to connect us into such a tight-knit community of pet lovers all around the globe. xoxo
Your boy Tsunami is a huge loss to us all. shall miss seeing him on the blog. I wish I could hug away your loss.
Twitter: CreateWithJoy1
says:
Thanks Marjorie – who knew when I was writing these stories of him all of these years that they would one day be such precious memories to cherish.
He was some cat and we so enjoyed your sharing his wonderful life with us. Purrs dear boy until we meet again. Watch over us
Twitter: CreateWithJoy1
says:
Thank you so much for your visit – it means the world to us.
I so enjoyed reading about Tsunami’s life, and the photos are priceless. What a wonderful event to celebrate pets who have passed on. Thinking of you as you grieve, Ramona. Take care and be patient with yourself.
Twitter: CreateWithJoy1
says:
Thanks so much for celebrating Tsunami’s life with me April.
I am doing my best to practice extreme self care right now! xoxo
Thank you for sharing your beautiful boy with us. This post is a wonderful tribute to Tsunami and the joy that our cat companions bring to our lives.
Love and sympathy,
Maggie
Twitter: CreateWithJoy1
says:
Thanks so much Maggie – his absence is hard but it brings me great joy knowing that he touched your life.
He was a very special kitty?Soft Pawkisses as you remember all your sweet Angels???
Twitter: CreateWithJoy1
says:
Thank you so much! xoxo
Twitter: tinarobmorley
says:
This was a bittersweet post! I’m so sorry for your loss! Tsunami will be remembered. Such a beautiful and noble cat.
Twitter: CreateWithJoy1
says:
Thank you so much Christina! There will never be another Tsunami – I’m so glad you got to know him. xoxo
I am so glad you are sharing your story with Tsunami. It’s heartwarming!
So heartbreaking to lose our fur persons ~ Tsunami sounds like a very special kitty and so glad she and you had loving time together ~ she will be forever in your heart ~ Lots of healing energy hugs, Xox
Live each moment with love,
A ShutterBug Explores,
aka (A Creative Harbor)