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Shack pets

This page was last updated : 23-Feb-26 17:54:26

Hamradio shacks are also often the domain of shack pets. A lot of pets like to stay with there owner and when a radio operator is working in it's shack, often his/her pet(s) accompanying them. 

This also happen to me these 2 great furry companions (click on the name to read the stories about them). 

Shack cat Itze 2008 - 2018/08/20 

Shack cat Moppie  2008/10/14 - 2026/02/14 

If you like  these stories and/or do you also have pets following you around to your radio shack? Check out this link : Other pets or send me your story. I love to read them. 

 

Itze

Every time time when I go to the shack in the attic, my girlfriend's cat Itze comes trotting behind me to sit on the desk or on the blanket on top of a stack of boxes.
QSOs, soldering fumes, noise from PCB drilling, etc. don't seem to matter to him and he's completely fine with it. 

  

  

And then there comes the time we all know it's going to happen. Our beloved round fluffy friend, buddy and shackcat Itze became very ill and suffered epileptic seizures. After a few vet visits, things seemed to get better but the after 2 weeks, in the evening he suffered such a severe epileptic attack that, despite everything we and the vet tried, lasted so long that he suffered irreparable brain damage that he would no longer have any quality of life. That's why XYL and I have made one of the most difficult decisions we can make. Without any more pain, Itze crossed the rainbow bridge and is now SK. He had just turned 10. Our house and shack won't be the same.

This was the last photo of Itze we took from him that faithful day. 

  

Shack cat Itze 2008 - 2018/08/20 

Moppie aka Monster

In December 2018, while we where still grieving about the loss of Itze, and me sitting at home with a severe burn-out, we receive a phone call from a friend of the XYL Eva. We where asked if we could like to give an elderly cat (10 years old) a forever home because the owner could no longer take care of the cat.

Because every cat deserves a for-every-home, we decided to visit and see if there was a click between the cat and us. And sure it did and on the first day of 2019 our friend brought the cat called Monster*.

* - she was called monster because when she was a kitten, he and her sister (SK) trashed a very expensive leather couch. 

Monster became my rock during my burnout. She was the one who waked me up in the morning with licks, was the one who came to me before I self even know I would have a anxiety attack,
keeps me company at my "home office" and ensured that I take regular breaks during the day when I was working from home.

In the evenings, she likes to lie with us on the couch in the evening (preferably on my lap or under a blanket) and comes with us to bed.

And just like Itze, she is a real shack cat who likes to sleep or just lay in her basket when I'm in the new shack. 

 

After a year or so, due to her very warm and loving personality towards us, we decided to give her a new name. So we gave here the name Moppie (Dutch for sweet or lovely person).
And when you call her Monster (my father sometimes does that), she lets you know by a whining meow or even a hiss, that she doesn't like her old name (or maybe just to show that she still got it).  

 

Although she is very loving towards us, she is very territorial towards other cats. Even at an age of 16, she doesn't have any problems fighting adult cats, who "accidentally" enter our garden. 
Our sweet neighbor cat Tobby (4 years old male) sometimes visits our front garden, but when Moppie finds out, its trouble.

But when Moppie is sleeping on her blanket on the windowsill, Tobby comes to visit the safest way for him : Zoo style. 

As you can see, she is not impressed at that moment (because she was just waking up from a nap), 1 second later, it was all growling and hissing against Tobby again.
But because he knows he is safe, he just sits there. And after a minute Moppie cools down and she is starting a staring contest.

 
14 February 2026 - the moment you never want to happen. 

For most of us our pets are family and we know that what years is for us, is a life time for them. Although Moppie has been deaf for 2 years, and was blind for almost 1/2 a year, she was doing well and knew how to navigate through the house and the garden in which she loved just so sit, enjoy the sun, the smells and everything what is going around there.

But on the early morning of the 14th of February 2026, the moment every pet lover wants to push away as long as possible, arrived for us.

Maybe she felt the end coming and wanted to go outside just one more time to feel the morning sun and smell the world. And maybe, she just didn't have the strength to get back inside, or maybe she just wanted to stay outside in her beloved garden until the end.

Moppie woke me with an unusual meow, know it wasn't one of her normal meows, I rushed downstairs, couldn't find her in the living room and assuming the worst, rushed outside. There I found her lying on the stone terrace, breathing heavily. I picked her up, took her in my arms and wend inside to sit on the couch with her.

While telling her she was a good girl and thanking her many times for all the years she was our little furry friend, she looked at me one last time. And in my arms, knowing she was deeply loved, she peacefully crossed the rainbow bridge. 

Our shack cat Moppie, our friend, my rock and buddy, our big little fluffy cuddly girl, turned exactly 17 years and 4 months old.

Rest in peace Moppie, until we meet again in our dreams or in the afterlife.

This was one of the last photo of Moppie. Like always, she was near to me, when I was working from home. 

We brought her to the pet crematory, where she will be staying for a few days so her formal owner Elsenoor and my best girlfriend Eva can say there farewells.  After that she will be cremated and will come back home to us.

 

15 February 2026 - saying goodbye. 

Luckily on Sunday the 15th, Elsenoor, her fiance and Eva where able to come over, and together we went to the crematory to say our final goodbye.
Although we where sad, we managed to bring up some good memories about this wonderful little furry friend and we even where able to laugh about things she has done.

The crematory lady told us that she was happy to hear us laugh, because the good memories should cast a light in these dark days. And we all agreed upon that.

After just giving a last stroke to Moppie we went home for thee and a waken.  

17 February 2026 - coming home. 

The crematory lady called telling that Moppie had been cremated and her asses could be picked up by us. So Eva and I went over there and picked her up in a cardboard scattering urn. Because we didn't had any idea where to put her asses in and although it was a nice cardboard scattering urn, Moppie deserved better and we walked through the urn gallery. There we saw a nice ball shaped clay urn with a cat and butterfly embossed on it. Seeing this one, we didn't had to think twice and bought it. The crematory lady transferred the asses into it and sealed it.  

Back home we put her urn in her favorite spot and we will leave her there for the time being. It's hard enough so come home to a quite house, so hopefully this will give us some strength in the mourning process.

Shack cat Moppie  2008/10/14 - 2026/02/14 

 

More shack pets 

On the dutch ham radio forum zendamateur.com there is a extensive thread about shack pets.

Read it at : https://www.zendamateur.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=15758 (and google translate is your friend if you can't read Dutch).

 

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