On September 3, 2006 my Havana Brown, Gwendolyn, gave birth to three chubby boys. I quickly named them Bud, Mikey and Guido. It was a lifetime-changing event to help her birth the boys, and then hold these chubby little brown babies in the palm of my hands.

Mikey went on to live in Mississippi. Guido went to his new home and his new "sister" Nahlah, a Russian Blue. And Bud stayed with me to be a show cat.

He loved it! And by the age of less than 9 months he became the youngest alter to ever hold the # 1 spot International as the highest-scoring alter worldwide in The International Cat Association. He kept that spot and then dropped to # 2 by the first of October.

Then right before Halloween, I noticed something was amiss. To make a long story short, Bud was in liver failure due to the kitten food he had been raised on....and which was one of the prime foods pulled off the shelves during the Menu Food Recall. Bud lived until December 6, 2007.

I still miss him, but know that my little brown angel has wings of gold now.

And I cannot think about the other pet owners who have lost their babies due to poisoned food that we fed them, thinking we were doing the best for them.

Rest in peace Bud. And watch over all of the other animals and their owners around the world.