Yesterday afternoon, our loving and much loved cat Skittles found peace from whatever had been making her sick. She had been diagnosed with hyperthyroidism and had gone through periods of lethergy and vomiting to sometimes being back to her old self. Yesterday afternoon though she was just worse than she had been and I got the number for an emergency vet but it was too late. At least she wasn't alone and I got to stroke her soft fur as she took her final breath.

There was a recent topic about making a choice of which memories I would be willing to lose. I stand by my answer no matter how much they're making me cry as I write this. Or how painful it's going to be when I get home from work tonight and she won't be there to pester me to pick her up for attention before I can change my clothes.

I'm so sorry Alan

Sorry for your loss Uncle.

Sorry for your loss. A beloved pet is a family member.

Opa Shale wrote:

Sorry for your loss. A beloved pet is a family member.

Cats are people too. Sorry to hear about your loss, Alan.

Aww man, that's terrible. Sorry to hear. RIP.

I'm sorry for your loss, Uncle Al. Pets really do become part of the family, I know.

That totally sucks, Alan, but remember, too, that Skittles is no longer in pain, and I'll tell you a story of what happened when I had to put down one of my cats that I'd mentioned I did dialysis on, years ago:

My daughter, Liv, was 7 at the time and loved this cat, and the cat always thought that Liv was her own baby from the moment she was born. I had made the appointment to put Jade down but didn't tell Liv--I was going to do that after the fact and say Jade died at home while she was at school.

The morning of the appointment-day, Liv woke up and told me she'd had a dream where she was standing in front of a big gold gate, and Jesus walked up and opened it, and took her inside. He took her through all these rooms that were filled with cats and that was the end of her dream.

Well! That about made me bawl my head off--I told Liv that that was God's way of telling her that Jade is very sick and will have to go to Heaven at some point, but not to worry, because cats do go to Heaven, as she was shown in her dream. And once the cats get there, they're healthy again and will live there forever, but we'd see Jade again someday.

Sometimes I think that dream of hers was meant more for me than Liv, because I was a mess after I did the deed of bringing Jade to the final vet appointment.

But remember too, Alan, that hole in your heart you have right now, just might need filling with another cat! There are plenty out there that need homes, and sometimes getting another, right away, helps to ease the loss. That's what I did--brought home my Maine Coon, Shadow, 2 days after I lost Jade, and I've never regretted that!

Wow, I'm sorry Alan

I'm so sorry to hear about the loss of your kitty Alan. I have had a few cats that lived to old age and had to be put down, to my heart ache. You never forget them, but over time you're ready to begin a new experience with another.

CatEyes10736 wrote:

I'm so sorry to hear about the loss of your kitty Alan. I have had a few cats that lived to old age and had to be put down, to my heart ache. You never forget them, but over time you're ready to begin a new experience with another.

This is true, although dogs are a different story. Our first one was put down and the second died at home of old age, we have the third one now who is 13 and has been with us about that long, and when he dies, I don't want to have another dog, I'll just settle for cats...there're always a lot of them around that if I had to guess would say either have no homes or at least nobody feeding them because every cat in the neighborhood has to come to our back porch for dinner.

Sorry for your lost.

Wow, so sorry to hear that.

I'm so sorry to hear about your cat, Alan.

Thank you all so very much for your kind words

Sorry to hear ur cat died!

sorry baby.... two of my favorite pets were put to sleep laying on my lap---- and those were two of the most precious memories that i will keep with me. They knew that I would never leave them, and they trusted me that I would do what was best for them no matter what. When my dalmatian had to go, I put a purple bow around her neck, rubbed perfumed powder on her, painted her toe nails, and she went out looking like a million dollars. Her 100 pound body was curled on my lap on the park bench in the vets office and she was at peace. Makes me feel good to know that she was happy at the time.

My cat however, also had hypothyroidism, which they didnt know until i took her for a lion cut. I think they overdosed her with the antistetic. She never really seemed to come out of it, but she knew i was there, even back in the vets office when she was dying. She knew i was there. That is all you can do.