The last of our three cats passed away yesterday. She was 18 years old, a stubborn PITA that adopted us. Yeah, she chose us to give her a loving home when she was a tiny furball.
She was never the most social of cats, and was kind of a loner, but she was loyal and could be loving when she wanted attention, but she did not freely hand out affection.
She was a survivor. We have had three cats. Charm, a throw away stray who was my baby, disappeared many years ago. Crissi, Goadie's sister, went missing about 5 years ago, and Goadie survived whatever happened to the other two and was with us until her time was up. She was an outdoor cat who did not like it in the house. We made her come in during the coldest of winter nights, but she would sit at the door and whine wanting out.
When she was little, she would climb up in my lap and then sit on my shoulder, purring in my ear. She got over that as she got older, and she rarely sought out affection, but would come around for attention on her terms.
She was a giver, bringing us mice and moles and birds she constantly caught. We put a cat door in the screened in porch so she could hang out when she wanted too, but the time she brought us a live snake, we took out the cat door.
As she got older and weaker, her behavior changed and she got slow and sluggish. I posted a couple of pics of her on here reading some trip reports on my iPad.
She started rapidly going downhill last week. Yesterday morning she tripped over her water bowl, spilling it then she just laid there in the puddle. She had gotten matted up as she got too weak to groom herself.
I held her and cried as the vet administered the injection that would end her suffering. That is a hard thing to do. Her muscles had already started to fade away, and they had a hard time finding a vein too. They warned me she may seem to take a few gasping breaths at the end, but she just quietly slipped away into a peaceful rest as I held her and sobbed like a baby. The vet tried to assure me it was the best thing for her considering her condition and how rapidly she was fading away. I was not the best thing for us, but that did not matter, as trying to prolong her life and her obvious pain was not best for her, just so we could have a little more time with her. My wife and I had a good cry when she got home, then later yesterday evening I absentmindedly went over and filled Goadie's food bowl and took it out to the carport and actually set it down and started looking for her before it even hit me she was not coming for dinner. Cue more tears.
At the vet's I asked if I could wrap her up and take her to where they hold the bodies before cremation. It was the last thing I could do for her. They got me a towel and helped me wrap her now still body and I carried her to the storage area. It seemed like a silly gesture but something I wanted to do for her, one last thing to thank her for all she gave to us.
She was never the most social of cats, and was kind of a loner, but she was loyal and could be loving when she wanted attention, but she did not freely hand out affection.
She was a survivor. We have had three cats. Charm, a throw away stray who was my baby, disappeared many years ago. Crissi, Goadie's sister, went missing about 5 years ago, and Goadie survived whatever happened to the other two and was with us until her time was up. She was an outdoor cat who did not like it in the house. We made her come in during the coldest of winter nights, but she would sit at the door and whine wanting out.
When she was little, she would climb up in my lap and then sit on my shoulder, purring in my ear. She got over that as she got older, and she rarely sought out affection, but would come around for attention on her terms.
She was a giver, bringing us mice and moles and birds she constantly caught. We put a cat door in the screened in porch so she could hang out when she wanted too, but the time she brought us a live snake, we took out the cat door.
As she got older and weaker, her behavior changed and she got slow and sluggish. I posted a couple of pics of her on here reading some trip reports on my iPad.
She started rapidly going downhill last week. Yesterday morning she tripped over her water bowl, spilling it then she just laid there in the puddle. She had gotten matted up as she got too weak to groom herself.
I held her and cried as the vet administered the injection that would end her suffering. That is a hard thing to do. Her muscles had already started to fade away, and they had a hard time finding a vein too. They warned me she may seem to take a few gasping breaths at the end, but she just quietly slipped away into a peaceful rest as I held her and sobbed like a baby. The vet tried to assure me it was the best thing for her considering her condition and how rapidly she was fading away. I was not the best thing for us, but that did not matter, as trying to prolong her life and her obvious pain was not best for her, just so we could have a little more time with her. My wife and I had a good cry when she got home, then later yesterday evening I absentmindedly went over and filled Goadie's food bowl and took it out to the carport and actually set it down and started looking for her before it even hit me she was not coming for dinner. Cue more tears.
At the vet's I asked if I could wrap her up and take her to where they hold the bodies before cremation. It was the last thing I could do for her. They got me a towel and helped me wrap her now still body and I carried her to the storage area. It seemed like a silly gesture but something I wanted to do for her, one last thing to thank her for all she gave to us.
We have been through a lot of pets with my DD and SIL this year. My precious kitty is 13 and I get really anxious sometimes knowing she is getting older and we won't have her with us forever. My thoughts and prayers are sent your way. 
