Lost my cat today....

[DonP]

We lost one about 3 weeks ago to the outdoors. My daughter accidentally let her out. She had been out for brief times before, even overnight once. This time, she never came back.

She was a great kitten, very friendly. We posted lost and found signs, but nothing. Checked the pound as well. Hopefully she found a good home. But I'm worried she might have ran into dogs or wild animals. She loved playing with our dogs and might have been a little too friendly.

[Shawn Lutz]

oh man, I'm so sorry to hear that, my condolences. Pets are family members too and it hurts just the same when losing one (to me any way).

Our dog Gucci died in our home from a heart attack back in May. It meesed me up emotionally for a good couple weeks. Time does heal but I still think of that dog every day and miss the hell out of her.

[rjohnstone]

I understand you pain.
We lost Kitty two Christmas' ago to Cancer in her Kidney's.
Same symptoms as Baby.
I couldn't see her suffer like that, so we decided to do just what you did.

Be at peace knowing that you did what was best.

[MartinBarre]

Sorry to hear it. Always a bad day when a pet goes.

[wilkinsi]

I've lost plenty of cats myself so I understand your pain. My first cat had a pneumothorax (punctured lung) and had to be put down. Another had an infection and was bleeding all over the place. I got it sorted by the vet, and gave him to my parents. But then he was injured by some drunks and died horribly. The rest were knocked down by traffic, another was stolen. One of the cats I have now had a really nasty growth on her stomach. Nearly lost her too. Amazingly she was still able to breed months after a serious of operations. So we now have 6 instead of 3. 2 of those are old yet still healthy.

[missionguitars1]

Been down the path before as well...it sucks...hang in there man...

[Vass]

Feeling you man. We lost the mighty Nitro a year or so ago. I snuck him home my senior year of high school & after I went off to college I wasn't allowed to take him- My mother just bonded with him bigtime & insisted on keeping him for herself. He was as much a member of the family as pet can be. Boatload of personality.

He got squamous cell carcinoma in his gum...which is basically game over. Finally had to make the decision to let him go, which was a tough call for the family but the right call for him. Believe me, it wasn't convenience. My mother would have done ANYTHING to keep him going if we thought he was not in pain.

Mom was inconsolable, and I have no great insight but this seemed to help her when I laid it out to her: Nitro was her second stray that she took from a nearly certain death. Her first cat was dying of distemper. She found him, got him to a vet. He was with us for TWENTY ONE years. Nitro's brothers & sisters all died. Nitro lived over 16 years.

All who take in strays are stewards of lost souls. You take a lonely animal from the brink of a miserable existence & give them love, warmth, food, and a home. In the end, just by the nature of things, you are nearly guaranteed to be saying "travel well" to them rather than they to you. That's the price you pay for the joy you get back from them. But make no mistake- You gave that animal alot.

So yeah it hurts but Baby was living on borrowed time from the day she came home with you. You saved her from solitude, a cage, and maybe a needle. Eventually that needle did find her, as it will in one sense or another find all of us, but you stole her 12 years of good life. Feel grateful for all of them, because I assure you she is.

After you mourn and are ready, of course, your obligation is to find another poor wayward victim of the world and hand him or her a lottery ticket to a happy life with a happy family. And after that one, again, and again until someday you leave too.

Good for you. Great for Baby. But you knew this day was going to come the day you brought her home & made the most of those years. Something to be sad about? Sure. But lots to be joyful & proud of too.

FYI I have a stray of my own now and my Mom & Dad just picked up a new little stray maniac themselves. And the wheel spins....

[Spivonious]

Losing a pet is tough. My thoughts are with you.

I cried when our goldfish died a couple years ago. I don't even want to think what I'll be like when George's time comes (beagle in my avatar).

[toejam]

String changes will never be the same without Baby attacking the strings.

One of my cats does the exact same thing at every string change!

[Firebird V]

Sorry for your loss Pete. We had to do the same with our cat last year. Pets are part of the family.

[6string40]

Pete...my condolences bro. I know what you're going through. I had to put one of my cats down last Monday (10-month old Bubzy to kidney failure) only to have to put one of my dogs down 2 days later (bloat resulting from an intestinal tumor). I was a wreck last week. My wife is a 4th year veterinary student. We don't plan on having children. Our animals are our life. They are a part of us.

[AlexL]

Condolences, Pete.

About 4 years ago we put our little Dachshund down. He was 14. He also stopped eating, letting us know he was ready to pass on. I too was with him while the vet put him down. I was 38 at the time, but I still had to have my dad come with me for support. It was the right thing to do, but also the hardest thing I have ever done in my life. I am sure you feel the same; but it was the compassionate thing to do.

I told the whole story on the JCF, like you, and I got some much-needed support from my brothers here. I printed out the thread, and have it in our file cabinet of important papers.

Allow yourself to grieve; it's OK. I cried like an 8 year old girl when my buddy crossed over.

It will be tough going for a while, but you'll be OK.

Regards,

- Eric

[Shawn Lutz]

.

Allow yourself to grieve; it's OK. I cried like an 8 year old girl when my buddy crossed over.

I wept like a school girl on an off for a couple days. Then whenever I'd get up in the morning and see she wasnt there I'd cry, when I came home form work when she wasnt there to greet me walking in the house.... I'd bust out in tears for about a week to 10 days.

Time does heal and the pain eventually does go away, the memories you have of your pet remain forever......

[nhspike]

Sorry Pete.
You did the right thing.

Focus on the fun memories

[Rsmacker]

Add my condolences, pets are as much part of the family as any person, it hurts to lose them. I hate that feeling when they go, but I keep going back for more, it's like sticking my bollocks out and asking someone to kick them again and again.

Wouldn't change it for the world though, life's not rich or full enough without canine/feline friends, even taking into account chewed belongings and rogue turds in random locations.

Time will heal, and I hope you give another animal a good home at some point, there's one sitting on Death Row in a shelter this moment waiting to share your life like Baby did.



DonP, your tale was a shit too, my sympathies there also. Do me a favour though and make sure your daughter doesn't feel guilty over letting the kitten out, she might seem cool about it, but that's the sort of thing that will linger in her conscience for years and one day erupt and fuck her right up if it's left to fester, no matter her age now. It was an accident, make sure you don't give her the impression you hold it against her, it was meant to be.

He he, listen to me, Rsmacker Parental and Spiritual Counsellor, I ought to have my own telly show. Can I get back to doing knob gags now?