The dynamics of my family changed again today. When my Mom died 10 years ago was the first time it changed and today my 18 year old cat, Sweetie, died. Now some may find this absolutely ridiculous but you need to understand Sweetie had been around for almost half of my lifetime. He was just always there and now that he is gone, the family vibe feels weird.
About two weeks ago I had found a big mass on Sweetie just in front of his left hip. No I did not take him to the vet because it was more than likely cancer ( he lost two of his sisters to cancer ) and at his age and the fact that he had lost a lot of weight over the past year I was worried he wouldn't survive the anesthesia. So it became a case of letting him have a good quality of life for as long as possible and he did until late Friday afternoon. It was then decided that Monday ( today ) that he would be taken to the vet and be taken care of, but that didn't happen. At sometime after 4 o'clock this morning I got up to check on Sweetie and found him under an end table with his head in an empty wicker wastebasket. I couldn't rouse him and I didn't feel his chest going up and down so, of course, I'm going he's dead. Scratch that thought. Wasn't yet time to pull the shroud over him, but it wasn't far off. So, I sat with him and tried to make him as comfortable as I could : held his head in my hand to elevate it for him when the breathing got to be difficult at times and when that had eased I put his head on a folded towel to use as a pillow. I would check Sweetie's breathing with my hand on his chest every so often; one of the times I didn't feel his breath but I could feel his heart still beating and maybe a couple of minutes later I checked again and that was it...no heartbeat. So that was a little after 6 o'clock and this time I did pull the shroud over him by wrapping him in a towel and putting him in a box on top of my drier until daylight came so he could be buried.
That was his death, now let me tall you a little bit about his life. He was born in May of 1994 after midnight and I was there for the hand-off of Sweetie and his siblings. They all had to be bottle fed every two hours because their mother didn't have enough milk. We started with milk then moved onto baby rice and milk and then baby food meat and milk then plates of baby food meat and to finally cat food. Yes, it was work but it was out of love but it was done out of love so it only makes sense.
As Sweetie and his brother that looked like him, except for the crooked tail, C.C. grew they were the ones that tore up the wallpaper behind my toilet tank. When Sweetie would go outside after it had rained and he would find a mud puddle and go play in it and he would have muddy water from his paws to his chest . Trust me getting a white cat unmuddied is not an easy task. He loved people tuna, especially the albacore and would get some of what was at the bottom of the can and he taught the other cats that have gone before him and those still here to enjoy it, but now it is plain tuna in water.
What else? Oh, he LOVED to be brushed. Actually he got in my lap last night and let me brush him and I'm happy for that time.
So that is how my day started and the emptiness that is now here will never be filled by any of my other cats. Yes I do lve them, but they're not Sweetie. He was a VERY special cat and I love and will always miss him.
About two weeks ago I had found a big mass on Sweetie just in front of his left hip. No I did not take him to the vet because it was more than likely cancer ( he lost two of his sisters to cancer ) and at his age and the fact that he had lost a lot of weight over the past year I was worried he wouldn't survive the anesthesia. So it became a case of letting him have a good quality of life for as long as possible and he did until late Friday afternoon. It was then decided that Monday ( today ) that he would be taken to the vet and be taken care of, but that didn't happen. At sometime after 4 o'clock this morning I got up to check on Sweetie and found him under an end table with his head in an empty wicker wastebasket. I couldn't rouse him and I didn't feel his chest going up and down so, of course, I'm going he's dead. Scratch that thought. Wasn't yet time to pull the shroud over him, but it wasn't far off. So, I sat with him and tried to make him as comfortable as I could : held his head in my hand to elevate it for him when the breathing got to be difficult at times and when that had eased I put his head on a folded towel to use as a pillow. I would check Sweetie's breathing with my hand on his chest every so often; one of the times I didn't feel his breath but I could feel his heart still beating and maybe a couple of minutes later I checked again and that was it...no heartbeat. So that was a little after 6 o'clock and this time I did pull the shroud over him by wrapping him in a towel and putting him in a box on top of my drier until daylight came so he could be buried.
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| Sweetie in happier times a two springs ago. |
That was his death, now let me tall you a little bit about his life. He was born in May of 1994 after midnight and I was there for the hand-off of Sweetie and his siblings. They all had to be bottle fed every two hours because their mother didn't have enough milk. We started with milk then moved onto baby rice and milk and then baby food meat and milk then plates of baby food meat and to finally cat food. Yes, it was work but it was out of love but it was done out of love so it only makes sense.
As Sweetie and his brother that looked like him, except for the crooked tail, C.C. grew they were the ones that tore up the wallpaper behind my toilet tank. When Sweetie would go outside after it had rained and he would find a mud puddle and go play in it and he would have muddy water from his paws to his chest . Trust me getting a white cat unmuddied is not an easy task. He loved people tuna, especially the albacore and would get some of what was at the bottom of the can and he taught the other cats that have gone before him and those still here to enjoy it, but now it is plain tuna in water.
What else? Oh, he LOVED to be brushed. Actually he got in my lap last night and let me brush him and I'm happy for that time.
So that is how my day started and the emptiness that is now here will never be filled by any of my other cats. Yes I do lve them, but they're not Sweetie. He was a VERY special cat and I love and will always miss him.
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