Another Lost Friend…

Sitting here in tears, a beautiful poem, thanks for posting it Jethro. It was poignant for me as I too lost a feline friend whilst on holiday.

I got back from Spain last night after being there 3 weeks. Whilst I was there I did one of the hardest things in my life. My parents have lots of feral cats where they live, about 6 or 7 of them. One of them a beautiful ginger tom,called Liso, who has been around our house for the past 5 years or so, as a kitten, so he wasnt too feral. Well to cut a long story short he somehow got poisoned. My stepdad and the builder were in tears at the state Liso was in. They knew he needed euthanising, but they couldnt do it. My mum cried and said that I was to do it. So trembling I went to see what I could do for Liso.

I saw what I could do for him, maybe clean the poison off him but it was everywhere. I phoned a vet for advice, he told me drown it as it was feral. I couldnt, he was a familar friend and his offspring were getting fed by us every day. I did what I had to, and I tried to make him comfy on a blanket. We were having a dinner party for my stepdads birthday so it was all systems go getting food prepped. I didnt settle, made my excuses to go sit with Liso. He died in my arms, so he wasnt alone. My mum asked why I was crying and how I was responsible for killing him. He was dying anyway, it was just kinder to assist him with an injection, but it tore at my heart. I cried on and off for about 5 days, but cheered up when Liso’s offspring came up and wrapped themselves around my legs – I took it as a sign that I did what was best for Liso and that I was ok as a person by their standards.

My thoughts are with you Paul, losing a cherished pet is hard, but I hope you find comfort knowing that Pebbles had a good life, one that you gave her.

Take care, sorry for the long post, just had to get my guilt/sadness off my chest.

If it should be that I grow frail and weak,
and pain should keep me from my sleep,
then you must do what must be done,
for we know this last battle can’t be won.

You will be sad, I understand,
but don’t let grief then stay your hand,
for this day, more than the rest,
your love and friendship must stand the test.

We’ve had so many happy years,
what is to come can hold no fears.
Would you want me to suffer? So,
when the time comes, please let me go.

Take me where my needs they’ll tend,
only stay with me until the end,
and hold me firm and speak to me,
until my eyes no longer see.

It is a kindness that you do to me,
although my tail it’s last has waved,
from pain and suffering I have been saved.

Do not grieve, it should be you,
who must decide this thing to do.
We’ve been so close, we two these years,
Don’t let your heart hold any tears.

Anon

I suggest that you copy and paste the above and file it away somewhere. It’s one of those things that sometime in the future will come in handy one way or another.

🙁

Sorry to hear this Paul. You cant beat a cute ball of fluff like you find with cats. Mind you, theres always a positive and its that at least shes lasted 2 decades which is very very good for cats 😮

My condolences, 🙁

Sorry to hear about your feline friend passing away.

Last year we had to put our oldest cat to sleep after she developed cancer. Hadn’t ever guessed how hard it would be to do that. Tiger was my wifes first cat and was really her “right hand man”. Talk about personality, she would play fetch, dropping foil balls that you had thrown back at your feet. Very possessive, when I first met my Wife Tiger bit me every day for about two months. She let me become her friend after about 8 years!

My wife also just picked up a kitten for company to our one year old. You forget just how much energy kittens have.

We had to have our cat put to sleep last year, the most wretched decision, she was a rescue cat and chose to be with us for 10 years. We were both devastated and even now my wife gets upset by it. However after a couple of months we found and adopted a 9 week old kitten ,who won’t replace our Willow totally has help to heal the loss.

Tough. Its a real shame when a real friend you have known for so long reaches that point. It must have been the most hellish of decisions. I can empathise matey.

Ivan

Not much makes me cry, but this did. Thank you for sharing these pictures PMN.

Happy mousing in the stars Pebbles.

Sorry I was’nt here to respond to this earlier…..I only check in once a week anymore.

Looked like a great cat. And no doubt he had a nice long life. Condolences.

My advice….get a new cat as soon as possible. The distraction of a new face in the house helps you to get over the loss. If I could do it at my apartment building I would….rumor has it I might even be able to get away with it-seems the place is up for sale and some folks have been sneaking cats in.

Hope everything works out for the best for you.

Mark

Sorry to hear about the loss of your beautiful cat, I know how big a part they play in your life. Our little mad thing is almost three years old but we couldn’t imagine life without her as she is such a big part of things.

We lost our dog unexpectedly last year, we had made no decision to lose him, it was made for us after he had two fits and ended up paralysed. The vet told us it was a brain tumour so we had no option but to do the kindest thing.

I know exactly how you are feeling.

Thankyou everyone for your kind words, they’re very much appreciated. It’s nice and quite heartwarming to hear how attached others get to their furry companions.

I do feel a little happier about things today though. Cats apparently get something very similar to Alzheimers disease in Humans, and they forget things and get quite confused. Pebbles had on many occasions recently cried for no apparent reason, and would spent maybe an hour just staring into her water bowl. She was crying simply because she was confused and staring into her water bowl because the poor little creature did have a drink and wasn’t thirsty, but couldn’t actually remember it. It was unfair to keep her alive any longer, so I’m sure we made the right decision to end her suffering.

Have you got any pictures of her in her prime?

I found this shot earlier today I took with an old film point and shoot camera. It’s maybe not when she was quite in her prime, it was taken around 5-6 years ago so she was still a feline pensioner, but she was certainly more active than she had been over the last couple of years.

She always did love her belly tickling!

I think I can let her go now… Thankyou again everyone.

Paul

That’s a shame Paul, great pictures by the way… 🙁

I’m a cat fan too and recently ‘lost’ my two, fortunately only as far as the former Mrs Frew’s abode where I can just about retain visiting rights.

Great looking cat.

After 20 years you will miss her so much.

So sorry, genuinely.

Moggy

🙁 Always gets to me – my condolences.

Sorry to hear about your loss, Paul 🙁

What a “Grand Old Lady”.Apart from the black flecks,she looks like my Freddy.Have you got any pictures of her in her prime? Shed your tears,take a deep breath,and start all over again;) Maybe with a “re-homed” furry little friend:cool:

what a beautiful cat.. i suggest wait 6 months or so and get another little beauty.. thats what i done after losing my dear Tinker, now we have “mad” Smudge..
i had Tinker for 12 years and i felt gutted when she passed.. but now little Smudge has brought us joy..

Sorry for your loss Paul.

She looks like a fine animal and i am sure your have great memories.

Really nice photos, made me feel quite emotional really. I never used to be a cat fan but last year I was persuaded to have a cat and I love him to bits. It must be really sad losing her after 20 years.

Neal

Lovely shots mate.
20 up. She did well.

Sorry to hear about that Paul. Unfortuently our cat will be put down this week for exactly the same reasons. Shes around 15, just a few days older than me 🙁