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Nine years ago, I adopted a cat who was hurt by a car. The veterinarians were going to put him to sleep, but as he lay there, mangled and bloody and awaiting the needle, he began to purr when the vet touched him. The vets decided then to save him and sent him into surgery. His right front leg was amputated and his back right leg had a steel rod inserted, assuring that it would never again bend below his hip. The humane society put an ad in the paper looking for someone to adopt and I responded. That was one of the best decisions that I've ever made. I put antibacterial on his wounds, massaged his leg to make sure it got blood flow, and kept his steel rod from getting caught on everything (it actually stuck out from his skin), until the day that the surgeons removed it. The following years were full of some really good times and some really terrible, terrible times. There were days when I felt that I did'nt have a friend in the world. But the one constant was that Mervin was always happy when he saw me. That meant alot to me. There are so many stupid little things that I'm going to miss. I'm going to miss not being able to read a newspaper without a cat plopping down on it. I'm going to miss not being be able to open a tin can without hearing hearing a plaintive meow. And I'm going to miss my warm ball of fur that goes to bed whenever I do and wakes up when I do, no matter the hour.
So in short, If you have a pet, pet them and love them today, for me. Because today, I cannot do so.
=(
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Very sad and I know how you feel, my cat Blackie died of cancer about 9 months ago. She was a overly friendly cat, would crawl under the covers with me to sleep. As soon as I sat down to watch tv she was in my lap, often she would lay on the keyboard as I would try and type. If you petted her enough she would start to slobber. She shedded her own body weight in hair I think every day.
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My condolences Whiteknife. I recently lost my dog George unexpectedly. It's hard to deal with the grief, but you find over time the pain lessens and the good times remain.
My suggestion: Honor your furry child by reaching out once the grief lessens and helping another one of the millions of animals abandoned to shelters.
+1 Here.
I just lost my 10 year old best furry friend a few weeks ago. They are missed sooo much :(
I'm very, very sorry.
I am sorry to hear that Whiteknife. I have a dog and SIX (yes SIX) cats. We had to put my wife's dog down earlier this year. My wife also has 4 cute rats and a few fish. Two fo my wife's fish are called Test and Max. They are Betta fish. ~grins and ducks as rotten fruit is thrown my way~ I feel your pain and will miss my furry friends when they leave us.
So in short, If you have a pet, pet them and love them today, for me. Because today, I cannot do so.
I'm so sorry for your loss. I hope the knowledge that you helped your furry friend have a longer, healthier, and happier life than he'd have had without you provides some comfort.
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Hug your pet. Love your pet. Be responsible for your pet. They're not seasonal clothes or an edition that you cast aside to upgrade to the next one.
All four of my cats are stray rescues and they range from 8 to 13 years. Also rescued a pit bull mix who was dumped at a nursery and was about to be claimed by someone to use her as dog fighting bait. I also have an American Bulldog who's a 120 lb goofball and gets dominated by his younger alpha "sister", but he has a lot of medical issues.
To this day, I still miss my companion dog of 20 years that I got once I was graduated from high school.
I'm in my 4th decade and people ask me where are my children. I point to my menagerie and acknowledge them as my kids.
We had a cat almost make it to 20 before he succumbed to the ravages of old age. He was grumpy, irascible, and curmudgeonly even as a young cat, but we loved him.
Today we have 4 dogs, all rescues. A pedigreed German Shepherd (who I just got back with from the vet), a shepherd/something mix, a couple of pit/something and something else mixes. The latter two have decided they are mine, or I'm theirs. I grew up with dogs and until we got these I'd not had one in over 25 years. And now I can't imagine life without them, especially "mine". We call them the "Dingo Twins" because they are just constantly into stuff. My wife and I are planning on a (friendly and amicable) divorce, but it's really difficult to find a place that will rent to someone with dogs, especially if "pit bull" is anywhere on their breed, no matter how small that amount is.
Anyway, I rambled and I shouldn't have. Grieve for your friend and remember all the times he was there for you. When that period has passed, please consider rescuing another kitty from a pound or shelter. You'll never regret it.
My condolences on your loss.
We thought our older cat Ollie (age 11) was adjusting well. Then he suddenly lost five pounds this past month, and started using the carpet instead of his litter box. The day before driving to GenCon, I finally realized how thin he was, and rushed him to the vet, who said, "It's probably kidney failure, leave him with us and I'll let you know tomorrow."
On the drive to GenCon, we got the call that our cat has no medical problems after all - it's all behavioral from being stressed about the new kitten. (Who does, admittedly, take great delight in jumping on Ollie's face. Constantly.)
So now we are lavishing extra care on our old man, and trying to keep him properly separated from the new kitten. I'll give them both an extra hug tonight in memory of Mervin.
Our newest kitten, Itty-Bitty, walked up to me and mewed. She then realized "Oh drat! That is a big something or another!" and backed off from me. I called my wife and said "Honey, we have a little problem." That little problem (she was 5 weeks old when she adopted us) was sleeping on my chest last night. Another cat was a stray that had kittens. We got two of the brats adopted out, but we kept the other three and the mother.
I'm in my 4th decade and people ask me where are my children. I point to my menagerie and acknowledge them as my kids.
+1
Very sorry to hear about Mervin. I know that my cats, Bonzer and Cooper, are like sons to me -- I'd be devastated if anything happened to one of them.
My condolences on your loss.
** spoiler omitted **
~grins~ I feel your pain about the older cat. Ozzy, my wife's cat, has been driven slightly crazy by all the kittens. I try to show as much love to him as I can. But his usual response to the kittens is "HISSSSS!!! SNARL!!! HISSSSSS!!! ~Run away~ or swat them with his paw.
[Ozzy, my wife's cat, has been driven slightly crazy by all the kittens. I try to show as much love to him as I can. But his usual response to the kittens is "HISSSSS!!! SNARL!!! HISSSSSS!!! ~Run away~ or swat them with his paw.
That's exactly how my wife's cat, Frieda, responds to her stepbrothers. After 10 months, there's been no improvement, and indeed Frieda has taken to pooping on the floor in order to demonstrate her continued disapproval of their very existence.
Very sorry about Mervin. Words cannot express the sorrow we go through when we lose a beloved pet. To hear someone comment that "its just a cat/dog and that you can get a new one makes me want to stomp on their face. Dealing with the grief takes time and for me its one of the worse pains imaginable of the heart. It takes time to heal and although their time with us can be short, I cannot imagine my life without one or several {7 cats and a insane budgie here}
Hug your pet. Love your pet. Be responsible for your pet. They're not seasonal clothes or an edition that you cast aside to upgrade to the next one.
All four of my cats are stray rescues and they range from 8 to 13 years. Also rescued a pit bull mix who was dumped at a nursery and was about to be claimed by someone to use her as dog fighting bait. I also have an American Bulldog who's a 120 lb goofball and gets dominated by his younger alpha "sister", but he has a lot of medical issues.
To this day, I still miss my companion dog of 20 years that I got once I was graduated from high school.
I'm in my 4th decade and people ask me where are my children. I point to my menagerie and acknowledge them as my kids.
My condolences as well Whiteknife.
I'm over 40 and not married too, and with no children of course.Apart from my 4 sausages dogs ;3 pure females and 1 eunuch male cross-breed with i don't know which other breed.Plus he is only 7 or 8 and suffering from multiple sclerosis :(
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I'm sorry for your loss WK. Losing a furry companion that has been by your side for years is rough. While they may be a different species, they are still family.
Mishka, is the main road trip dog and travels with me when I can bring a dog with me (she's been to the coast every year since my ex-girlfriend surprised me by bringing her home). Patience, the omega of the group, and Boots, the smallest dog who maintains an alpha status, occasionally travel with me as well as they do well around kids (nephews). Ruby and Colli stay at the kennel when I go out of town, but they are favorites among the kennel staff.
I've been fortunate over the last 8 years in that there have been only minor medical concerns amongst my furry young'uns. Prior to that, I lost a psychotic rabbit (also a rescue) and Azanathoth, a tabby who was by my side for almost 17 years.
Yes Ozzy was named by the wife. And yes she does think great thoughts. Unlike me.
I've pretty much always lived with a dog.
We got one around 5-6th grade (not the first), a shar-pei and I spent a ton of time with him, because I loved dogs. He and I were nearly inseparable, he wouldn't always sleep in the bed with me, but most of the time. He kept watch over me, and being a guard dog, was a little over protective.
One time we were house-boating near Rainy Lake (on the Minnesota-Canada border), the boat was pulled up to the shore and he and I had found a game trail to hike. After about 10-minutes, we spot to black furballs going up a tree. I couldn't visually identify them, they were just black furballs, but I knew what they were, black bear cubs. The dog didn't care, he just wanted to chase them. I spent about 10-15 seconds calling for him before I ran, I was 15, 5'10 and weighed 120 lbs, I wasn't about to try tangling with a black bear.
Ran back to the boat, tried to tell my parents through the tears what had happened. My dad freaked out a little, getting ready to launch the boat if the bear showed up. Anyways another 10 minutes goes by and the dog comes trotting out of the woods, looking tired and a little roughed up. We checked him over, he was of course covered in ticks, but also little nicks and scratches all over his face, chest and front legs. He had been running through the brush so fast it had cut him up a little. He also had 4 parallel red lines on each hind leg. No major damage, just skin deep.
He was a pretty awesome dog.
A year after high school I joined the Navy. Since boot camp was within a days drive of home, my parents drove out for graduation and brought the dog. After graduation they took me to the hotel where the dog was. He refused to come near me and even growled at me a couple times. He was pissed that I had left. Later when I came home on leave, I got similar reactions at first, though not as much. He never really forgave me.
At the end of my first deployment, my mom came out to greet the ship and visit. I asked how the dog was doing and she told me had died several months before, he had lived to 13, which is extremely old for a shar-pei. Anyways, it absolutely broke my heart to find out like that. 10 years later and just remembering that part of it makes me cry. I know it was hard on my parents as well, he was their dog too, but to not be included, at least with an e-mail at that time... I ended up not only be separated by 1/2 the globe, but by time as well.
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I'm sorry to hear about your loss WK, he was a handsome boy.
So I adopted two girls, both little terrors and they were both generally healthy until last year. Two weeks after their annual vaccinations last year I noticed a lump on the right rear leg of the Shebs. At first I thought it was inflamed tissue from a fight with the other cat, took her to the vet - found out it was an inflammation reaction to the adjuvants they put in the vaccination material to keep them active longer in the body (inflammation creating more antibodies, etc). After a couple of weeks of wait and see, Vet decides to remove it - and it turns out that the vaccination caused a sarcoma (Aggressive Injection Site Sarcoma). The mass was removed with dirty margins (left over cancer cells). Within a few days time she had her rear leg amputated.
I deal with a lot of feelings; did I do the right thing with the surgery, the lack of info knowing the risks associated with vaccination, is she happy, am I being selfish? The bills were so high (8k and counting) that I had to cancel all my gaming subs and eliminate most of my non-essential spending (gaming, etc).
It was worth it though - after the surgery she started adjusting to her loss within days. The chemo was not too bad - she is a healthy and happy cat. She still fights with my other cat, climbs up to all her old spots, destroys paper products and has been cancer free going on 9 months.
Some people don't get it, the effort, the feeling and emotions that go with having a pet, and that's ok. I understand your loss though.
Aux, You will be surprised at how well your cat will get along with her amputation. Even missing two legs, Merv was quite the bird/mouse/rabbit! catcher. I had to stop letting him go outside whenever a hawk almost got him one day (We live in the country) and he really didnt like that decision.
Also, I'd like to thank everyone for the kind words.
Creative Director
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Oof... sorry to hear that. I lost my cat last year a few days after the 4th of July, and it was rough—I've always had cats growing up, but they were all outdoor cats and when their time came, they always seemed to just wander off into the bushes and quietly went away, so it wasn't so much a pet dying as much as it was just going away, so some part of you could say "the cat's still out there somewhere." That wasn't the case with Pywakit; she ended up with kidney disease and I had to take her to the vet, first for treatment (including some IV fluids and other significant attempts to save her), and then when that didn't work, to have her put to sleep.
It still makes me a little sad to think about Pywakit. At the time, the idea of getting a new cat seemed like a terrible idea, but after a few months not so much. I adopted a new kitten from the Humane Society, and while I do still miss Pywakit, Shimmy is a great cat too.
So... sorry to hear about your loss. That sucks. Losing a pet is one of the hardest things to go through. But eventually, it helps to get a new cat—especially if you rescue one from a shelter. And it sounds like you gave Mervin a good life, so that's worth remembering too.
Condolences also. I'm reminded just how lucky we've been. We managed to save Buster (big black tomecat) when he devloped a urinary track blockage. Even my hubby thought he was worth the $600+.
We've also lost our share: My Jeanie beagle (15+ years, from a puppy; cancer), Min the iguana (before we found a vet that works on exotics and who saved our other iggy), Tawny siamese, Jaime the bionic Maine Coon, Dusty (stray a local kid gave us, got into something poisonous, we still don't know what). They all leave big holes in our lives.
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My cat died over 5 years ago now.
I still miss him.
I still dream about him.
I still cry when I think about him.