Endings and Beginnings

My cat died.  This was not the subject I wanted to write about when I first set up my blog software about six weeks ago… I wanted to write about how I’d just met Bill Clinton, or about how I just had my first freelance writing work published, or even about how I hadn’t missed flossing for a single day in over 18 months.  Unfortunately, I kept getting distracted by work and life projects, and then suddenly, my cat died.  She was 13, and while I didn’t expect her to live forever, I definitely felt she would last at least 20 years because she was such a stubborn curmudgeon.  On the morning of December 17th she woke up, slowly walked over to my desk, and let out two horrible cries which could only be described as wails of pain.  I tried not to panic (because she’d always been perfectly healthy), but she had no strength to walk and her eyes were cloudy and distant.  We rushed her to the vet immediately, but she went steadily downhill, going into shock and then cardiac arrest.  We were able to be at her side while she was euthanized—a decision which was easy given that she already looked so lifeless.  Before she died I was able to kiss her on the head, something which would have been terribly risky if she’d been her normal, spunky self.  I was also able to hold her little white front paw while she was put to sleep—again, something I’d never been able to do while she was alive, as she had very rigid ideas about personal space.  A necropsy showed she died of metastisized cancer and a liver abscess which had ruptured, causing septicemia.  I’m glad she didn’t suffer for very long, but I also wish I’d had some warning that it was time to say goodbye.

Sweet Pea is being cremated now, and we’ll pick her up a couple of days after Christmas.  We really miss her presence and the way she was always skulking around and underfoot—she was independent yet always with us.  We didn’t think we were “cat people” (we’re dog and parrot people), but the house without a cat just doesn’t seem right.  We’re in the process of completing the adoption paperwork to try to give a home to an older cat from Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Utah, but it might be a while before we find a good match.  Docile cats who like to watch TV and don’t mind dogs and parrots don’t come along every day.  Maybe we’ll get a cat who doesn’t bite—Sweet Pea gave me enough scars to last me through a lifetime of cats.  She did love me though… as I was putting her into her carrier to rush her to the vet, she purred when I held her.  I like to think she was trying to tell me that everything was going to be okay.  Or maybe she just wanted to bite me… with her, you could never be sure.

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Posted by Leigh-Ann on 12/23 at 05:31 PM

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