I was awakened about 2:15AM by this desperate gurgling sound coming from our bathroom. I flipped on the light and there lay my 16YO Calico-- Callie. Her breathing was labored and she was twitching. I knew the end was near and so I just watched her struggle to hang on to life. At 2:28AM, her right front paw stretched out and fell to the ground for the last time. Now she lays dead on our bathmat next to the tub. Mrs. Giddyup and I talked about it. We are just going to leave her there and let the little girls (5 and 7) see her lying there peacefully and say there good-byes. It will be interesting to see how they respond to her passing-- given the loss of their grandmother two weeks ago today. Callie was a good pet but a bit of a nuisance. We got her the first week that my 22YO college-graduate son started kindergarten. She was wandering at the bus-stop so we took her home and kept her. She was only about 6 weeks old when we took her in. She was a very friendly cat. If you came in the door and sat down, Callie would be on your lap in a matter of minutes.
sorry for your loss. if its not too late, maybe you should wake up your girls in the morning and tell them gently that their pet is dead, and then let them see the cat, rather than let them be surprised when they walk in not expecting anything out of the ordinary.
Oh definitely. I don't want to freak them out. I've covered her with a towel and will parade them in there when they awake and talk to them about it. We have two other living cats in the house, so this is not leaving them devoid of pets.
sounds like callie will help teach your children some more about life even through death. pretty poignant stuff man.
"If you came in the door and sat down, Callie would be on your lap in a matter of minutes." Geez, my cat was like too. Sorry to hear about your loss. Our pets mean so much to us.
Sorry to hear that. I think the kids should be old enough to understand the death of a pet. My Min pin had pups, but the runt only lasted about 3 weeks. When he died, I let the kids say their goodbyes as well.
I feel for you. I went through something similar several years ago. I had a cat that died of heart problems. The problem was I spent about $2000 in medical costs before finding out what the problem was and had to finally put him to sleep.
Sorry to hear that Giddyup. It sounds like you and your family are going through a rough time recently. I hope things start looking up for you.
Thanks for the supportive words. The girls took it pretty well. My oldest (7) cried for a few minutes and went off to watch cartoons. My younger didn't quite understand why Callie was still here if she was up in heaven. I introduced the idea of a Life Force to my 5YO-- should be interesting to see what followup questions she has. She is very contemplative. We went out for a few hours this morning. When we came back the first thing they wanted to do is to go see Calllie who is out on the back deck waiting for burial. We went out there and they petted her. One of her eyes was open which made them think she was still alive or could, at least, see. We had to put one of my other cats (Manny) to sleep about two years ago. THAT was hard because it was my decision-- even though the sweet cat was suffering mightily. His brother (Zeke) is in good health but is about 16YO as well. We will be facing this soon enough again. Then we are coming to Houston in January for my mother's Memorial Service on the 20th. That's a lot of "life" hitting us all at once.
