"Good bye Happy Kitty"

[Eightball]

The Saturday before Christmas, I had to take our little girl kitty, Happy, down to the vet, and have her put to sleep. We have owned dogs, cats, rabbits, gerbils, parakeets, and aquarium fish, but Happy-Kitty, was so special. She was only 9 years old, and that's not very old for a kitty.

About a year ago, she started wheezing a lot, and the vet said she had Asthma. I gave her all the medications for Asthma, and also had to contend with intermittent ear infections, and other things that this poor little kitty would go through with the Asthma.

Why is she so special? Well, first of all, she was brought home from a little pet store by our middle son. You know; those little surprises that Mom and Dad are supposed to accept, and live with. "Hi, Mom, Hi Dad, look what I've got here. Isn't she cute and cuttley?". Well, this little kitten of unknown pedigree that looked like your basic brown tabby with little white paws and a white spotted tummy was something else. First of all, she had been weaned too young and didn't know how to even lap up milk or eat soft or crunchy cat food. Dear old dad here, became the nurse-made of Happy-Kitty. I bought that stuff called KLM that's supposed to be digestible for young kittens. We set up a little litter box in our sons room and he(son) and I worked on getting little Happy-Kitty to learn to eat, so she wouldn't starve to death. Well at the time we had two(Yes Two others!) other Kitties in the house who were just barely adults cats. The male adult kitty named Teddy was a 23 pound Balinese cat, and was a pretty laid-back guy. Anyway, little Happy Kitty would follow Teddy everywhere. Teddy, didn't want to have anything to do with Happy, but gradually he accepted her, and little Happy and Teddy became best friends. Teddy a male, actually showed little Happy how to eat solid food and lap up liquids with her tongue. Big old Teddy would even tolerate this little pudgy Tabby kitten wrestling him.

One day, we heard a muffled crying sound that we knew was little Happy. Dear old Teddy decided that the wrestling was over, and he basically just laid down on little Happy. She was buried under this 23 pound guy, like a baby chick under momma hen's butt. Anyway, she/Happy squirmed out from under Teddy, and was no worse for wear. We laughed and laughed. Teddy just needed to settle down this little rascal that wanted to keep pestering and playing with him.

Well, 9 years later, I'm sitting in the vet's office with Happy in a cat carrier. Her head is nuzzled into a clean terry towel that I just put in the carrier at home. Happy's original Asthma, was actually the beginning of Nasal Cancer. I have worked hard for the last two months giving Happy all the comfort possible to her. In fact two months earlier, I brought her in and asked the vet if she was suffering? The vet didn't think so, but said that we would know when the time had come to say good bye to Happy. I think today is the day. The Cancer has pushed some tissue up her nasal tract on one side to the point that you can see a tumor-like tissue almost coming out of her nostril. The other nostril just runs all the time and I'm forever wiping her nose, and putting terry towels on all of our furniture where she wants to lay. I'm giving her meds in the morning and meds in the evening. I prodded and pushed her to eat, even though her nasal breathing was getting so labored.

During all this time, Happy Cat, with her labored breathing, would come to me, purring, and jump/crawl up on my lap and just stare into my eyes, with this alert, sweet look of some type of comprehension. She would lift her paw up and touch my chin and cheek and nuzzle her head into my chest or lap.

I never owned a kitty that would make distinct eye-contact with my eyes like Happy. All animals will look you in the eyes at times, but Happy did it all the time. She seemed to innately know that my or my wife's eyes were the point of recognition between her and us. It was a very loving stair.

Well, about a day and a half ago, that little stare didn't happen. Happy's eyes weren't open big and round. They were, maybe 2/3rds open, and she seemed like she was staring past us. She wanted to just lay down and not move all day. In my gut, I knew that something seriously was happening finally.

The doctor told me that he believed that she was finally at the point where she is trully suffering. He felt that the tumor in her nasal passage was inevitably going to push back to her brain and that internal bleeding would ensue. He also thought there was some swelling happening above her nose and in the area of her eyes. He said that there were alternatives, such as radiation, etc.., but me and the wife are not of great monetary means, and can only afford so much for our little pets. Never the less, the vet felt that those alternatives would only possibly postpone the inevitable.

I finally said, "ok", to putting Happy to sleep. The doctor asked me if I would want to be present when he administered the high dose, barbituate into Happy's I.V.. I said, "No.".. I just didn't think I could stand to watch the lethal med being administered into her. A couple minutes later, I changed my mind. I wasn't going to sit there in the waiting room and see Happy and carrier carted off, and then expect the doctor to come out and say, it's done. I had to be by Happy's side when she passed away.

I waited in a special little room at the animal hospital. The doctor came in with our Happy laying/I.V. inserted, on a nice cozy lambs wool blanket. She was just stretched-out with her head laying on the lambs wool. I asked the doctor if she had been sedated, as she just laid there not moving but just half stairing and breathing quietly. "No, she's not sedated.", said the doctor. Now was the time for me to give the "ok", or "Go ahead, doctor." instructions. I petted Happy's back, and even lifted her weak head and scratched her chin. I couldn't hold it any longer. I sobbed, and sobbed, and said, "goodbye Happy" in my sobs. There was ample Kleenex there. I nodded to the doctor, and he inserted a syringe into the I.V.. Within just seconds, Happy just went limp and stopped breathing........I sobbed, again... I felt like an executioner, and I know that I was doing Happy a favor, yet, I was thinking about those little warm white booted paws that used to stroke my face, and those eyes that looked deep into mine. She was gone. Her eyes didn't close at her parting. I tried to close her eyes with my fingers, but the doctor said that they always die with their eyes open. I couldn't stand looking at Happy stairing as though there was this void in her. The doctor left me with Happy and said to let him know when I was ready to release her to them. I finally stopped crying, and took the lambs wool blanket and covered Happy's lifeless shell. I tapped on the door and the doctor came in and took Happy's body away.

Well, it's been about a week and a half since Happy's parting, and I'm doing much better now. Every once in a while, I see this picture of her in that room just as she passed on and I cringe inside, and get this terrible feeling of loss of a little friend.
********
Ok folks, I'm a biblical Christian, and I hope you don't think that I place the lives of pets over the loss of humans and especially our loved-ones. I definitely don't. Yet, I was really impacted, this time and at times in the past by the passing of my/our little furry friends.

I lost my Mom to Lupus in 1992, and my father to a heart attack in 1995. My mother sufferered terribly, and was only about 70 lbs. when she passed away. My Dad passed away quietly, and peacefully in his sleep.

I love and loved my parents beyond all imagination. Yet, some how I was better equipped to handle their passing, than I have with these little pets in my life. I know that God understands all the intricacies of life, and the bonds that we humans form with our loved ones, friends, etc... Yet, I never thought growing up that I would ever morn the loss of a pet-animal the way I recently have.

I'm a grandpa, a husband, and a dad. I know that my grand children(4 of them), sons(3 married), and my wife are so special to me, and are literal gifts from God. I know that if something horrendous happened to them, I would suffer much greater loss than this recent parting of Happy Kitty.

I miss Mom and Dad, yet I am a dad myself, and a husband as my dad was, and a grandfather as my dad was.
****
Well, in some mysterious way, I've have gotten much enjoyment out of having a little pet-friend too.
*
I will always remember you Happy. I even think God used you, a simple little common breed cat to touch my life and others in a special way. Good bye Happy. I will always miss you.

 

[Annie]

Eighball, I'm so sorry on this loss for your family. You wrote a beautiful story for us.

 

[glockmail]

We had an all black taken from a barn litter at one week, and fed by eyedropper until weaned. We had an old house littered with mice, and he cleaned them out in two weeks, then he went to work on the barn. After the pests were gone he would catch birds, snakes, frogs, rabbits- you name it. We got his sister from the same littler, and I gave her to my grandfather. She used to wake him up in the morning by biting his chin.

I almost killed him one morning by starting up the car while he was sleeping on the warm engine. Most of the fur was gone from one leg and he had a nasty laceration on the other knee. One quick trip to the vet for a tune up and he healed up completely. He was best friend to both my kids when they were babies. He hated the snow. when we moved south he lost his 1/2 mile radius hunting ground to much smaller area, and became the hunted as well by our neighbor's cat, 1/2 his age and twice his weight.

When he was close to 10 years old he developed a kidney infection and could no longer take in water. This was week before Christmas and so my wife gave him fluid under the skin by IV to keep him alive through the holiday. When my daughter went back to school we stopped the IV and let him die peacefully on the floor of his favorite closet. His sister, Molly, died that same week, a 16 hour drive away.

His name was Cinders and he's buried under a fake stone in the backyard.

 

[Annie]

Animals add so much to so many of our families. I'm certain there is some reward for them from God.

 

[sitarro]

Incredibly touching post Eightball. What you had to do is easily one of the most difficult and yet loving decisions we can make.

 

[Eightball]

To all of you, I really appreciate your posts.

In fact, your posts show so much sensitivity, and really again bring me to tears, as we humans are really a special community, and really are a needy species. People relationships and animal friends are a special blessing, and integral to our lives.

Thank you again.

 

[glockmail]

Do as I did and go get another one.

 

[Tarantulas]

From my blog:

Thu, Dec. 30th, 2004, 01:25 am
The last of the litter

Our cat Sarah died tonight, December 29, 2004, at 11:05 p.m. She was the last of the litter of four that were born on July 8, 1986. Their mother, QRM, died at 6 years of age on March 20, 1992. Buddy was killed on November 2, 1996. We put Flipper to sleep on January 2, 1999, Pinball on March 28, 2004, and Sarah tonight. Sarah was the first of the four to be born, and the last to die.

During the past few weeks, Sarah had started to lose weight and drink more water, a sure sign of the same kidney failure that took Pinball. We had taken him to the vet and left him there for a week for treatment, with no guarantee of success. We would go in and visit him every day. He had an IV tube in his leg and he just hated to be there. The vet was able to bring him back part way, so we brought him home, and he lived for a week in relative comfort before he went downhill again and we had to take him for his last ride to the emergency clinic. When we started noticing how Sarah was going downhill, we vowed that we wouldn't put her through the same thing that Pinball endured. After all, she was the "psycho kitty" of the four, and she would have been frightened to death to be left alone in a strange place where there were dogs.

So we watched her, and petted her, and fed her sliced turkey when she stopped eating the regular cat food. Tonight DeLana started noticing that she was wheezing when she breathed, and she couldn't seem to get comfortable on her perch on the back of DeLana's love seat. Yesterday she would go into the kitchen to drink water, and the trip would get her so exhausted that she sometimes couldn't make it all the way back to the love seat without resting on the kitchen floor for a while. Late this evening, she jumped down and couldn't make it into the kitchen without resting first. That, and the breathing problems, convinced us. So I carried her in to get a drink, then carried her to the litter box afterward, then we got into the car and took her to the emergency clinic to give her the last gift of kindness.

It rained all day today. When we arrived at the clinic it started raining really hard, almost like tears falling. We sat in the car and petted Sarah and talked to her for a while, then we took her in and gave her to the staff so they could prepare her while we filled out the forms. They called us in, and brought her into the room where we were. She had the IV tube in her leg and was looking frightened, with big wide eyes. But she was also skeleton-thin, and still breathing with difficulty, which confirmed that we were doing the right thing. The vet came in and asked us if we were ready. We said yes, so she inserted the needle into the tube. We petted Sarah and told her goodbye as the contents were injected. The last thing Sarah felt in life was the loving hands of her owners. I didn't think I would cry quite so hard, but I did.

When we left the clinic, it had stopped raining. It seemed appropriate, in a way. The suffering had ended, for all of us.

Lend Me A Kitten

I will lend to you for awhile a kitten, God said.
For you to love while he lives, and mourn when he's dead.
Maybe for twelve or fourteen years, or maybe two or three.
But will you, 'till I call him back, take care of him for me?
He'll bring his charms to gladden you and, should his stay be brief
you'll always have his memories as solace for your grief.
I cannot promise he will stay, since all from earth return.
But there are lessons taught below I want this kitten to learn.

I've looked the whole world over in search of teachers true.
And from the folk that crowds life's land I have chosen you.
Now will you give him all your love, nor think the labor vain?
Nor hate me when I come to take my kitten home again?

My heart replied, "My Lord, Thy Will Be Done"
For all the joys this kitten brings the risk of grief I'll run.
We'll shelter him with tenderness, we'll love him while we may.
And for the happiness we've known, forever grateful stay.
But should you call him back much sooner than we planned.
We'll brave the bitter grief that comes, and try to understand.
If, by our love we've managed your wishes to achieve,
Then in memory of him who we loved, please help us while we grieve.
When our cherished kitten departs this world of strife,
Please send yet another needing soul for us to love all his life.

-Author Unknown

 

[Eightball]

Tarantulas:

Thank you for the very beautiful story. It was very touching, and the poem at the bottom was very nice, too.

 

[namvet]

im a little late with this. we've had to put them down to. its really tuff. like losing a family member. they all go to the rainbow bridge. for all animal lovers:

Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge.

When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge.
There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together.
There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable.

All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor; those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by.
The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind.

They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent; His eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster.

You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.

Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together....

Author unknown...

[URL="http://www.indigo.org/rainbowbridge_ver2.html"]video[/URL]​

 

[AllieBaba]

Animals add so much to so many of our families. I'm certain there is some reward for them from God.

I am, too. For one thing, if heaven is supposed to be a place where we are joyful all the time, then there are those of us who will want animals....God gave them to us in the first place to enjoy, I don't see why he would ban them from heaven.

And why would he know when a sparrow falls if he wasn't taking an interest?

 

[Shogun]

so, does this mean you think dogs have souls?

 

[AllieBaba]

Don't start, now. We're mourning the loss of Happy Kitty and Teddy Kennedy. It isn't a good time....

 

[AllieBaba]

Whoops, Ted isn't gone yet. Well, we're mourning him nonetheless....

 

[Paulie]

God gave them to us in the first place to enjoy, I don't see why he would ban them from heaven.

I love animals, but this is ridiculous.

You really believe animals were GIVEN to US? Like, here, these are yours to do whatever you need to do with to enjoy them?

That's quite a whacked out way of looking at things. You wonder why atheists think you're nuts...

 

[Shattered]

I love animals, but this is ridiculous.

You really believe animals were GIVEN to US? Like, here, these are yours to do whatever you need to do with to enjoy them?

That's quite a whacked out way of looking at things. You wonder why atheists think you're nuts...

Guess she forgot the part wherein we TOOK them and made them captive.

 

[Paulie]

Guess she forgot the part wherein we TOOK them and made them captive.

That's why they were created. So we could do whatever we wanted to with them. It's all part of the enjoyment.