Had to put down sweet feral furbaby today :'(

[Deleted]

She'd been living 'here' on our property for maybe 9-10 years - first near my mother's cottage, then after my mom passed away, near our house. 'Mystic' and her son 'Pancake' have been the only real pets my children have had (if you don't count the hamster and the mouse).  But for the last few months, Mystic had been slowing down a bit, her breathing seamed just a bit labored and she started getting bloated around her middle.  She acted just fine though, had an appetite and would still come over to us for her daily back scratch.

But for the last few days - week maybe - she was having a hard time walking, though she was still here every morning at 7am for her breakfast, and around in the afternoon for her dinner.  She even came by as I was BBQ'ing on Tuesday night - like she usually did when I would start up the grill.  But she was a lot more verbal that night.  I cut up some of the chicken I was cooking for her, and she ate it like she hadn't eaten in a week.  Then she waddled back to the bushes, taking a rest every few yards.

I knew this day would be coming soon, and today was the day.  We didn't see her for her evening meal last night - which wasn't that unusual as she would sometimes come by later for her dinner.  And this morning was the first morning she wasn't sitting by the door for her breakfast.  So DH went looking for her.  Since it was raining, she was crouched under the potting bench in the very back of the yard.  She looked like she was dozing on and off, and looked up at DH as he put his hand out to her.  He said she started meowing a lot, much more than usual. She didn't even try to move - or maybe she just couldn't move.

So DH got the cat carrier to see if he could get her inside and take her to the vet.  We both knew that this would probably be it.  As far as ferals go, she had lived a long life, I think I read somewhere that 7-8 years is the average lifespan.  We also knew we wouldn't be able to afford another $2000 in vet bills if it came to that.  When DH got near her, she willingly went inside the carrier.  We both thought he would have a hard time getting her in.

And so it was as we had expected. Vet said that it would be about $700 in diagnostic services, and another several hundred dollars, at least, if she had to have surgery.  And there was still no guarantee that she wouldn't have to be put down anyway.  He said that we were doing the right thing.  But it's still never easy.  DH held her as they put her to sleep.   I had a funny feeling that she wasn't going to make it through another winter here.

Since I couldn't get off of work, DH came home early to tell my son.  We knew he would take it hard.  But he summoned up the strength after a good cry to help my DH dig a deep hole and bury her in out 'pet cemetery' near the woods.  I wasn't home, but I could just see the two of them, in the pouring rain we had today, digging that hole, getting dirty and soaked.  We're wondering how Pancake is going to be now that he doesn't have his mama to hang out with, or groom him, or sleep next to on cold nights.

And while I'm sad about this, I'm not inconsolable - like I thought I would be.  Guess I'm thinking of how many more years we gave her by 'taking care' of her as best we could, being a feral and all.  And the circle of life and all that.  We haven't told my DD yet, as we don't want her to be distracted from her studies, and plus if we did, she would have no one around to console her.  She's coming home next Friday for the Columbus Day weekend as she has a 4 day weekend.  We figured we'd tell her then.

Sorry this was long, just had to write it down somewhere and knew you'd all understand.

[val2525]

I'm sorry. ((((allsale & family))))

[Shirley U Geste]

I'm so sorry for your loss.

Thank you for taking care of her for so many years and making her life better. And bless you for being there and taking care of her at the end, it's so hard to let them go.

[Deleted]

I'm sorry to hear that. ((hugs))

[kritter]

I am glad that you and your husband were there to help her on her way to the Rainbow Bridge.

It sounded like she was ready to go.

[sunsetpainter]

((((all4sale)))) You are a good person for taking care of them.

[Deleted]

So sad.

[Deleted]

(((all4sale)))

[jellybeanscloset412]

((((all4&family)))) You gave her a life and years of happiness!

[Deleted]

I'm sorry.

You made a difference in her life and someone was with her at the end. That's a good thing.

[Deleted]

I'm so sorry. I'm glad she had you and your family and that Pancake does, too.

[val2525]

How's Pancake this morning?

[Deleted]

Oct 3, 2015 15:34:53 GMT val2525 said:

How's Pancake this morning?

Aww, poor Pancake. When I left for work at 8:30 this morning, he was sitting by his (empty) food bowl looking toward our back door. Don't know if cats notice that where there was once two bowls, now there is one. He did seem a bit confused and/or concerned - but I don't know if I was reading too much into things. Or maybe he was just wondering where all the food was. Don't know.

Don't know, either, if feral cats are likely to make new (feral) friends. There have been other ferals over the years that have wandered into our backyard to avail themselves of the free cat chow buffet. But they don't last for more than a week cuz Pancake would chase them away. He's always had Mystic around, so I know he's going to be out of sorts for a while.

[titus730]

(((All4sale and family))). I'm so sorry for the loss of your cat. You gave her a good, long life.

[Deleted]

(((all4sale)))

So sorry about Mystic. She was a lucky kitty to be fed and cared for her whole life.

[chapeaunoir]

You gave Mystic such a GOOD life. Animals are philosophers - they know when it's time, and obviously she knew and trusted your DH to do the right thing, which he did.

[zoesam]

So sorry :-( I hope you can take comfort that you helped her live such a long life. You guys were awfully kind to take her in and make the difficult decision. It never does get any easier :-(

[Deleted]

I am crying right now. ((hugs))

[Deleted]

I'm so sorry for your loss. You gave Mystic a better quality of life - and more compassionate, peaceful death - than she would have had on her own. I hope you, your family and Pancake are all ok.

[Deleted]

I'm sorry.

[Deleted]

Goodbyes are so tough. Hope you, your family and Pancake are doing ok.

[Deleted]

So sorry for your loss, but you did the humane thing.

 I am glad you and your family were able to have her for so many years.

[chapeaunoir]

How is Pancake doing?

[val2525]

I was just wondering that too.

Love that name for a cat, by the way.

[Deleted]

Well it's hard to say how pancake is doing, I mean he's always around for his meals, but we don't see that much of him otherwise. Mystic was the social one, if you called her name she would come running from where ever she was to see you. Pancake doesn't do that. Pancake would come around when mystic was around, and if he felt like it, he would let one of the kids give him a pet or two. He was always more skittish.

My DD came home for the long weekend. She always had a way with the kitties, so tomorrow we'll see if she can get Pancake to come around.

And as for his name - my DS named him years ago. He said that it looked like he had a streak of syrup down his back, so he thought pancake would be a good name, lol.

[kat]

Oh, I'm so sorry.

[Deleted]

Did you end up telling DD before she came home for the long weekend? Was she devastated?

[Deleted]

Oct 12, 2015 23:31:31 GMT @classring said:

Did you end up telling DD before she came home for the long weekend? Was she devastated?

Yes, DH told her via a long text (since that is the only thing she generally responds to). He said for her to call him when she got the message. She texted back a while after saying she was still too sad to call us that day.  I'm sure she face-timed with her BF about it.  I know that he would have been a good person to console her since before they both went away to college, his family had to put down the dog he grew up with. 

She was fine when she came home, DS & DH showed her where they buried Mystic.  Generally the kids will put something of a tombstone over the graves of our pets, and it's usually a Belgium block with something written on it in a permanent marker.  And she did get to spend some time with Pancake, even got to give him a few pets and head scratches.

And I don't know if it's a coincidence or not, but there's been another stray/feral cat hanging around hoping to get a few nibbles of the Pancakes left-over cat chow.  We'll see what becomes of that, lol!