I did not enjoy this weekend. Don't get me wrong, we had a lot of fun in the Poconos, and really enjoyed the Pennsylvania 500 (and my NASCAR fantasy team took 3 of the top 4 positions - woo hoo!).
No, what I did not enjoy was what we left behind, and how it hit us so unexpectedly. Our Trixie-Cat had an embolism (a blockage of an artery) which paralyzed her hind legs, and we put her to sleep on Monday when we got home. It was an unexpected event. She had been left with the vet for observation due to a injury which was not life-threatening, though she was taking a long time to heal (why she was left with the vet instead of a catsitter). In fact, the vet told us the embolism was not related to the wound. But we got a call from the vet while traveling Friday night, telling us about the embolism, her symptoms, that she couldn't move her legs, that she was completely immobile and no feeling in her hind legs. He held out a little hope, but said if nothing changed by Monday, her outlook would be grim, and that is indeed how it turned out. When we talked to the vet Monday evening, he told us it would only get more painful and she would never be able to move around. He recommended euthanasia, and since we were finally ready for this decision after thinking about it all weekend, decided to do it that evening, after spending one last hour with her.
Trixie was Amy's cat, her contribution to our household of a Brady-bunch-style household, where I had two cats, General and Princess, and Amy had two cats named Alice and Trixie. All of them, except General, are now gone. She was about 15 years old (exact age unknown), so she had a good life with lots of good memories for us, including some backflips and acrobatics, her "wake-up call", and many other special things she did. Goodbye Trixie, we miss you so much.
Hi Joel,
I'm so sorry about Trixie. I know it's a painful, heartbreaking thing to lose a pet and to have to make that decision. I still miss my dog Coco terribly and it has been over seven months. I will always miss her.
Had to put down our 15 yr old cat LUCKY about the same time. It's hard to loose an old friend. Through the tears on the way home all I could think of was the innumerable times she fell asleep on my chest while I fell asleep on the couch..lulled by her purring. Lucky could mooch with the best of them..we should have named her "Scarlett"...for, as God was her witness, the little, starving, abandoned kitten we found one rainy fall morning never went hungry again. The sad thing is that we have a 17 yr old cat & a 15 yr old bird-dog, both living on borrowed time. Still, I wouldn't give up my time with them despite all the sorrow I will have when they go.
Posted by: Dan Gmyrek at August 4, 2005 02:47 AMSusan, Dan,
Thanks for your kind words! I'm getting better, finally able to sleep again (since last weekend), and am only occasionally moved by a memory, such as opening a milk carton and remembering how she used to play with (and hoard!) the little round plastic things that you tear off the cap to open the bottle.
Regarding General Cat: he is 17 years old, and was born on Friday the 13th! He's got some health issues of his own, but he's a trooper, and he's stronger now than a year ago. We were really worried about him then. Trixie was the cat who was "forever young", not showing a sign of age until about six weeks before her passing.