Put my cat down

Discussion in 'Help with Life' started by Llave, Feb 27, 2014.

  1. Llave Superless Moderator

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    I know it sounds stupid, and to be honest I've always been apathetic in this field of life because 1. I've never had to put an animal down before 2. all the pets that I've had that kicked the bucket were goldfish and hermit crabs. But today we put my cat of 11 years, Callie, down today. She was in horrible shape and it's hard. I really loved her she had a personality I tell ya! (Such a prissy princess she'd be lovey one minute and then all stuck up the next.)

    I was just petting her as they put her down, whispering "It's ok baby it's ok." It hurts so much.

    They gave me a lil' patch of her fur from the circle on her left shoulder. So I have that. I paid for her put down and for her cremated remains. I wouldn't feel comfortable with any other option.

    Anyways to not make this sound like a total tear-bender convention, how did you cope with your losing your pets? I'd like to know...


    Here's a picture of my litter-butt princess:

    Yes that's my frig. She had an uncanny obligation to STAND IN THE WAY WHEN I WANTED IT CLOSED ;D (ilu bby)

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
     
  2. Amaury Legendary Hero

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    I'm sorry for your loss, Llave. Unfortunately, I have no direct experience with losing a pet, but my aunt recently lost a 31-year-old horse.

    Anyway, your cat's in a better place now and is no longer suffering.
     
  3. Shuhbooty moon child

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    I had two bogs growing up. One was a blue nose out (who is 14 years old) and a saint Bernard. Her name was dizzy. She was sick also, she had valley fever in her spine which made it hard for her heavy body to stand on her own. (It effected her back kegs) my parents took her to the vet one morning while my sisters and I were at school. They ended up picking us all up a few hours later. I knew something was wrong because of my mother puffy red face. We were half way home when she finally told us they had to put her down. I've never been in such a small space with all of my grown sisters and family and wail so hard in my life.

    She was my baby the moment we brought her home. And I had the hardest time coping. I had to keep telling myself it was for a good cause because she was either going to die in her sleep or when we were at school, and I don't think I could have come home to that. We looked at old photos of her, and remembered to keep her spirit alive because she wasn't just a dog or an animal she was our sister too. :( just thinking about it makes me cry.

    The vet gave us a print of her paw (which I was tattoos of) and she was cremated also.
     
  4. Amaury Legendary Hero

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    Scratch that. Several years ago I lost my pet goldfish -- I think what happened is that the last time we cleaned the tank before they died, my mom forgot to put in those whatchamacallit disinfectant drops. Although I don't think it even affected me, so I still can't really relate. Sorry. :x

    I had six goldfish: Tom, Jerry, Bugs, Daffy, Sylvester, and Tweety. Note that Tweety was originally named Spike.
     
  5. Shuhbooty moon child

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    I overfed my goldfish. But I wasn't as upset as losing my dog lol. I feel bad just putting my baby Alexander the great in a kennel which he's about to grow out of. ;--;
     
  6. ShibuyaGato Transformation

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    Oh Llave, I'm so sorry for your loss. I've lost cats before, and both times were hard. The first was sometime close to Christmas when I was around seven or eight years old. He was an outdoor cat and I'd only ever called him "Kitty," but we waited for him to come to the door like he usually would and my parents went outside and saw him lying there. The second time was much harder. Ernest was a black cat who'd been alive a year longer than I had, and I was 14 at the time. He started developing a cancer in his mouth, and he physically couldn't eat anymore. He cried constantly at night, so we decided it was best to end his suffering. I wasn't there when it happened, and I regret that a lot, but in the end it wasn't fair to let him keep hurting like that.

    It gets better, but it'll hurt, and that's okay. It means you love her, and you were there for her right up until the end.
     
  7. Sara Tea Drinker

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    First, I'm deeply sorry for your loss

    I have had several pets die over the years...

    The one that hit my mom the hardest was Sprocket a Springer Spaniel. I still remember the look on her face when I came downstairs that morning to find out he died in his sleep. She never really got over it and still talks about it even to this day. I think the hardest so far was losing my cockatiel to an unknown disease. I always blamed myself for not seeing it earlier and giving him the last few days of his life a hard time because he was in pain. I never really got over it and I still grieve sometimes over what happened.

    Right now I have a ragdoll cat on my legs sleeping. I consider him like a child and am deeply attached to him. I even get anxious when I'm gone for a short period of time and he's alone, he's everything to me, the one who makes me smile during the worst parts of my life. I honestly don't know how I'm going to react when he dies, I know his breed has a shorter lifespan than most cats, and he's already at his prime right now midway through the lifespan, I just don't want to think about it. The only time I really did was when me and my mom were coming home from dinner and the whole fire department looked like they were in front of my house with smoke pouring out of it. I just lost all rationality thinking Aiden was in the fire and was freaking out before a fireman told me that it was a different house and the rest of the houses were fine.

    But it's something that scares me, to be honest.
     
  8. Patman Bof

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    I never had to burry a pet. My parents have a cat. I had already left their house when they got her and I don' t see her that often (once or twice a year), but she likes me a lot. When I visit my parents for a few days and go out for a stroll she often follows me. She' s pretty spry but she' s fifteen now, things are starting to go downhill. I don' t know how long she has left but it will undoubtedly hit me pretty hard.

    A friend of mine left his parents' house the same year I did, he left his dog there. At some point his dog got really ill and barely moved anymore. When my friend came back on vacation his dog mustered some energy, went for a stroll with him, and died in his sleep that night. It' s like he was waiting for a chance to say goodbye before letting go.
     
  9. Boy Wonder Dark Phoenix in Training

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    My girlfriend's and my first cat died in an accident and we adopted a little kitty named Dexter so she wouldn't be alone (it was just her and Bartholomew, the first cat, and she would wake up crying because she could swear that she would hear him jumping on the counter before she would go get him only to remember that he wasn't there anymore). Dexter immediately became attached to her and vice-versa in a way that Bartholomew and I bonded (we loved them both, but you could easily tell that Bartholomew was more my friend and Dexter hers). Unfortunately, we discovered early on that Dexter had some terminal kitty disease and had to be put down; he could live but would have to have his stomach drained weekly which were expensive and put him through pain, especially at his size (he was so tiny...). When we put him down, she stepped out because she couldn't bare to see it. I stayed in the room, but made myself not see it...until I looked at the last second when he stopped meowing and noticed how limp it was. It was something neither of us got over, but every now and then that image just pops in my head and I have get teary-eyed. It used to be worse (when Bartholomew died, I wouldn't speak to anyone but my girlfriend for days and missed work. For Dexter, I only missed one day but when I would think of how he looked, I had to step away from the registers to regain myself).

    With Bartholomew, it hit me harder. I buried him myself, wrapped in Kadi's favorite blanket and with his favorite toy. I kept the towel we used to dry him after baths and would sleep with it (as a 20 year old male). To this day, I can't change the cover of Facebook that's me and Bartholomew. After Dexter passed, the towel symbolized both of them to me and I would talk to it as I slept. Our third cat, Kallie, died of a flea anemia. We got her from the same agency we got Dexter from (the guy was nice. He was told to give us a discount on a new pet, if we wanted one, after putting Dexter down since they "gave us a sick kitten." He didn't charge us at all. Supposedly, the shelter is going through a complete revamp since we ended up with two sick kittens from them, but we don't think Kallie got sick until afterwards). I remember falling asleep that night squeezing that towel telling Dexter and Bartholomew to take care of Kallie.

    Really, the only thing that has helped us is time. I was really scared to get any more pets because I had three die and it took so long for me to not think of myself as kitten-cursed. I originally felt like Dexter was meant to be a replacement for Bartholomew (considering he looked so much like him), but Kadi was just in shambles over him. None of them were ever replaced. They all hold a special, but different place in our hearts and we still just sit and talk about them, especially how different they were (seriously, they were so different personality-wise. It's scary how much variety there can be in cat attitudes). Yes, getting another pet eventually helped ease the pain, but with us, it used to tear us apart when they would do something that reminded us of the others (Dexter looked so much like Bartholomew that I couldn't bare to look at him for too long).

    I'm sorry you had to go through that, Llave, I really am. I know it hurts, but like I said: time. Hold on the good memories (I remember Dexter falling asleep in his bowl and Bartholomew biting Kadi's sister after she woke him up or how Kallie would sleep on my shoulder) and if you have some object -like that fur- cherish it. I still have the towel. If you ever want to just sit and talk about your litter-butt, I'm here and always willing to share stories...I'm a little teary-eyed right now lol.
     
  10. Llave Superless Moderator

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    Thanks everyone for the kind words, and thank you especially bueno for sharing about your cats. They sound like they were all wonderful. I'll definitely remember Callie fondly, I'm not sure if I'll get another cat soon, it's too early to think about it but I'm glad she blessed me with 11 years of fun.
     
  11. Light-Rune Maven Seer

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    I... Had a dog. Sampson... He was a black lab. I was just a little kid, and my dad get's this big ol' dog to go hunting with. Of course, then family life got busy and he barely went hunting, so he just wound up being a house pet. Fun dog for the kids to play with, right? Wrong. I was pretty young... and small... and that dog got pretty big pretty fast. I loved him and wanted to play with him but... he was huge. Whenever I tried to play with him, or just went near him, he get all excited and jump up on me. He occasionally accidentally scratched me, and he barked really loud which always scared me. Of course, he just wanted to play, but I didn't realize that; I was just a little kid. Over time, the poor dog eventually became ignored. We basically got busy and only fed and watered him. Of course, then he got into this habit of tipping over the water, cause he wanted to play; an act of defiance I suppose. It was in the middle of a hot summer, and one I just noticed: He was gone. I asked my parents about it, very worried. They told me that he died from the heat. He wouldn't drink his water, and... I never even got to see him. When we went to bury his body they said it had started to green and rot so... I love him. I don't know how; I barley saw him or thought about him, but... You don't know what you've got till it's gone. Even now, Labs are one of my favorite kinds of dogs. After he died... I just felt empty for a while... I... wanted him back... I still do. I know it wasn't exactly my fault, but I still felt I could have done... something. Could have tried playing with him more for example... I just... I regret how it all happened. Even now, when I think about it I miss having him around... But I know I'll see him again, and when I do...

    I get what it's like to lose a pet. Granted our positions are nowhere near the same. Not the last pet I lost unfortunately.
    I'm glad you're feeling better. I honestly am. After getting that out my system, I'm feeling a bit better now too. I love that dog, and I can't wait to see him again.
     
  12. Lauriam I hope I didn't keep you waiting...

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    Man, I'm really sorry about Callie. She was beautiful, and she sounds like a little queen.

    We lost two pets last year, our long-haired dachshund died New Years day. He was around 14 years old, but he was a rescue, we'd only had him for a couple years. He was the sweetest dog I ever met, he loved everybody, and when you said his name, he would look up at you like you were the sun itself, and wag his tail so fast we joked that it would fall off. We named him Buster after Andy's dog on Toy Story, and when the third came out and the dog was so much older, he really was just like Buster and I still miss him whenever I watch that movie. As far as we can figure, he just got sick one day and was too old to recover. We made sure he was comfortable, and he made it through Christmas, which was important to my little sister, who loved him just as much as he loved her. The second pet we lost was another dog, she was a scrappy four-year old terrier, and she was my mom's baby. We named her Lucy, after Lucy Pevensie, and the name fit her perfectly. That loss was especially hard, because she was so young. It was kidney failure. We managed to keep her alive for a few months, and she seemed to be doing better, but then we had to go on a trip, and when we got back and picked her up from her boarder, she was worse. She got so weak and lethargic that she could barely stand, and when we walked her down to her last vet trip, I carried her the whole way and I was just so sad, she was skin and bones. We made an appointment to have her put down after that, but she died in her sleep the night before. My mom is still thankful that she didn't have to go through with it; she's glad her baby died peacefully, in her little dog bed next to mom.

    But as sad as I was for those two dogs, I can't even imagine how I would feel if it were to happen to my Rosie Amelia. Before I got my dog, I sympathized with my mom and sister, but didn't really understand the bond. Now, I can't imagine having to go through what they did, and just the thought of losing Rosie is hard to bear. I am so sorry you lost your princess, and even more sorry that you had to go through putting her down. She will always be a part of you, and you can treasure her memory forever.
     
  13. Blayz Mods Set The World A Blayz

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    I'm sorry for your loss llave, I've had 3 pets put down in my life, the first was a Cocker Spaniel named Punkin, and I was destroyed when we put her down, a month after we put her down we got another dog and 2 cats, but a few years later our male cat became very ill and we put him down and it was very hard, both our cats were tabby cats one female and one male the males name was buddy and the females name was Tabitha, Tabitha was my baby she was a prissy little princess like your cat was but if anyone tried to pick her up and hold her she wouldn't let then she'd only let me hold her, but at the loss of our male cat her well being started to diminish, she stopped eating and eventually went somewhere outside to die, I was crushed, my family didn't take it very well either, so I know how it is to loose a pet by putting it down.=[
     
  14. Ienzo ((̲̅ ̲̅(̲̅C̲̅r̲̅a̲̅y̲̅o̲̅l̲̲̅̅a̲̅( ̲̅̅((>

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    I am so sorry Llave, but you know what, it sounds like you had an amazing cat, truly unique and you got 11 years with her and you gave her an amazing life. Of course, it won't make it any easier to see her not there any more but I hope things pick up and get easier for you.

    The only pets I myself have lost are goldfish and rabbits. The first rabbit I had, Dalmation his name was, he would run around the garden and just be really cute. I love him so much and had 2 years of looking after him until one day in autumn, after we'd been to collect loads of conquers as a family and play with them in the backgarden, I went out to feed him and couldn't see him running around. I went all the way to the bottom of the garden and found him lying, motionless in the tall grass. I must have been in shock for a few moments before running into the house crying. I was about 7 and can still remember that time vividly. I didn't have him as long as you had Callie and it's probably not the same level but it is hard. I was still a child and so I enjoyed writing stories and interviews with him up in heaven.

    I had 4 other rabbits after him, Hades, Little Safie, Kronos and Isis (I think I liked ancient Gods), all of which I loved but not as much as Dalmation and sadly all died before their time. Hades ran away when I was 8 and I remember going to the pet shop to get another rabbit and the woman there told me a story about how she always saw a group of brown, wild rabbits near her house in a lovely forest but recently a black rabbit (Hades was black... God of the underworld and all that xD) had joined them, I don't think I could have been happier, I was put at ease because I believed it and was content that Hades was safe. Of course now I realise it was a lie but I am still so thankful I was told it.

    My Grandma has always had dogs and we would visit her a lot so they weren't my dogs but my sister and I spent a lot of time with them. There was Suzie and Sally, both Cocker Spaniels and because there were 2 of them, my sister and I assigned each one to each of us so Suzie was mine and she was the super bouncy, scoffs her food, loved having the ball being thrown for her type and Sally was the quiet and calm type (turns out they were a lot like my sister and I then xD). As Sally got older, she became blind and deaf but still was quite happy despite the fact she kept banging into things. Suzie just always remained happy and cheerful until a time came when she stopped eating, I wasn't there to see her because my Grandma lived 2 hours away so we only went a few times a year and it turned out she had cancer and had to be put down. I cried a lot and was incredibly sad because of all the days I went on walks with them and threw balls for her and stroked and tickled her stomach. I still miss her. Sally became quite depressed after losing her sister but kept going for a while until she just gave up, I am not sure what she died of exactly but we could all see it coming. I can't imagine what my Grandma must have felt.

    She then got two new dogs a bit later, Toffee and Truffle who were sisters and just lovely. Sadly, Toffee was run over after my Grandma had her for about a year so I never got properly acquainted with her but Truffle is still alive and I have grown quite close to her. She recognises my sister and I and greets us very happily and then rolls over expecting us to tickle her stomach. You know the saying "A dog's not just for Christmas" we, because my Grandma always came to visit o Christmas, we literally had a dog just for Christmas but this year, about a week before the 25th, my Grandma phoned to say Truffle was very ill (it was most likely cancer) and had to stay at the vets for tests. We were all very worried and I felt like the Suzie incident would repeat itself so I came to terms with never seeing Truffle again. Thankfully she actually recovered and it wasn't cancer, can't remember exactly what it was but she is alright now.

    I think we all cope with these things in different ways. It will get easier with time but you will never forget her which is the most important thing : D
     
  15. Jin うごかないで

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    I was too young at the time I had a cat to understand the concept (I was around 6 years old) we had a cat named Ginger..and one day when me and a friend planned to go to the park that was at the top of the hill, at the bottom of it we found my cat (We lived on this sort of slope which was rowed with houses of course) I went down to his and I didn't even notice but like when I got to the bottom of that road there was basically a cross section of roads and my friend lived to the left. Ginger was dead on the right but I didn't notice until walking back and my friend yelled out his name being on the other side of the road it looked as if he was laying in the sun it was a really nice day to be honest. We went over and I tried picking him up. But he felt really really really stiff I didn't know what was happening so me and my friend took him to my house and my parents were shocked. Of course they came up with some weird stuff like He's just sleeping I was too young at the time of course to know. I don't know what my parents did with the remains I think they buried them I'm really not sure.

    Anyways when I did realize I was over it I was still sad though. I used to do everything with him at the time I even kept him in my bedroom for the most part when I was a kid. He was only 4 years old I believe and yeah. The only conclusion my family came to was that he was hit by a car tragic but looking back I still wish I had been able to grow up with him. Oh well really..but my regards. I feel sorry for your story and everything and of course I'm sorry for your loss :C
     
  16. Hyuge ✧ [[ Fairy Queen ]]

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    Llave I feel your pain. We had to get our cat put down last Thursday as well. It's kind of crazy that it was the same day, but yeah... We only had him for a couple months so it wasn't a super deep attachment, but I'm sad to see him gone. He had End - Stage Liver Disease and vet at the Humane Society figured that he was probably in the beginning phases of it when we adopted him at the end of December. I was at work when it happened, so I heard about it second hand which made it less painful for me than it did my boyfriend. I know he had a really hard time considering he was the one with him when they did it and he got all cuddly and decided he wanted to curl up in his lap with him while he filled out the paperwork and it just made it all the more painful for him. I hope you're doing a bit better now that you've had a week to try and let it sink it. We've gone through a lot of pets in the last couple years and it never gets easier when one of them dies. ;{[