We had to put our 18 year old cat down

[BERIGAN]

Gypsy was her name. We got he as a stray, a long time ago, in Jacksonville. She was at least 18, a vet said 17 years ago she was most likely a 1 year old when we found her, or did she find us? We had only one cat at the time (and Boomer almost made it to 20!) Mom and Dad didn't want other cat, we had just gotten a dog...so what did my parents do? Mom fed this constantly whining cat some dry food outside the sliding glass door in their bedroom. Dad feed this constantly whining cat outside the sliding glass door in the living room! Go figure why she didn't go away? She was a skinny cat, way back when, Spade, and declawed, yet she was outdoors! When we were still deciding whether to really make her ours, I went out to my car, got in to start it, decided I should check the oil in my old Chevy, and found her laying on top of the engine! Yikes! That was it, she was going to be an indoor cat from then on. She kind of freaked out at first, we wondered if she had been abused. She soon calmed down. If you scratched her back, just right, she would shred newspapers with her teeth! B)

She had extra digits! B) Mom thought she was personality challenged, I knew better. She slept, alot! When we brought in 4 more cats, she was pretty cool about it. She was kind of a coward, especially dealing with a little girl cat, that likes to think she is Queen of the hill. Swat her with those big paws Gypsy, she'll leave you alone then! Funny thing, when we brought in our second tabby a few years ago (By far the youngest, and strongest cat we have) She all the sudden got tough, and swatted and roared, and I do mean roared at him if he dared get near her! Go figure.

Anyway, she got fat the longer she stayed with us and pretty content. I did notice a growth on the side of her neck a few years back, and took her to the vet. She asked how old she was(I am starting to think mentioning your cat's age to a vet is a mistake) and said just to keep an eye on it, see if it got bigger. It didn't. but the last year, she would howl some at night, after drinking water, or using the litter box, but would stop the second you petted her. For some reason, we were all thinking old age was the cause. Took her to the vet in October, (She had lost weight, and was having stomach trouble) and another vet there asked how old she was first, and felt a tumor in her belly. Said most likely a Cancer, and that sometimes surgery helped, but often did not. And that Chemo didn't seem to work on cats. So basically wait for her to die. She seemed fairly strong at the time, and wondered if I should put her through surgery. She was getting dehydrated, even though she was drinking lots of water, and a friend mentioned that older cats are often diabetic, and should have her tested. She wasn't (Never did get a good answer as to why she would be dehydrated even though her kidney function was good, and drinking a lot) She went downhill so fast, I was bringing her in every week for I.V. and she would perk up for a few days. Her last days, she could barely walk, then really couldn't anymore. Yet, she was so alert most of the time, perhaps moreso than usual. But when she couldn't get into the litter box, and lost her appetite, it was more than obviously time. I guess we hoped she would pass during the night, but she didn't. So weird to take a pet to the vet to be put to sleep. They had trouble finding a vain(her fir was fairly thick, but she was down to 6 1/2 pounds) when they did, I asked how long it would take, and they said as bad off as she was, she was most likely already gone, and she was. Eyes still open, she looked just like she did when I took her in!

I know I did the best I could for her, yet I still can't help but feel I should have done more for her....I just wish the vets didn't ask how old the pet was first! Who cares? If I had said she was 10, I feel that perhaps they would have been more aggressive in their treatment.(So what I am saying is lie like a dog when your vet asks your cat's or Dog's age) She was still very limber, moreso than our 12 year old twins. She never was sick....just wanted to introduce an old member of our family. Reagan was still president when we got her. Most people didn't own computers, cell phones, or cd players back then.

I keep watching that I don't kick her under the computer, her favorite hangout.......Suitcases were also a favorite place as well!

[Peter Johnson]

Sorry to hear of your loss, Berigan.

[AfricaBrass]

I'm sorry for your loss, too.

We lost our cat a couple years ago and my wife still cries when she thinks about him.

[ralphie_boy]

Please accept my condolences. I know how hard it is to loose a beloved pet. I lost a beautiful black lab suddenly several years ago - he was only 9 yrs old. Fortunately you had a good long time with Gypsy.

[jazzbo]

Sorry to hear about the loss of your cat. I now how they are family and how hard it is to lose a pet. My ancient tom cat Spot died a year and a half ago and I miss him every day. He was a fantastic friend.

[Dave James]

Berigan,

Without a doubt, one of the most difficult decisions you'll ever face. I've had to confront this a number of times with both cats and dogs and it just tears you up. Just keep thinking about quality of life. I know that doesn't make it any easier, but it has helped me rationalize the choice. Also, if you're in a position to get another pet soon, that can be very theraputic. For what it's worth. Hang in there.

Up over and out.

[connoisseur series500]

Old softie Conn is shedding tears!

Sounds like she lived a long life.

I've got a stray cat too, well he was an abandoned kitty. Now he belongs to Daddy. I never take him to the vet and he's strong, but that won't be forever. We declawed him and neutered him, but the declawing was a terrible proceedure and I'm not sure he has gotten over it to this day.

He came in the other day all smelly from outside and we decided we had to give him a bath. He hated every moment of it and let out this plaintive yowl. For the first time, I recognized that I was wholly responsible for this animal. He's like a child. It was all there in that yowl.

[Noj]

Berigan--sorry to hear about your cat. Growing up I had an alley cat that looked a lot like yours (mostly black with white patches) and also lived nearly 20 years. We named him Rocky Balboa, because he was a fighter from the get-go and seemed to "box" with his paws. Rocky was a ruthless hunter, and since we live against the mountain he had no shortage of prey. He killed rabbits as big as himself. Once I heard him crunching something on the porch only to look out and see tarantula legs strewn about. Birds, lizards, snakes...nothing escaped Rocky's wrath.

Another time, my little cousins were over and were running through the house like crazy. Rocky watched them go by a couple times then decided to take out the weakest one, tackling my little cousin Sara! We often joked that he was going to drag a deer back to the house one of these nights...

Then, after all those years with us, one night Rocky didn't come home. That is no less sad, but easier than making the difficult decision to euthanize. My sympathies.

Edited December 8, 2003 by Noj

[Joe G]

I've been dreading a day like yours for a while now. I have a cat that's about 13 and he's been having some health problems. He's one of the coolest cats I've ever seen, and it's going to be a real drag when that day comes.

This year my Dad had to put down both of his dogs. They were about 14 I think, and were old buddies. The first one to go wasn't a big suprise; she had lots of health problems and couldn't get around much near the end. But the second one was a total shock to me. She had been just as strong as ever the last time I was up there. I was also taken aback by the wave of grief that shot through my body when my Dad told me the news. We do get attached to them, for sure.

[connoisseur series500]

Then, after all those years with us, one night Rocky didn't come home.

We assume that Rocky went out the way he wanted to.

[Noj]

Then, after all those years with us, one night Rocky didn't come home.

We assume that Rocky went out the way he wanted to.

Yeah, we like to think he sensed the end was near and went somewhere to die with dignity.

[Rooster_Ties]

I'm very sorry to hear about your cat, BERIGAN. My wife and I adopted two wonderful adult cats back in February. I'm sure we'll both be very sad if/when something ever happens to them.

[Jazz]

I know I did the best I could for her, yet I still can't help but feel I should have done more for her

Yeah, I felt the same way when I had to put my 15 year old dog down. Luckily he had a great vet who actually cares about the animals she takes care of.

I'm sorry to hear about your loss, it's tough to lose a pet! I know what you mean about still watching your feet even though she's gone (my dog was a little runt; strong though)...

[maren]

So sorry for you all, Berigan. I've been through a number of cat losses... 3 of old age/failing health (besides diabetes, thyroid condition can make old cats very thirsty, lose weight fast and go downhill rapidly)... Spooky (RIP 1990), Zoomy (RIP 1998), and Stripey (RIP 4/11/03). (Yeah, we like names ending in "y").

Shadow was all black and only about 7 years old when he died very suddenly and mysteriously -- probably a seizure, said the vet. He had been one of an orphaned litter living in Washington Square Park (!) -- mom must have met an untimely end. My son's 3rd grade teacher brought these 4-week-old kittens into her classroom -- when I went to pick Benny ("y" again!) up from school, his friends were chattering about how much he wanted one of these surprise kittens -- he was holding the kitten and looking up at me, couldn't even get the words out! Opened his mouth and was speechless -- like he was afraid to ask and be told no -- we had Zoomy and Stripey at home, but seeing my son's pleading eyes touched the same "softy" gene in me. So we brought this tiny thing home, with a can of kitten formula provided by the teacher, fed it with a dropper, bought more kitten formula (which I'd never even known existed), turned a fur hat of mine inside out and let the kitten nestle in there while I fed him, kept all the lights on for weeks because he was so tiny and black I was terrified someone would step on him in the dark. Name changed over the first few days from "Midnight" to "Coffee" to "Shadow." Looked like a little bear or bushbaby or marten for a few weeks. He thrived and was a beautiful, sweet cat. Went through the most alarming puberty of the 5 male pet cats I've had in my lifetime! Came home one day and he was yowling like a cougar -- very deep-throated sound -- my son was playing SWAT team cop, saying "people, we have a situation here" -- I actually called the vet immediately to see if any disease could make a cat crazy ("distemper" sounded like it might, but no, the vet said distemper makes a cat weak and listless) -- turned out to be a plain old hormone surge. It was a total shock when he died -- but vet said a lot of things could have gone wrong in his fetal/neonatal development, being a son of a street cat.

Long story -- I guess the point is just to share the feeling of attachment you can have with your cat(s).

[catesta]

Sorry to hear of your loss B.

[Quincy]

Oh it's a really tough time and it will be for some time to come I'm afraid. She sounded pretty special.

We had to put down our 19 1/2 a year old almost 2 years ago. When you're that old you count the 1/2s and any little cold the cat gets is traumatic!

The 2 lessons I hope I learned were it's better to be a little early when putting an animal to sleep - though I don't if I've learned it or not and hopefully that's a long way off. It's so hard and as you say a strange experience.

The other is after living without a pet for 9 months I don't ever want to go that long without one again.

A year ago September we went to the shelter and picked out a 1 year old. Or she picked us out, as she kept following me around as we checked out all the cats.

She's got the same color pattern as your Gypsy, except our Clementine has a distinct white mustache as there's more black fur around the sides of her nose. The mustache looks very nice even though she is a female.

[Jazzmoose]

Wow. We all know that this is part of the bargain when we let an animal into our home and hearts, but it sure hurts. I lost Godzilla five years ago, and Rhas a Ghul the year before that. If it's any consolation, Berigan, I'm completely over it now.

Sure I am. Maybe by the time Moose decides it's time to shuffle off...

[chris olivarez]

Sorry to hear that Berigan. Shortly after coming home from the hospital from surgery I lost my cat Bozo. I was more or less conned into taking the cat and at first I wasn't very happy about it but the cat and I gave it a chance and I became pretty attached to it. The loss of the cat concluded a fairly shitty year for me and I haven't been able to bring myself to get another one.

[Soulstation1]

rip "mama kitty"

my mom had to put down "mama kitty" right before christmas.

she was 19 years old.

also she had to put down "bro" in january, he was 16 years old

those two will be missed

ss1

[connoisseur series500]

Sorry to hear the news, SS, but they both lived long kitty lives.

15 years on a cat is like 150,000 on a car. That's pretty good.

[BERIGAN]

Sorry soulstation! Cats that make it into their teens are lucky cats no doubt. Not that that makes it any easier....

[connoisseur series500]

This may be a dumb question but no insensitivity is intended here:

What do you guys do with the kitty corpses?

I guess I'm looking ahead to when my own puss runs out his clock.

[Jim Alfredson]

We've always just buried them in the back yard somewhere. Of course we always lived where there was plenty of land around (fields, forests, etc). Now that I live in the city and my dad lives in the city, who knows?

[BERIGAN]

This may be a dumb question but no insensitivity is intended here:

What do you guys do with the kitty corpses?

I guess I'm looking ahead to when my own puss runs out his clock.

Not Dumb! My Dad had buried our oldest cat(Boomer almost made it to 20 in the early 90's) and our dog a few years back...he said he couldn't do that again, and well, I guess I chickened out on doing that as well. So I talked to the vet, and they had 2 types of cremation. One, for 25 bucks gets the animal cremated with a bunch of other cats/dogs...I was going to do that first, figuring what did it matter, then decided to go with the more expensive separate cremation(Of course, who knows, but I took them on their word-actually, they outsource it, there is a woman who comes by once a week to gather animals to cremate, how would you like that job! ) It was 95 bucks. Now I have her ashes in a pretty tin. I looked inside, the ashes are in a bag, but it looks like tiny bone chips, not quite the total ash look I was expecting....still don't know if I want to just spread the ashes in front on my window, or in the woods somewhere, or keep them in the tin...that just doesn't seem right somehow....keep them forever, no matter where I move?

[Jazzmoose]

We have a "plot" in the backyard. However, one of my cats, Godzilla, is now resting at the Bubbling Well Pet Memorial Park, made famous in the oddball movie Gates of Heaven. Talk about strange brushes with fame...