Here is Oscar, who died Monday during a routine neutering operation. They couldn’t revive him from the anesthesia. He belonged to my daugher Ambur, but was living with me and the two daughters who are still living at home until Ambur could find a place where she could keep her cats.
He was very stripey and orange, and had a long tail with a life of its own, which he liked to chase. Often when he caught it, he would hold it down to wash it. He loved to race through the house with the other two feline junior members of the house.
His sunny disposition and unfailingly good nature matched his bright color and eyes. As close as we could estimate, he was between five and seven months old.
After a few weeks, I may plant some tiger lilies on his grave. We are sad to lose him, but were happy to know him.
Any stories about your beloved pets, happy or sad, are welcome at this thread.
Oh, I’m so sorry Spider Woman. : ( I love cats and have lost a few. I lost my best friend Boo Boo a few years ago suddenly (lymphatic sarcoma) and I planted white bleeding hearts on his grave. He was a black kitty. I still miss hime sooo much and I still cry for him.
On a lighter note, my cat Abby is slowly dismantling this house. She keeps finding little “things” that I can’t figure out where they came from. Screws, bolts, last night it was a rubber washer/gasket. I know that one of these nights I’ll climb into bed and the whole thing is gonna crash to the ground because the cat unscrewed all the supports.
Maybe Abby is building something. A better mousetrap?
We have had cats that liked twister ties, or milk jug caps, pipe cleaners, and one even liked Barbie doll underwear.
Our current cat population is now down to five: two nine year old cats, and eight year old cat, Hitomi, a yearling who was spayed the same day Oscar died, and Lydia, Ambur’s other cat who is staying with us.
We also have a dog and a turtle. Oscar dearly loved to chase the turtle. She didn’t quite know what to think of him. He never hurt her, but she retreated inside her shell when he got too curious.
Deep condolences to you and Ambur. Sadly, PLD and I know all too well how devastating it is to unexpectedly lose your baby while undergoing a procedure that’s become “routine.” I am sorry for your loss…
And Boscibo, sorry for your loss of Boo Boo. Peta, I haven’t been able to frequent the boards as much as I would like lately. Was your loss recent?
Ambur isn’t a member of the SDMB (yet) but I sent her the link, and we printed out some of those pictures for her (which Angie took with a digital camera).He was a very photogenic cat.
Hitomi, a brown tabby who survived her spaying operation Monday, is very angry with us. We made a girdle out of a sock for her to keep her from picking her stitches with her teeth.
Oh, Spider Woman, I am sorry. I once loved a stripey orange cat. Loomis had such beautiful swirls. And even though he was an outside cat, his white belly and paws were always pristine. I never saw a speck of dirt or dust on him.
Early one morning last fall we loaded the van in the dark, getting ready to go to a festival to sell my handmade jewelry. As I swung the van around to pull out of the driveway, the headlights swept across a still orange form in the road. There was a hurried burial in the rain, and then we had to leave. My ability to meet the public was severely hampered that day. He was 2-1/2.
Loomis joined his yellow brother Phil (age 3 months) in the grave, which is (thanks to Mr. S) perhaps the nicest resting place ever prepared for a pair of barn cats. They left several brothers behind, but those two were the best loved. If anything happens to handsome black Grimmy, I don’t know what I’ll do.
It happened in May. As with Oscar, it was a routine procedure coupled with an undetectable congenital heart condition, that led to his passing. I am working on a tribute page for my website…if you’d like to see our Sunshine, it’s not complete, but it explains what happened without making you read the whole thread. Although, if you want to, you may likewise find some of the kind responses there consoling…Sunshine Dennison, 1993-2001, rest in peace.
My deepest condolences, Spidey. Oscar sounds like a wonderful pet and companion. I trust the vet is investigating?
A few years ago I lost my buddy of 14 years, Jason. He was a grey striped tabby, with absolutely symetrical markings. I will miss him the rest of my life, but feel blessed to have known him.
Larry
And Peta, my poor ole memory didn’t even tell me that I had posted to your thread about Sunshine. The pictures of him are beautiful.
Sorry to hear about your Jason, Vestal Blue. The very sad thing about our beloved pets is that we outlive most of them.
Thanks for the warning, a35362. We do already have some tiger lilies by our pond, but they are out of the way of most domesticated pets that might roam the neighborhood (our pets don’t go outside unattended). But Oscar’s grave would be accessible to other animals, so I will have to think of something else to plant, preferably orange.
chique, Oscar was a fairly recent addition to the menagerie. He was only going to be staying until Ambur found a permanent place to live. Now he is with us forever.
Vestal Blue, I forgot to answer your question about the vet investigating. She offered to send his body to the University of Minnesota, at our expense, for an autopsy. The cost of the operations for the two cats just about spent my budget for the month, so I declined.
On top of this, she still charged us for the neuter operation.
She has only lost two cats in this manner, including Oscar, in the nine years of her practice here. I am thinking it was probably something like what happened to Peta’s Sunshine, or else they made a mistake and over anesthetized him. At any rate, we won’t be bringing any of our other animals back to that vet.
First of all, that’s wrong…imho…our vet didn’t charge us for any of the procedure that led to Sunshine’s passing–only the equipment and medications used in trying to revive him. Further, the whole time we were dealing with them, they never asked for a dime and billed us after we’d had time to accept our loss. Further, they cover the necrospy. I suggest you consider a new vet just for that alone. So far, the physicians at VCA – no matter where we’ve lived – have been wonderful to us and our babies.
Actually, the cat rescue PLD and I volunteer for lost a kitten in this matter just before we joined. Near as she could explain, it’s kind of like an allergy or sensitivity (when it occurs with kittens) that they just can’t be awakened from the anesthesia. Still, it’s never much comfort except to know that the dear didn’t suffer pain or trauma in the end.
I truly believe (and am experiencing) what one of the kind dopers said, “You don’t get over it, you just get used to it.”
Spider Woman, rest assured we shall make a generous donation to one of the animal charities we support in loving memory of Oscar.
My condolences, Spider Woman. I lost a well-loved cat last Fourth of July.
My old horse was pregnant and had cancer - we were trying to keep her alive long enough to have the foal. I lost her right at the end. When I had to have her put down, my vet didn’t charge me for any of it - not for the trip to the barn (or half the other visits he’d made while she was ill), not the drugs, nothing. And the day after, he called me at home just to let me known that there was nothing that could’ve been done for her that wasn’t done. If he treated humans, he’d be my doctor.
Peta, I wish your vet had relatives here in Minnesota. And thank you again for your sympathy, and your donation in Oscar’s name.
StGermain, I am sorry to hear about your kitty and your horse. I take it the foal died also?
My sister has horses, and had a nineteen year old Welsh pony who had two eye surgeries because of cancer. She, too, was pregnant, and delivered a perfect still-born filly with a star on its forehead. But the cancer had returned in the mother, so she was put down after the foal was born.
Thanks again, all of you, for your kind words and thoughts.
