We had to put our cat down today.

Please see http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=553696 first;

We had two scares with Sammie in the past; each time he pulled through. This time, we couldn’t do anything more for him. With a heart issue, and a colon issue, it was just time; we got him in before he suffered. http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/692/samsmall2.jpg

Sam has been a wonderful cat; with his broken, hoarse meow (that he was never afraid to use) to him pawing at your leg when he was happy, to his kneading the air and his chainsaw-like purr when he was REALLY happy. He was always there on the stairs to greet us when we came home, and always a butt to our other cat (Lady, see below). After a rough 24 hours, where we gave him all the love we could, we had to let him go this morning. He was only 7-8 years old (he was a rescue, we’re not exactly sure how old).

Goodbye, Sammy.

(Lady : http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/191/img0139pz.jpg/)

I’m sorry. Losing a good friend is always difficult, and our little furry friends certainly are a big part of our lives.

I am very sorry for your loss. Thank you for your kindness and love in not letting him suffer.

I’m so very sorry.

I am sorry to hear your news. Sending supporting thoughts your way.

It’s hard. The silly things get deeper into us than we realize. :frowning:

So sorry for your loss. It may be little solace but you did the right thing.

Thank you :slight_smile: You did make me lose it a little bit at dinner tonight, but thank you. I’m such an anxious person, I can’t help but feel guilty / I let him down somehow.

I am so sorry. No matter how long you have them, it’s never long enough. You did a great kindness.

So sorry for your loss.

I’ve seen sympathy cards for the loss of a pet. One specifically was for when you’d had the pet put to sleep, and it called it “the last good thing you could do for them” plus some other words of comfort.

I’m sorry for your loss. It’s such a hard thing to do.

Sorry to hear that Koldanar.

It’s hard to loose part of the family.

Ugh. I’m so sorry. Having to put my cat down was probably the hardest thing I’ve ever done. :frowning:

It’s a bummer that our pets’ lives are so short compared to ours.

I’m so sorry.

I’m so sorry. It’s never easy, but ya dun good by him.

If you’ll excuse me, I feel an allergy attack coming on. sniff

I’m so sorry for your loss. I’ve been there.

I’m sorry too. I understand the part about feeling guilty like you let him down. I just went through that myself this past April with my cat. I made a simple mistake that may have hastened her demise and even though I gave her a good life of 18 years with great medical care and everything a cat could ever want, it took awhile to shake that feeling.
Sammie was lucky to have found you. You rescued him from what probably would have been a very short, hard life. From your post it sounds like he really loved you as much as you loved him.

I’m very sorry for your loss. :frowning:

I’m so sorry for your loss. He was a gorgeous boy! You did not let him down! You did the best thing you could for him, getting him in before he suffered.

Thank you everyone for your thoughts. I’m stuck at work now, moping this morning, as he won’t greet me at the door tonight. I need to break myself out of the cycle of second-guessing this; everyone (and I mean EVERYONE) who heard what was going on with him agrees it was for the best.