My wife and I took Velcro in and stayed with her until the end. We wrapped her in a baby blanket and put her in a boot box. We were both crying as she went under.
I dug a fairly deep hole for her under a pine tree and we waiting for the kids to get home. We let the kids see her one last time and then we buried her. Tonight we will make a market for her. I found a picture of her from the first day we had her as a tiny little kitten and one from a few years back. I laminated both to be put into the marker we make.
We had her for nearly 17 years. Almost our entire married life. The kids of course never knew a time without her. She was a wonderful cat. Friendly and playful and would come when I called her which is extremely rare.
I’ll miss her always.
She was in very poor shape, she lost teeth, had a bleeding sore that would not heal in her mouth and a tumor in her throat. Her meows occasionally sound ragged and she had lost most of her hearing. She was still moving around ok and we have been feeding her nothing but soft food for several weeks. She was still eating well. I kept hoping the wound would heal but she would irritate it and was blood soaked. We tried to give her two gentle baths and they helped but as she was always a fastidious kitty she would groom herself and reopen the wound again and be blood soak again. She could not close her mouth and we may have nursed her along longer than we should have. I’ve never had to put a pet to sleep before and I wasn’t ready for it but yesterday morning I realized she was clearly in pain and her tail was dragging and it was time.
The Vet gave her a sedative first and she was so small and weak that the sedative alone nearly ended her. She went very quickly in the end from the final shot. So small and fragile this sweet little kitten. Up until the sedative knock her out she was still purring and I pet her through the entire time saying good night and good bye to her.
We rescued her from a box in a dirt road near a farm in Booneville, NY. She was a tiny little kitten and never weighed more than 6 pounds. She was very fluffy and mostly white with brown and patches. When we found her she very smartly climbed right up me and stood on my shoulder meowing hello. She captured my heart immediately. She was a tiny little fluff ball, no more than a handful. She was extremely playful and stayed playful and agile until last winter. She always subdued the dogs that came into our lives and remained the Queen of the Animals.
She got her name as she stuck so well to things, clothing, people, furniture and whatever else. When one of my klutzy friends stepped on our other cat Aurora, Velcro launched herself at him to defend her adopted sister. She was a fierce little thing when she needed to be as several dogs found out at different times. She was great with the kids and always friendly to visitors.
Thanks for sharing this. Aw, now I’ve got tears in my eyes. I’m so sorry for your loss. A family pet can leave an enormous void when he or she passes on. We can love them with an intensity that can surprise us, can’t we? I still remember when we had to put down our beloved shaggy black mutt, Pepper; I couldn’t have been more than seven years old or so, and still have vivid memories of that awful day. As you grieve, I hope you’ll remember all the good times and how happy you and the cat made each other.
You and your family will be in my thoughts and prayers, What Exit?.
I’m so sorry for your loss. You wrote beautifully of your kitty and I can tell she was very very special.
Unfortunately I have one who I know intellectually is nearing his end. They say “better too early than too late” but it’s very very hard when they still climb in your lap to snuggle. sniff
Whenever I read one of these threads I always get something stuck in my eyes and they tear up.
So sorry to hear about Velcro. Neat name for your kitty. My grandmother’s cat Buffy, who lives with my sister now, is also a small one, like yours was. Not quite as old, but not all that far off either.
Glad you could vent here. I dread the day when I need to.
I’m very sorry for your loss and your words got to me too. Fortunately there’s no one around even though I’m still at work.
These threads which I irresistibly open remind me of the loss of our beloved Minou who was also euthanized and who took a small part of my soul with her. Perhaps I’ll get it back when we meet again.
My cat is not on speaking terms with me right now ( really she rarely is.) because I had the nerve to try to use the Furminator on her today. Biting, scratching, clawing. Hissing. When I was finished for what I felt like enduring she gave me a hearty, " Fuck YOU!" glare as she flipped me off with her tail. Punting her would have felt pretty good at that moment.
You must have had the most awesome kitty to be able to write so well to reduce me to sniffing like an idiot.
I went with my mum to have our cat, Gyp, put to sleep before Christmas. He was the last of the “family” cats - we’d had him for 16 years, since I was 14 and he was a tiny scrap of fluff ang big eyes and not much else. It was a similar situation, in that we knew he was ill and in pain, but it was still so hard to let him go.
So sorry for your loss, but congrats for having such a lovely cat share your life for so long.
Aww, she sounds like a sweet kitty. And she had a great name. She was lucky to have such a long and happy life with you, and to leave this world being loved.