Today was goodbye

I'm c/p'ing from my blog, so I don't have to type this out again.

Trying to find the words to memorialize Zane is really hard.
I guess the first thing most people noticed about him was how absolutely beautiful he was. And he knew it, of course.
The second thing would be how pissed he was at most humans for existing in HIS world. It took effort to get on Zane's good side, but once you got there, you were part of his family. And he was very protective of his family. Any new babies that came into the house were HIS babies, and ya better not mess with them. Jeff messed with Luna one day, and found out what it was like to have cat teeth inside his big toe! He would also come and meow at us if Marc was crying when he was a baby. He could not stand to hear Marc cry, and he let us know it.
The most special thing about Zane to me was the fact that he would play tag with me. And he was good at it, too, quite sneaky in his attacks. He would crack me up and give me a good workout at the same time.
The most annoying thing about Zane was his tendancy to completely ignore the "no getting on the countertops" rule the minute everyone went to bed. And if the dishwasher was on the drying cycle, you can bet Zane was on the counter enjoying the heat. He loved that so much that I always let him get away with it.
He was sick for over a year, but we were able to control it with medication. The last ten days, he just went downhill so fast, I still can't believe it happened. Today Dr. Ali and I decided that nothing we had tried was working, and to let Zane slowly starve to death would be cruel. Zane passed peacefully in the vet's office at 12:30 PM today. He will always be loved and missed, and never forgotten.

http://sarah.digeratihost.com/images/zane.jpg

Awwww Sarah....I'm so sorry :(

Wow, so sorry to hear that! Loosing a pet is hard, even when you know its for the best! Zane def was a cutie, and I'm sure he's knocking the ladies socks off up in kitty heaven.....

Thanks, Andrew and Susan. It's a very sad day for my family. Right now it feels like I'll never stop crying.

Very sorry for your loss:(, My dog Alfie past away last year and was sick for awhile just like your Zane. It never gets any easier to lose a pet, just take comfort in knowing that he is resting comfortably now.

I'm sorry to hear about the loss of your cat. I know how it feels to lose a pet and its something that takes time to get over. Hang in there...

:hug:

and here's another for later :hug:

Oh im so sorry for your loss. I know how hard it is to loose an animal. My thoughts are with you :hug:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SarahMB

Thanks, Andrew and Susan. It's a very sad day for my family. Right now it feels like I'll never stop crying.

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No problem!:oops:

I just know its hard! I remember when my parents had to put our dog down. She was old(maybe around 15), and had gotten to the point where she wasn't able to walk.

I was young at that time and wasn't able to grasp the fact that, that was actually the best thing for her! I was crushed, we had her basically my whole life.

We ended up going to the local animal shelter and coming home with a new puppy! It really took me a while to actually accept and love the new puppy. :oops:


But back to the point....I know its hard! Just have to remember and appreciate the times you got to spend with Zane, and remember the fact that he couldn't have had a better life with out the love your family had to give him! :hug:

Sarah I'm sorry to hear about this. Having recently lost a cat myself I can sympathize. He knew he was loved and was such a gorgeous boy.

Thank you all so much for your kind words, and for sharing your own stories of loss. It's so touching to hear how much we all loved our companions.
It went from a bright, gorgeous day to dreary and rainy soon after I got home, which matches my mood.

Sara,


My thoughts and prayers are with you, I know how very difficult a decision it is, even when we know it's the best decision. I lost my college kitty four years ago, and it still hurts. He also declined quickly. I don't know if you are familiar with the Rainbow Bridge poem, but it always brought me comfort:

Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge. When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge. There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together. There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable.

All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor. Those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by. The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind.



They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent. His eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster.

You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.

Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together....

Author unknown...

Zane looks like a fabulously gorgeous boy...I love the shape of his face.

I'm so sorry to hear of your loss; he sounds like he was one of those personalities that are part of your life long after the body is gone.

I had a hateful crusty old black cat that I adopted from an elderly lady who couldn't keep him anymore and tearfully brought him in to be put to sleep. She swore he'd never been sick a day in the fifteen years she'd had him. Turns out he was diabetic, hyperthyroid, in early kidney failure, and had a mouth full of rotting broken teeth. He was a grouchy old man; hated the other cats, and slept drooling on my pillow for the next 14 months. I had to wear a headscarf when I wanted to sleep because he would knead my hair with his paws and actually pull on it.

One day he became blocked, and although we unblocked him, he didn't have enough bladder tone left to be able to urinate on his own. We spent a week putting him under full anesthesia every day to express his bladder (partial sedation didn't begin to relax him enough...he was such a cranky old boy).
When he still didn't regain bladder tone, we were faced with either a permanent urinary catheter or a delicate and complicated surgery and I just couldn't put him through that. He was such a fierce old man, but very frail by that point and there were no options that would not cause him immense suffering.

It will be three years in June since he passed, and I can still hear his horrible raspy purr and the wheezing snarl he made when he ate. I miss hiim dearly.

I am very sorry for the loss of your beauty Zane:(

Robin, thank you for sharing that, it was really sweet :)

Jess, I had to laugh at the stories of your cranky old cat. Zane was the same, very fierce until the end. I will definitely always feel his loss, as well.

And thanks Zekesmom....Zane truly was a gorgeous cat. I'm actually going to miss having all that black fur all over my beige carpets, as one of his funny quirks was that he never ingested his hair like other cats, he left huge piles of it on the floor after cleaning himself. He never once coughed up a hairball in his life. Crazy cat.

Aww hon I'm so sorry to read of Zane's passing but glad for his sake and yours that you made this hardest of decisions to let him go in peace and dignity. You'll never stop missing him, I know I have never stopped missing my two beloved kittes, Barney and Puss Cat who lived 16 and 18 years in our family. In time though the tears become healing ones and you simply remember the joy and blessing of a shared bond with a furry friend.

I found this poem long ago when we lost our cats a year apart. I just loved the image of it....I hope it brings you some comfort and a smile during this sad time....

http://www.punkin.net/catheaven.htm

It came from this website....

http://sandtracker.tripod.com/cat-tracks.html

Thank you, Jo, that poem did make me smile. I am really looking forward to the day I can think of Zane and smile, too. Right now it's just....ugh.

That's okay hon, if it wasn't ugggh for awhile then you wouldn't be a caring person. For some odd reason our culture teaches us to be embarrassed by honest greaving. Personally I think of greaving as a tribute to a life that has moved on to another place and that it's healthy and right to both honor that life with my tears and allow myself the release of emotion that tears allow. Tears are the gift we were given to heal our hearts, express our feelings and cleanse our souls.

Awe Sarah, I am really sorry about your loss.. I wish you my deepest sympathies.

Very sorry about your loss. Our boy is like a furry child to us. It's so sad that they are never with us long enough. Sending hugs your way.:hug: :hug:

I'm very sorry to hear about your loss, and I can realte. I had a baby veil chameleon die last night from a bad RI. It was hard to watch her suffer but she never gave up and neither did I. I didn't really want to tell eveyone about it but I will cry with you. Reptar was one of my favorite herps. RIP Reptar. :salute:

http://img182.imageshack.us/img182/4371/1000658br5.jpg

http://img182.imageshack.us/img182/7456/1000661hx6.jpg

Thanks so much, Jo, Jen, and Nancy. It's so good to know that I can come here and share this, and people here actually understand what a sad experience it is. It's still hitting me, with cleaning today....These are the last Zane hair clumps I'll sweep...this is the last time I'll clean up his "sick" supplies, etc. Everywhere I look, there he is. And yet, he isn't there, and it still feels like he should be. Yes, he was definitely my fur-kid.

Chase....wow. Your post really touched my heart, and I'm honored to grieve with you. Reptar was a gorgoeous little gal, thank you so much for sharing her memory with me.

I know what you mean when you say you see her everywhere. I just got done cleaning out her cage. It was hard. I can barely type about it.

:hug:
It will get better.