R.I.P. Orange Bastard

[El Pollo Guerrera]

I'm very sorry for your loss. I've had a few cats that have passed that I still think of today. It's strange how they affect us so much... We give them a little food and shelter and belly scratches and they return the favour with love.

[SengaKitty]

I'm so so sorry MadMike. It's so hard when you lose your furry children, but (and I'm sure this isn't going to help) it sounds like you showed him as much love as any cat can have in his last days. You'll see him again, on the other side of the rainbow bridge.

[Cat]

So sorry about Orange Bastard *hugs*

[artcurmudgeon]

I am so sorry for your loss...they are family after all...

[Andara Bledin]

It's always so very hard to lose a pet.

^-.-^

[RootedPhoenix]

*offers hugs*

[RavenStarr]

Mike I am so sorry for your loss.

[Red_Dazes]

*hugs to all of you*

It's never easy... I'm sure he is waiting at The Bridge for you.

[Mike Taylor]

I still miss my old Eb and he's been gone for three years now. You have my sympathies.

[MadMike]

Thank you everyone for your kind words and sympathy. It's times like this I realize what a huge, dysfunctional yet loving family this place is.

It's been almost a week since he's been gone, and it's a little sad filling up five food dishes instead of six, like we had been dong for the last four years. And last night when I was going to bed, I caught myself thinking I had forgotten to give him his medicine. But that's all gone, I threw all that shit in the trash. No reason to keep it.

I also tossed his vet record. I considered keeping it, at least for awhile, but I didn't want a reminder of the sudden turn for the worse that he took, as evidenced by him losing 4 lbs in one year. I prefer to look at the pics and videos I took of him when he was big and healthy and playful.

I also took a good look at the paperwork I got from the animal hospital the other week, and saw something I didn't see before: when they took his temperature, it was only 92.8. A cat should be roughly 10 degrees above that. It even said on the papers that "he may die soon", but I didn't realize his body was already shutting down. If I had known that, I might have stopped giving him the medicine. I feel bad now that one of the last memories he had of me was me forcing medicine down his throat. Everytime I walked past him, I stopped to pet him for a little bit, but I wish that I could have been doing that for him when he took his last breath. I must not have missed him by much, because he was still somewhat warm when we found out he had left us.

A few of the other cats seemed upset at first, but they seem to have forgotten now. Funny how they don't remember the way we do, and I guess sad also.

[Seraph]

<hugs> I'm so sorry man. And don't feel bad, he knew you were just trying to help him.

[kokopuff3]

I'm so sorry about your cat.

[Becks]

Mike, I gave my condolences on Facebook, but *hugs* again.

Your last post made me cry.

[MadMike]

Well, I wasn't expecting to have anything else to add to this thread, but here it is:

A little background on my vet: It's just one actual doctor and a few assistants in a small building with two exam rooms, rather than a medical center-type of thing like you normally see today. He's been in business for almost as long as I've been alive, and my family and my ex's family have been going to him for as long as we've had pets. Up until the mid-90s or so, he was running the practice out of his house. His prices are very reasonable, which is the reason I still go to him, even though he's all the way in the rural area where I grew up, which is about a 40-minute trip. Since he's the only doctor, sometimes the wait is a little longer than normal, and your appointment might not start at its scheduled time. But he's really compassionate with the animals and to their owners as well. And if I'd forgotten that last part, I was reminded today.

I took one of the other cats to him last Thursday just for routine vaccinations. While I was there, the assistant was going thru my file, and reviewed each of the cats that were listed and wanted to verify which ones I still had. The last time that was done, I found out that they still had a cat on file that had died about 8 years ago.

When she got to Orange Bastard, I told her he had died, and mentioned what happened to him, going into detail about how he'd been treated and was getting better at first, but then took a sudden turn for the worse. She offerered her sympathy repeatedly, which was nice, but after I left, I didn't really think anything of it.

When I picked up the mail earlier today, among the usual bills and junk mail, I found what appeared to be a card. At first, I thought it was either a birthday card, or a really late Christmas card. I didn't recognize the address, although I knew where the general area was. It turned out to be a sympathy card from the vet. I was almost crying, but at the same time I had a smile on my face.

[Bella_Vixen]

My Rookie was put to sleep almost a year ago. I still haven't been able to read the cards (!) the vet gave me without crying.