To love our pets is a mixed blessing. We are able to experience life altering moments through our relationship with them. We experience the unadulterated joy they exhibit. We feel the love and camaraderie they share. We become their family and they become our as they allow us into their lives and make us theirs. We are their humans as much as they are our pets.
Unfortunately to love an animal is to guarantee oneself an eventual heartache. We will always live to see the passing of our beloved fury family members. This is a gut renching trial to go through. There is no filling the void that is left when one of ours leaves us.
Even though this member of our family is no longer with us in physical form they can remain with us in spirit. We can commemorate their lives and celebrate the important impact that they have had in our lives. We will always have the memories that we shared with them and others in our lives.
I am writing this today to commemorate the life of Stripe a great cat who lived a long life of 14 years. She was my and my wife's cat. She was a loyal animal and seemed to care in a way most people don't associate with cats. She also loved our dogs. She spent every waking moment trying to insert herself into our lives and our dogs lives. She made sure that we will never forget her. From her scampering play sessions where she will be chasing various household objects across the floor to her playful nibbles and rubbing up against you. She lived a long life and in recent times she had begun to get a little frail. But she still had that spark of life to her. That never say die attitude that let you know she was never going to give up and she was always going to be around. And in the end it was that never say die attitude and desire to stay with us that shown through. We came home to find her very sick and seemingly on deaths door at midnight. She We did not know what was wrong with her or what had happened but it was clear that it was serious. It was made difficult by the time of day it happened and the fact that it was a Friday night so there was no easily accessible vets. We did everything we could think to do for her to try and get her better. But nothing seemed to help. She would seem to be fading and be about to go to sleep and pass on and then she would fight it and stay with us. After a long while my wife made the gut wrenching decision that we needed to call the vet and have her put to sleep to end her suffering. I do not envy my wife being the one to make this decision. The vet was compassionate and handled the situation quickly and professionally. We gave Stripe her on plot in the back of our yard and we will get he a marker for her spot. From there she can keep an eye on us and keep us safe. Now she is outside, which is where she always wanted to be anyway.
I think this is always a trying time for a pet owner as doubt always creeps in. Did we do the right thing. Was there nothing else to be done. Was she suffering. I know I feel all these things. But in the end I think we did what was best for this important member of our family.
Stripe we will always love you and miss you. Nothing will ever fill the void you have left in our family.
No comments:
Post a Comment