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KerryCat

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Everything posted by KerryCat

  1. Hello Cathleen, I'm so sorry about Bonnie. She was your sweet baby. Thank you for sharing your story with me. My apologies for not responding until now. (I just moved and it took a while to get my computer back up and running). I guess it is comforting to know that there are others that totally understand the the pain of not being able to say good bye. And understand why we feel so bad about our beloved baby not feeling safe in our arms until the end. Many try to tell me that it was better that way. He would have fought harder, had I come visit him. And he would have been in pain. Or I could have taken him home and found him that way. People say that he didn't want me to see him that way. Who really knows. But I do know that your Bonnie and my Nathaniel will always know how much we loved them. Hopefully this is helping you and not upsetting you. I'm convinced that he sends me messages in subtle ways some times. So I know he's still very much a part of me. I know this sounds a little crazy... One day I was cleaning the litter box that he preferred to use (my other cats still use it and it is in the same spot). Just as I was walking away from it, this stuffed animal cat caught my eye. It was given to me by a friend many years ago because it looked like Nathaniel. It was there sitting on a bunch of other things... kind of put in storage until it caught my eye. Now I've walked by there every day to clean that box. But suddenly it caught my eye and I felt this need to keep this stuffed animal with me. Later that day I had to pick Nathaniel's ashes up from the vet. I thought that maybe he was sending me a sign that he was ok and will be with me. I keep that stuffed animal on my night stand next to my bed, right beside a pretty box with his ashes. If I told this story to the "old me" I might think I was a little bit crazy. But man, I love that little guy so much. I have had friends say that he will let me know he is ok in ways and that I would recognize it when it happened. There have been a couple of other times. Time does help. However, it has been 4 months and I still cry about him from time to time. It is not nearly as often as before. However, I still am riddled with the same guilt. I will always regret not going the last night as well. Hope that I can get past it some day. I hope you can too. We were doing what we thought was best in the moment. And I guess it just shows how much we care. Anyways.... thanks for understanding. Like I said, there is comfort in knowing there are people that understand. Many think I'm so silly for STILL being this upset about it all. Take Care! I hope you are well. And I'm back up and running. So don't hesitate to send a note if you need someone to listen, that gets it.
  2. Thank you Kayc, Marty T. and Clematis for your very kind words. They have helped me a lot. I really appreciate you being there for me. I really was beating myself up about it. In time I will come to terms with it all. I miss him so much. But I'm thankful he is not in pain any more. Thank you again. You are the kindest souls around!
  3. It's been a week since I received the horrible phone call that my baby passed away at the Vet's. His name was Nathaniel. I loved him so much. We shared a special bond that I'm not sure that I will ever share with another being. Nathaniel, was almost 17 years old. I got him as a kitten. He's been through so much with me. My first house, my divorce, different moves while I figured out my life, my new relationship and he came to love my new husband. He was a constant. He was someone who never let me down. Recently he was starting to show the signs of aging. But whenever he would seem sick, he would bounce back. I had him on a special diet for his kidneys and he took medicine twice a day for his thyroid. The past couple of years he had some chronic constipation issues. I did my best to stay on top of it. If I noticed he was struggling, I had medicine on hand to deal with it. If I didn't notice quick enough I would have to bring him to the vet and they would hydrate him and give him an enema which I am sure was not pleasant for him. One of my other cats started going in his litter box, making it difficult to detect, also more life responsibilities made it harder to stay on top of it. It just got to be a very busy time and I hate myself for not noticing his pains sooner. One night I was up late working and he came and sat beside me gave me his snuggles and love. Then suddenly he was acting strange. I could tell something was wrong. I thought it was the same issue. I gave him his medicine and thought, if he was still acting strange in the morning, I would bring him to the vet first thing. He seemed ok the next morning. So I went on with my day and never looked back until now. I'm in the process of buying a house, so that weekend got busy and I wasn't home too much. Then Monday and Tuesday I had some commitments at night. But that Tuesday night he slept with me in my bed and we snuggled almost the whole night. I woke up at about 4 or 5 am to him peeing in our bedroom (which he never does). I sat with him for a bit and he seemed ok for a bit. So I went back to bed. That morning he was running back and forth to the litter box, so I took him to the vet. They told me it was the same chronic issue we were used to dealing with, but he needed an enema. Later that day they called me and said he was a great patient and that he was doing ok and that they did his blood work and that I was doing a good job with the food and the medicine and was controlling his health issues. They wanted to keep him for the night to keep him hydrated, but they thought he should be fine to go home the next day. I was relieved. I was feeling so guilty that I did not notice his pain quick enough and had to put him through that enema again. I really felt awful! I was beating myself up about it, so I was excited to get him back home to spoil him and give him all of the kisses. However a few hours later, I was on my way home from work, and my vet call and said Nathaniel was acting strange. He was also trying to hide. She checked his heart and apparently he had a heart murmur. I don't know much about heart murmurs, but she seemed very concerned and asked if he was acting lethargic. And I said, yes. I thought it was because he was old and on medicine etc. She said they do not have people at the vets over night to monitor the animals but if I wanted, I could move him to a facility that would monitor him through the night. But if he stayed she would start some tests on his heart first thing in the morning. If not, she recommended I have the new facility do this. I decided to not do move him because A. I didn't want to stress him out more and B. I felt comfortable with this vet and her plans for the morning. (I now don't think that was a good decision) I debated on stopping by the vet that night to see him. But I talked myself out of it because it would have been a lot of rushing around and my husband mentioned that he might be "out of it" anyways. So I didn't stop by. The next morning I got the call that he was not alive in the morning. My baby passed away at some point during the night at the vets. The amount of guilt I feel about this is inconsolable. I had him go through that enema which was uncomfortable so he was in pain his last day on earth. I didn't get to say good bye. My stupid life was too busy to stop by and visit him. My stupid life craziness was too busy to take him to the vet the week prior when he first show signs of something was wrong. And I knew he was old. I knew the day was coming but, I envisioned him in my arms or at my house or in some kind of setting where he knew he was surround by love. The fact that he passed away at the vet in a scary place saddens me. He deserved better! He at least deserved a last scratch behind the ears. Or lots of kisses and snuggles. I didn't get to give him any of those. I hope he knows that I was coming back for him and planning to love him and would never leave him at the vet's unless I had to for his well being. I hate that his last day was horrible for him. And it was all of my fault. I should have asked more questions about why he was lethargic and why he kept getting constipated. I should have pushed for more tests. Anyways I'm torn up about this. I keep thinking I can see him in the corning of my eye. I feel him walking on my bed at night. I'm not handling this well at all. I miss him so much. He was the sweetest cat I ever met. He would know when I was sad and snuggle with me. He was so forgiving if someone didn't realize he was there and would accidentally bump him. He was the best and this hole in my heart is aching like crazy. I'm going to be grieving the loss of this special soul for a very long time. Thank you for listening. I know this guilt isn't helping me. But I just can't get past it.
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