I had to put Simba(a.k.a. Mushy Boy) to sleep 12/3/09

It is 4:00 in the afternoon on Sunday, the day I am supposed to pick up the body of Simba today however I am putting this off as I want to contact my Pastor to bless him before I put him to rest in my garden. At this point I don't know how I am going to conduct an informal funeral for him. I would like to ask a good friend of mine who had originally found him outside our apartment building and gave him to me. I feel like I need to write a letter to him as I didn't have enough time to say goodbye to Simba and I guess I cannot accept the fact that he is gone.

What have others done in the end when saying goodbye to there kitties. Did you write a eulogy and what did you do at the funeral?

I will write all about him in my next e-mail and what led up to us putting him to sleep becuase I just cannot do that right now.

Thanks,

Rob

This is the first foreman I have ever joined regarding my cat, and it is very comforting to be able to talk about my Simba and what happened to him to cat lovers like myself. Your cats are absolutely beautiful, I love all of the pic's.

I contacted a friend/pastor on Sunday and made arrangements for him to come over on Monday afternoon which is when we had his funeral. My wife and bought some beautiful red roses and placed them on top of his little box where he was laid to rest. Pastor Frank said some prayers for him and then I told my mushy boy how special he was, and how much I loved and will miss him. I am a
Landscape design contractor so I am going to take my nursery plants and create a beautiful little garden for him complete with ornamental grasses which he loved to chew on.

Simba had shown signs that he wasn't feeling well on nov.23rd and 24th as he was juast not eating to foods I put out for him. I gave him seveal different packages thinking something may be wrong with the food but he didn't eat at all. We took him to his vet and they ran some test on him one of which checked his kidney functions. When the results came in the Doctor had said he had Chronic renal failure and that his bun number was 140 and creatinine 14. After speaking with her she immediately called the animal hospital in Paramus and he was taken in immediately. The vet there told us they were going to give him fluid therapies and take tests for his heart, ultrasound, more bloodwork, etc. His left kidney was small and non-functioning however his right kidney was enlarged and now it was not working properly. We had thought he might have a kidney infection which caused the problem but he did not. His levels started going down (bun---90) and creatinine however he was not eating so he was given intravenous fluids and they kept on with the with the fluid therapies. After the second day they had said they wanted to push more fluid through to try and get his numbers down however he ran a risk of a cardiac arrest because he had a heart condition which the vet diagnosed him with when he was about 9 months old. The next day I got the bad news that his levels had not gone down and that he his heart had stopped by that they did revive him. They placed him in an oxygen chamber where he was comfortable. I had asked the doctor what could we try next, however she had said that his BUN and creatinine levels not going down at that point was a very bad sign and that his heart could not handle the agressive treatment. I had asked about a kidney transplant but of course, he was not a candidate due to his bad heart. I had gone in to see him but told the doctor I was not sure what I wanted to do at that point. my wife and I went to see him in his oxygen chamber and saw that he was not exactly himself as the room had many, many pets around and he was a little freaked out. I wanted to be with him at that point and hold him as at that point there was nothing else that could be done. The vet was worried about bringing him out of the oxygen because he showed signs that he was very confused and that he they said they thought his brain might have been affected, however once he was out and I held him in my arms he did recognize me and he just mushed in my lap. My wife held him as well and then he started to have trouble breathing so we decided it was time to put him to sleep. At the time it felt as though I were in a strange dream and what was happening was not real.

It is now one week later and it is starting to sink in now and miss him so very, very much. Every night when I would go to sleep for the past year i would take him into bed where he would sleep either between my legs, my wifes legs or under the covers with me. As soon as I would wake up he did to and we went downstairs to have our breakfast together. Afterwards he would stay with Daddy on his chair in the office or go back upstairs and sleep with Mommy some more. when I came home from work he would hear
my truck coming up the driveway and greet me at the door. I would pick him up, hold him and ask about his day. My wife who came into Simba's life 3 years after i met him loved him very, very much as well.

We are going to put together a collage of pictures and hang it up in our Living Room. He was so very special , a real part of our family.

if anyone is left reading this huge post, thanks for hanging in there and again thanks for all the kind words.

Simbas Dad,

Rob