Lost the Good Fight

Back in April, I posted in the Behavior Forum about my two cats, Loki and Cat. The older of the two, Cat, had gone to the vet to have teeth pulled and the two cats never reconciled despite many, many efforts. Cat had been living in isolation since then, with daily visits to play. Well, the stress of being unresolved began to take its toll and then his bodily functions began to not work right with constant loose bowels and crying. Unable to find a new home for this special needs cat, I had the awful task of taking him to the vet yesterday....

When I discovered this section of the web site, it just brought tears to my eyes. How sad I am that a sweet kitty is no longer with us. While I realize it would have been even more stressful on Cat to place him in a no-kill shelter, I just hate how this story ended. Yes, he was 12-13 years old and struggling but it just hurts.

I have learned so much from this site and I appreciate everyone's sense of community and effort.

I am so sorry for your loss and for the fact that you now have to grapple with the consequences of what has happened. That in itself has done many a caring and kind cat owner like yourself in, trying to "what if" or agonize about their actions.

Sadly when a cat is under stress, they can ultimately make themselves ill beyond help. There is also a possibility that Cat was coming down ill with something only Loki could sense and could have been part of the problem. You will never know, but what you will know is you put Cat's situation before your own needs to still have him around, and you put him away from the pain that was dogging him for so long. You gave him peace through your actions of love.

So sorry for the loss of your wonderful baby. No matter how long we live with them it is always too short. You did the right thing and I know you would be thanked for it, if Cat could talk.

Thank you for your kind words and thoughts. Time will make things better (or at least more tolerable) but we are still pretty blue. Best wishes to you both!