My little Dobby

Dobby was a small, beautiful, gray female with huge, green eyes that I found as a kitten eight years ago. She cooed like a dove when I held her, and would have spent every moment in my lap if I had let her. She hid under my feet when it thundered outside, she chattered like she was trying to tell me something when I got home from work, and every morning when I awoke she was sitting patiently on the edge of my bed and gazing out the window at the trees.

After fighting with all of her, her doctors', and my strength since the first of May, she finally crossed the bridge on June the 20th at around two o'clock. She suffered through assault after assault from a disease that we never identified, even with all of the best care we could provide her. After suffering kidney failure, she seemed to be improving until her breathing suddenly became labored this past Monday evening. The following day, I went to her in the hospital and was told by her doctors that she had little to no chance of recovery. Those doctors wept with me as I brought her home. I spent all the time from when she got home laying beside her, giving her all the love I had. When she was with me, she purred like a kitten and breathed easier, but she weakened all the same. Yesterday she seemed to tell me she was ready to go, and she spent her final minutes laying beside me with my arm around her, gazing out that window at the trees outside. She passed away peacefully in my lap after the local vet arrived to give her mercy. I buried her under a peach tree I planted just for her, and her little grave will soon be a wonderful garden of catnip. My heart is buried right there with her.

You are in my thoughts, Sostratos. I'm sorry.

I am shedding a tear as I read this. My heart aches for your loss. What a wonderful cat.

My heart is breaking for you right now .  I am so, so sorry for your loss.  Your little Dobby sounds like such a sweet, beautiful little one, and you have given her the most precious gift of all by letting her go

Run free, Dobby

I'm so sorry to hear of this. We lost our Milo on the 19th under very similar circumstances. The vets could never really identify what happened, but suspected pancreatitis after everything was over.. When his liver started to shut down, his breathing became very labored and the vets realized they were fighting a losing battle. After all night hooked up to IVs in an oxygen container, panting for air and suffering pain in his lower abdomen, we made the decision to put him to rest. It was the hardest decision we've made.

Since then we've questioned our decision. Could the vets have continued fighting (they said there was nothing else they could do)? Maybe if we had noticed all the signs months earlier we could have saved him? Is it all our fault? 

This, I guess is part of it all. The questioning, the guilt, etc etc. I imagine you're going through the same thing right now. It's been three days for us and instead of being so raw now it feels almost unreal, like it didn't happen. This week has been all one big blur. 

I hope the pain will become a little more numb for you soon. You'll never forget your furry friend, and if you're like my wife and I you probably realize you'll always feel sadness when you think of everything, but at least you can know she had a happy life and more love and joy than the average cat can hope for. 

Thanks to everyone for your kind words. The pain never goes away, and she's not the first little love that I have lost. Now I can at least think of her final hours with bittersweet happiness, because she made it very clear how much she enjoyed being next to me. When I had to leave the room, I'd return to find her bunched up and looking miserable, almost too weak to lift her head. When I tucked her in beside me, though, she would relax and stretch her little arms over mine and yawn and purr like a sleepy kitten. There is an indescribable comfort in knowing she loved me as much as I love her, and that I was able to bring her comfort and happiness even at the end. 

The only thing I regret is that I didn't get any photos of her when she was healthy. I took some when I brought her home, and I will post one or two of them here when I think I can bear to look at them.

I'm very sorry about your loss. Dobby sounds like a very special cat, and you're right, they take a piece of your heart when they leave us. RIP, sweet Dobby.

To have that time to be with Dobby when she passed to me would have been more priceless than pictures. Shebah passed in her sleep at our vets. I never had a chance to say goodbye. You were blessed with that opportunity.

I finally got around to looking at the last pictures I took of her. I love her so much.

She was a beautiful little girl.  I know you must miss her terribly

Beautiful girl. She was very lucky to share life with you!

Beautiful Dobby

There are few things more painful than losing an animal friend.  It's like losing part of yourself.  Thank you for giving Dobby a great life and all you did to make herlife special.   You are indeed special.   I have a feeling you will see Dobby again over the Rainbow Bridge someday.   Just a hunch.