DeziMarch 7, 2016: Sis Lexi had been feelin’ a little under the weather and me had been spendin’ a lot of time with her back on the bed tryin’ to comfurt her. She had begun to do nothing but sleep all day and all night. She would only get up to go to the pawdee box or get a drink. Mommy would carry her to the kitchen at meal times in the hopes of getting her to eat something. Often mommy would open three to four different foods befur sissy would finally take a few bites and not spit it back out. That night after dinner, me sensed something had changed with sissy. So when she crawled back up the steps to the bed, me followed her and gave her a quick bath and some love and then returned to the living room to be with mommy. Me mewed a quiet mew and settled in. That would be me’s last mommy mew fur over a week. Mommy seemed to sense that something was up too, cuz she started cryin’ when she saw me jump up on the cat tree and settle in fur an after dinner nap.

DeziMarch 8, 2016: Sissy still helped me with mommy but she was gettin’ around really slow. Me needed her help, but me mostly ignored her. Mommy continued to carry sissy to the kitchen fur meals; hopin’ to get her to eat. And me? Me continued to ignore her. Mommy laid with sis Lexi and cried and begged her to eat, and purrayed fur God to help her. Each time mommy would get sissy to swallow a little bite of food, sissy would make herself throw it back up. And mommy would cry even harder. Me laid on the top of the cat tree trying not to notice what was goin’ on. Me didn’t really understand why mommy was crying so much and tryin’ to force sissy to eat. Me had already said “see ya” cuz me knew sissy wasn’t well and me didn’t know why mommy didn’t know that. When we went to bed that night mommy purrayed really hard fur sissy and asked God and sissy to give her a sign. She told sissy how much she loved and needed her but that she didn’t want sissy to suffer needlessly. Finally, mommy cried herself to sleep with sissy massaging her head.

March 9,2016: Sis Lexi couldn’t keep her balance when she tried to stand, and she continued to refuse to eat. Mommy cried and couldn’t stop crying. She purrayed and asked God and sissy to let her know what to do. And sissy pulled herself into mommy’s lap and put her head down and mewed quietly and started to purr. The well walls broke and mommy started sobbing so hard her body was shakin’, and she told sissy she understood.

DeziWhen mommy got home me knew she was alone and that something was different, me just didn’t really know what. Me snuggled with mommy and tried to keep the tears on her face wiped up with me’s paws, but there was just too many of them. Me and mommy both furgot all about dinner till really late. But even when mommy fixed me’s plate, me didn’t eat. Neither of us wanted to sleep that night and so we didn’t. Every time me would nod off, me would jerk meself awake again til dawn’s light finally broke thru the darkness.

DeziMarch 10, 2016: With the light of a new day, mommy gave me breakfast and as always fixed sis Lexi a plate too. But the plate went uneaten as all the plates in the last few days. Mommy just stood there lookin’ at it and cryin’. Both of us finally gave in to the exhaustion and laid back in mommy’s lift recliner fur a short nap. We didn’t sleep very good, but we did get a little rest. We had a big inspection comin’ up so mommy tried to busy herself with cleaning. She picked up all the piddle pads that had been all over the floors and the bed and threw them out. After vacuumin’ she didn’t put them all back down. Me watched from a distance and mommy says me’s face looked puzzled. Mommy then tore all the linens off the bed to wash and put new ones on it. She also washed up the blankets, throws and comfurter. Sissy had thrown up and peed on them the day befur. When mommy finally got the bed all made up me climbed the steps and smelled it. Me looked back at mommy and then the bed several times befur returnin’ to the cat tree. When dinner time came, me was hungry after not eatin’ a couple of meals, so me ate everything in me’s plate and asked fur more. Mommy says she thought at that point me was okay. Me’s here to tell you, she was Wrong. We went to bed that night but me was a little uneasy. Things didn’t look or smell the same. But me cuddled up next to me’s mommy who was quietly crying and we both drifted off to sleep.

March 11, 2016: After a restless night it was time to help mommy get up so she could make me brekky (breakfast). Me started mommy’s massage as usual, but sis Lexi wasn’t there to help. When mommy could finally move a little me got into the wheelchair and started lookin’ round fur sissy. Me couldn’t see her anywhere, so me started callin’ out fur her. Me mewed and mewed but she never answered. After ’bout 30 minutes me jumped down and ran to the pawdee box room to see ifin she was in there. Me couldn’t see her, so me went to the livin’ room and climbed to the top of the cat tree look fur her. Mommy kept hollerin’ fur me and cryin’. Me finally gave up and went back to help mommy. After a bit of brekky (breakfast) me went back to lookin’ fur sissy.

DeziAfter a few hours of not hearin’ or seein’ me mommy came lookin’ fur me. She found me layin’ in front of da washin’ machine and tryn’ to see under it. A long time ago sissy got stuck behind the washer and any time me couldn’t find her, that’s the furst place me looked. Well of course mommy started cryin’ again and picked me up and took me to sit down with her. She went on and on about how sissy went to heaven and wasn’t comin’ back, and that she was lookin’ fur me a new helper; but me didn’t really understand anything she was sayin’. Me just wanted her to look fur sissy with me. And as soon as me could get loose, me was goin’ back to stand guard at the washer. Me was sure ifin she would just get on the washer and look behind it, she would see sissy. Me returned to me’s post at the washer several times over the next couple of days, but mommy never looked behind it. All she did was stare at me and cry.

As me said, me continued searchin’ fur sissy and mewin’ fur her fur days. Eatin’ only a small amount at each meal and sleepin’ more often than not. Mommy tried playin’ every game me likes but me just wasn’t interested. Me’s been a little jumpy and nervous and uncertain about just about everything. Even normal sounds make me jump a little. Me even attacked mommy’s legs a couple of times out of furustration. Me scratched her leg up purretty good. She knew me didn’t mean it and never even hollered at me.

DeziMarch 18, 2016: Today marked the furst day since sissy left that me didn’t spend any time lookin’ fur her. And after using the pawdee box, me mewed fur mommy to clean it out. Mommy seemed thrilled to hear me holler fur her to clean the pawdee box. The once tedious job now seemed to delight her. Me only mewed fur pawdee box cleanings, but mommy seemed to be happy. Over the next few days me got a little chattier and seemed a little less nervous. Of course inspection day had me on edge as usual, but mommy says me bounced back after all the excitement was over. Me still has moments of lookin’ fur sissy, but mommy says once she gets me a helper and a playmate that will disappear. Me will always remember and love sissy, me just won’t search fur her any more.

While me didn’t act out or develop any “bad habits”, it’s not uncommon fur grieving pets to urinate outside of the litterbox or in the case of doggies, in the house. Altho’ not eating is a sign of grief, remember, kitties cannot fast. If your kitty stops eating fur more than 2 days, their body and vital organs can sustain irreparable damage. This condition is called Feline Hepatic Lipidosis which you can read about by clicking on it. Me didn’t mew much but your pet may become very vocal. Sleeping and general lethargy, loss of interest in their favourite toys and treats may also be a sign of grief in your pet. Your pet may or may not search fur their missing house mate, but rest assured they feel the loss and don’t completely understand what’s going on. Extra love and cuddles from you will help your grieving pet as much as it will help you.

Adding a new pet, will also help distract and take the mind off the loss. You can NEVER replace the life or love of your beloved pet, but you can open your heart and love another. Sometimes it helps to get a new pet who looks nothing like the one you lost. A good thing to remember, is that when getting an anipal who looks identical to the one you lost is, that the new furry has his/her own purrsonality and should have their own name, and be loved fur their uniqueness.

Again, you CANNOT replace the furry you lost. To celebrate their uniqueness, buy them a new toy or food bowl. Mommy has little boxes fur each of her lost fur babies that contains a favourite toy, dish, nip mat, collar or whatever. Sissy adored a nip mat that awnty Ellen made fur us and now it resides in her memory box along with her favourite nip toys, a few whiskers that had fallen out (mommy saves everyone she finds) and a tuft of fur mommy cut off befur sissy left us. There is no set way fur any of us to grieve, and there’s no set time on how long it’s gonna take. 

Be good to yourself and your animals. Time is short so a little extra loving every day is a good thing.  

Purrlease visit our blog, Facebook page, Twitter or Instagram to keep up with all the latest happenings around our house. As soon as we find a new helper fur me, Service Cat training will commence.

Love and Hugs and Kitty Kisses

Dezi

 

 

 

A Cats Purr

"Cats make one of the most satisfying sounds in the world: they purr ...

A purring cat is a form of high praise, like a gold star on a test paper. It is reinforcement of something we would all like to believe about ourselves - that we are nice."

Roger A Caras

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