Mourning the loss of a pet

In 1998, I adopted two kittens from a litter of six. I initially went to get a single kitten, but when you see them there at a month old, you feel terrible about tearing a single one away from the group, so I took a second kitten. The first kitten was Chloe. She was a fuzz ball of all different colors. The second one was Maggie because she reminded me of Hershel, a cat I had as a child. Both had their own personalities. Chloe was “daddy’s girl” who loved food as much as life itself. She loved food to the point where I taught her tricks like a dog because she would do anything for food, which is not very feline-like behavior. Maggie was the rambunctous one, tearing through the house at 100 miles an hour to jump in the little gap that seperates the blinds from the glass. She has always been a little “off”, but is very loving when she wants to be.

In January, Chloe became ill and after numerous trips to the vet and animal hospital, we found out that her kidneys were failing. We started a regiment of soft food and giving intravenous fluids every other day to try and prolong her life as long as possible. When we would leave town, my mother would take her and administer the treatment for us or we would board her with the vet. In the last week, we have noticed that she has really started to regress. She was very sluggish and would go to a corner and start crying very loudly. Well, over this past weekend, she just became lethargic and it was obvious something was very wrong. So, yesterday we take her to the vet. My wife and I were both crying before we even saw the vet because we knew this was the end. At this point, she was a mere shell of her former self.

Having to make that decision to let her go was heartbreaking. Your pets stand for so much of who and what you are. You may not notice it, but they are a part of your life. They help you through the bad times, they’re there to make you feel important when you’ve just been kicked or beaten down. They’re love is unconditional and the investment you have to make to win that love is so small that it doesnt seem fair. The vet allowed us several minutes to hold her one last time and tell her how much we loved her. Then we handed her off and that was it. You know, they actually ask you if you would like to see the euthanasiation. Jessica didnt want any part of that. I thought about it for a second, but then decided to decline the offer. That was one of the more traumatic days I’ve had in some time, which probably is a testiment to how good life has been for me and I shouldn’t complain… We had Chloe cremated and will memorialize her with the planting of a tree.

Here is a little montage of Chloe, starting with when she was just 4 months old, going all the way up til last week. Included are a pair of videos, one from our appearance on national television and the other from a video i recorded over the weekend.

Chloe at 4 months old

Maggie & Chloe

Chloe

A very sick Chloe

RIP Chloe…