July 23rd, 2008 | 
Author: My cat died suddenly yesterday. She was old and in decline for the last few months and I did know the end was nearing, but it was still a shock to have it happen like this.
One minute before she died, she was eating. I’d helped her to her dish in the kitchen and left her there, happily munching away and returned to the living room. All of the sudden, one of my other cats leapt with a start and I heard the sound of something falling over in the hallway. I thought it was just some post coming through the letter slot in the front door. I was wrong.
It was my cat, she’d fallen over with what I am fairly sure was a stroke. She was gone in about 2 minutes, but I was there with her.
She was around 16 years old, but its possible she could have been older. Mrs. H got her in 1994 as a fully grown cat, I knew her for over 11 years.
Before Mrs. H got her from the local shelter, she had been living in the local market, existing on scraps and hand-outs from the traders. She loved people food and if it was good enough to be on your plate, it was good enough for her - she’s eat anything, fruit, veg, meat, cheese, bread, you name it, though of course we mainly fed her cat food.
On Monday night, she had cheese from a pizza and licked the remnants of a bowl of chocolate ice cream, which was her absolute favourite.
I appreciate if you’re not a pet lover that this post is probably tedious reading for you. I am a pet lover, I’ve had dogs and cats my entire life. The relationships you have with your pets are some of the most honest relationships you can have.
My cat hadn’t been well for the last few months. She gone mostly blind, her appetite was decreasing and her back legs were getting weaker. I would be lying if I said I didn’t consider putting her down and my one real regret is that I didn’t trust my instincts. The day before she died I thought about it and even yesterday it crossed my mind more than once. I could have spared her a brief, yet horrible death.
Dying is horrible and witnessing my cat’s passing was distressing. While it was mercifully brief, my cat fought and struggled to her very last breath, but that’s what she was like. She was a fighter and didn’t take shit from anyone, not even Death, though in the end, Death always wins.
I spent the last couple of days talking to my cat, telling her how much I would miss her when she was gone. I really did sense that the end was extremely near. My other three cats were all distressed as well when she died and could sense something was very wrong. And even though I cleaned up the spot in the hallway where she passed, they are still sniffing around it. They know, even if they don’t understand.
Pets are part of your family, they have personalities and strong characters and are loyal and faithful companions, dogs and cats alike. When you lose one, it hurts and hurts deeply.
I can remember when I was a child and we lost a pet, my mother being so very distraught that she would always announce with great authority and finality, that this was the end and she would have no more pets, ever, because losing them is so painful. It’s not fair that they have such brief life spans!
I’ve lost 2 cats in the last year and it doesn’t get any easier. I’m lucky now, the three I have are all quite young and I hope it will be a good long time before I have to face losing any more.
I’m going to miss my sweet little girl so much, I already do now and she hasn’t even been gone 24 hours.
In truth, she was partly gone already, as I watched her health decline, especially over the last week or so. I know its a cliché, but she is at peace now. Every day was increasingly becoming a struggle for her. She doesn’t have to struggle any more.
I hate death. It sucks, but I think the dying part is the worst of all.
