Well, our cat’s lifetime came to end Tuesday night. The children all petted her goodnight and went to bed. Then around 9pm she took her last breath with one of my hands on her head and the other on her paw. Surprisingly it wasn’t as unpleasant as I had anticipated.
I had read that most animals, specifically cats disappear when it is their time. But surprisingly she did the opposite. In fact she wanted to be in the family room with all of us that last evening. She mustered up as much energy as she could to get downstairs. I think she was comforted by the sounds of the family and she was able to lie near her companion, our dog.
It was fascinating to see how respectful he was to her. He would normally be sniffing her and irritating her but he just sat near her and was pleasant company.
Lessons learned through the Mourning Process…..
My husband is amazing…
I am so thankful for my husband. I think he had the most difficult task of all of us, he dropped her off at the Vet’s after she passed. He had to say the final goodbye and hand her over.
The children have compassion for one another…
Our 6 & 8 year olds tend to irritate one another at times. Why just the other day our 6 year old was trying to place his dirty underwear in his sister’s pillow case….classic sibling move, right!? With all the snow days lately the level of irritation has only increased and it had me concerned. But when I witnessed our 6 year old run into our 8 year olds arms and let out a huge yelp followed by many tears and the way she gave him a big hug and consoled him with comforting words I knew they would be okay. The image is burned to memory; it was so beautiful, so precious, and so genuine. I was comforted by the fact that if anything should ever happened to me or my husband the children will be there for each other. At that moment it felt like we, as parents, were definitely doing something right.
Every person and every child mourns differently….
Our daughter, the 8 year old, is comforted by conversations about the times she enjoyed with our cat. Our 3 year old enjoys seeing pictures of her, especially ones she is in with her.
Meanwhile our son prefers to express himself via Crayola…..
We are so fortunate….
It has been a crazy and highly emotional past week but we have learned much about each other. We know that Sable brought our family much joy and that she will be deeply missed. But we are thankful for the time we had together. We also know that there are others in this world who are deeply mourning the loss of loved ones and we are keeping all those souls in our prayers.
Need your suggestions….
The children have requested that we do something to remember Sable. For those of you who have lost a pet did you do anything special to remember them? Maybe you purchased something special to commemorate your pet? Did something as a family? Any suggests you have are greatly appreciated.
Mom on the go in Holy Toledo 
What a beautiful, special kitty. My heart breaks for you and your family; our family cat of nine years passed last year, and it was so hard. It’s wonderful to see your children remembering her and celebrating the time you all had together.
Thank you Sharrielynn and I am sorry to hear about the loss of your kitty. I find that it is hardest in the quiet moments, when the children have gone to bed, and she would have hanged with me for the remainder of the night. But I/we are finding comfort in the amazing memories we made with her. Thank you for your kind words 🙂
My first kitty, Snooper, died in my arms eleven years ago and I did a commemorative photo frame for her. I picked out a large one from Things Remembered and had it engraved with her name and dates and did a collage of photos for it. She was very important to me and I still miss her very much. I love to look at her frame and remember all we went through together. My kitty now is going to be twelve and I know it’s going to be hard on the kids when we lose him 😦 I hope we have many years left but we can already see him slowing down and feeling his age.
An engraved frame is a brilliant idea! What a wonderful way to remember your kitty. I find myself scrolling through photos on a daily basis…a collage of some of our favorites printed off in a frame would be perfect. Maybe I will let each family member select their favorite photo of her. Thank you so much for sharing Piper, I really like this idea…it will bring a smile to our faces each time we pass the frame. And sorry to hear about your ageing kitty, my best advice is to enjoy the time you have left and take lots of pictures (but you already knew that) 🙂
So sad.