We got Kitty Mogg from neighbours who were given her at 2 1/2 weeks old and we got her a week later, far too young to be away from her mum. She came into our lives as a tiny bundle of long black fur and lots of spiky bits. I declared he wanted nothing to do with 'it'. Until one day I was caught by my wife red handed fussing her and saying, 'come on then, little kittymogg, come and have some fuss.' in a very manly way...ok well, as manly as a high pitched soft-and-fluffy voice can get. She was supposed to grow into her name and earn it - Kitty Mogg was just an interim, better than saying, 'Oi, Cat!', but it stuck.
My wife was seven months pregnant with my son when we got K-Mogg, so they grew up together, each other's shadow. One day when he was about 20 months old, he was toddling about in only a nappy, the cat launched herself at his backside. She hung on to the back of his nappy trying to gnaw her way through. He held onto the sides of the nappy, trying to run away, saying, 'No bappy, no bappy oooh-oooooh!' Wish I had the camcorder, it was so funny. They used to fall asleep together on the windowsill and I heard many a comment from passers by as to how cute they looked. There were many such laugh-out-loud moments throught her life.
We came back late one evening to find her with a back leg trailing behind her. She'd been hit by a car and it had mashed her leg. Three operations, massive doses of anitbiotics and the like later and it still wouldn't heal. Her leg was amputated and she learnt to razz about... perdoink, perdoink, perdoink, plop. The amputation made her even more grumpy. My wife was the one who found her injured, took her to the vet lots and did all the nursing, so yup, she hated her guts and was quite happy to show her just how much.
She [the cat, not the wife...] really was a bad tempered, psychotic, belligerent old boot who loved making us out to be liars by schmoozing with any visitors and then promptly savaging us as soon as they'd leave. (Eventually, a move to a quieter neighbourhood chilled her out and the last six years of her life were spent perdoinking about contendedly.)She was a stunning looking cat; glossy, long black fur and a ridiculously fluffy plumptious plume tail. She had a very pretty face and bright green-yellow eyes that scowled lovingly at us. She also stood out due to the back left leg missing. She was aggressive, but also so sweet and loving on her terms and we wouldn't have changed her for anything. Anyone who met her could not help but be mesmerised by her and they'd always remember her - she was very charismatic.
Back to just a fortnight ago: we'd been on holiday and came back and didn't really see too much of her. When we did, she was just pottering about like the old lady she was. This wasn't unusual though as the cats liked the neighbours and sometimes desert us sometimes for a day or two. Then after not seeing her for two days, and my son found her on the decking. She tried to hobble over and made it into the porch and flopped down and he called my wife who called the vet. When they got there, he dropped the bombshell; she had complete renal failure and only had two or three days to live and it was not treatable. The only and right thing to do was to make the near impossible choice to have her put down the next day at home.
The cat spent most of the night being held by my wife and in spite of her final terminal stage, she was still purring. She was feeding her 5ml (a teaspoonful) of water via syringe into her mouth every hour - as directed by the vet. She was so weak she couldn't lap properly and it was taking about 10 mintues being very slow and careful. The dose was reduced by half and given every half-hour and slowly reduced again and again as she lost her strength.
She deteriorated throughout the time rapidly and in the end she was having a single drop every couple of minutes, only when she was able to swallow. My wife stayed awake all night to nurse her and my son would not leave her side. She took her outside to see the garden and the sun, the other two cats said goodbye. The rest of the time was spent by my wife sitting with and holding her _ watching her die before her eyes knowing there was not a damn thing she could do to stop it. All through that time, we regularly gave her Reiki to ease her pain, fear and to relax her. Bloody awful, we were stunned how sudden it all was - within 24 hours. Absolutely devestated, words can't describe it.
24 hours after the intial diagnosis, the vet came to do the deed. He sedated her and then injected the stuff into her kidneys where it was supposed to work its way through her system in the least traumatic way. He didn't realise just how close to death she actually was so the stuff didn't go through her system like it was supposed to. He had to go back out to his car and get barbituates which he injected straight into her heart, moving the needle around as he did it... horrible to watch; the vet advised us it wouldn't be pleasant but we weren't going to desert our beloved cat at her last moments. And still she purred.
Our [well, my wife's] beautiful, belligerent old boot of a cat eventually died at 4.18pm on Tuesday 11th August 2009 with all her family around her - she went knowing we were there together at the end of her life as we were in the beginning - with our collective love. ...So much more than 'just a cat' - unique - anyone who met her will testify to that. There's a gaping, yearning hole where she should be, but she's pain-free and at peace now. She purred to the very end, tried to growl and twitched her last characteristic twitch of her once magnificent tail and died on our sofa being fussed and stroked by us all.
We always thought we weren't the kind of people to opt for a pet cremation and keep them in a box. There was no way we wanted to bury her here, and obviously we couldn't keep her as she was, so we found a lovely specialist pet crematorium (who we'd recommend to anyone, he was such a nice chap). We said our final goodbyes to her physical body on the Wednesday, she spent the night in our room so she wasn't alone. Leaving her at the crematorium was almost as difficult as the day before. My wife and I sobbed and left some personal effects in with her which were cremated too.
We picked her up on Saturday and she is now in one of her favourite places in the living room. It feels a little better now she's with us again, but there's a massive, gaping, yearning hole where she should be and that space can never be filled....so much more than 'just a pet' She was one of the family and will always be. She's pain-free and at peace now and we have many fantastic memories to look back on to make us smile. We derived some comfort as we've heard her purring, meowing for fuss and have seen her a couple of times. My heart really goes out to anyone who has lost part of their furry family. I'm quite resilient person and this has knocked us for six - surprisingly so. We have two other cats - a ginger brother [Ghyngha] and brindle sister [Puffball], nearly eleven. One day their days will come, but after that we won't have any more pets, can't face the loss. In the meantime we help the cats adjust to life without Kitty Mogg (they've been affected too) and enjoy their lovely company as always. Rest in peace my Kitters, we love you lots xxxxxxx.
RIP Kitty Mogg 11.10.94 - 11.8.09.
Little Billy
Little Billy arrived into this life on 8th October this yearvwith his brother Johny. An identical pair - both sandy coloured we couldn't find any difference between the two - except Billy had a nobbly bit halfway along his tail which you couldn't see, only feel. We couldn't think of names for them - we've been rescuing little kittens for about 5 years now so my names list was becoming smaller and smaller. One night I was telling my other half about my Dad and Uncle and the tricks they played on people when they were younger as they were identical twins. We were laughing and I said maybe we should call the kittens after them! So we did!!
They grew up quickly - Lena their mum was so good with them. Billy was the hungry active one and at feeding time you should've seen them fight with each other to get close to their mum. We had to step in a few times!
Billy was the stronger of the two and had a bigger tummy than Johny. He was such a little sweetheart and used to love to snuggle up on my shoulder and into my neck. To be honest, I loved it too, but always brought Johny to join us so he was never left out.
At 6 and a half weeks of age, Billy seemed to be losing weight, although still feeding but was less 'pushy' than before. He hardly left my side and seemed to want to snuggle in all the time. A visit to the vet and some medicines which he took willingly, plus lots of reiki and Crystal healing made no difference. Sadly at 7 and a half weeks of age, Billy suddenly became so sick. I held him in my arms and kept talking to him and stroking him. I held him on my shoulder and close to my neck - somewhere familiar to him and brought his brother and his mum to him to say goodbye. One of my other cats, Cookie ( I call him my Reiki Cat) who himself had been ill earlier this year came and lay beside him with his little paw round him. Cookie and I nursed him until he died at 11pm on the evening of 19th November.
It was so sad - he had only been with us a few weeks but he had so quickly captured my heart.
We buried him under our lemon tree that night - we call it 'The Resting Place' - beside our other little furry darlings who have passed on. I sat on the wall beside the lemon tree and just cried and cried.
They come into our lives and so very quickly we love them and even 'tho they're with us just a short time, the parting is so painful.
We all miss you little Billy! Be at peace .xx
We've just had to let Sweepy II go. He had a very short illness that started at midnight as the new year came in.
He was a real black cat in every sense of the word and a true companion. We will miss him, still in his prime, still played as a kitten and boss of the home.
Myarka
Hiya Myarka
I am so sorry to read of your sad news about Sweepy. I just love cats so I can understand your sadness. I'll send you, your family and dear Sweepy Reiki for his passing over.
love
Moonfairy
x
Sad news indeed..
We have four cats Myarka.....so, love and healing from me as well...