We put Sassy to sleep today

[Les]

After just about 10 months from her disc removal surgery, our 15 year-old Sassy ran out of fight today and was put to sleep; she had deteriorated rapidly over just the past few days, and we knew that it was time. She was on a very strong antibiotic for 2 weeks because she would constantly get bladder infections because my wife had to express her bladder several times a day, and she was constipated and who knows what other bad things were going on inside her. She was so very tired, and weak, and would just be listless and try to bury her head in our arms. We tried everything over the 10 months, but her quality of life was very poor recently, and she was declining and just existing not living anymore. I knew that we made the proper choice because she passed after only a few seconds after the injection, she was so tired and ready to go. But that little cat was such a trooper over these months, and we will never forget our sweet, gentle little angel of a cat. We are going to find it difficult not going through our "routine" of expressing her bladder, giving her physical therapy, washing her towels, etc., but I KNOW that she is fine now. We're the ones that hurt now.

Thanks for the help and advice along the way.

Rest in peace, our little angel "Sassy-girl".

[Christine]

Les, I am so sorry for your loss. She lived a long life filled with love with extra special care and love until the end.

[tessa]

les...this is very sad.
i know this sadness well.
i hope you find the peace that sassy has.
i'll keep you in my thoughts.

[Caroline]

I am so sorry for your loss...
Caroline

[critters]

I'm sorry for your loss.

[puremutt]

aww i am sorry for your loss, you have been the best for your pet and did the right thing in the end...

[GabrielDeafBlindPupFamily]

Oh, Les! I am so very sorry. Your loss is so huge, so very huge. To give her the peace she deserves is the hardest gift of all. You have my deepest sympathies ...

"...Grieve not, nor speak of me with tears,
but laugh and talk of me as if I were beside you...
I loved you so -
'twas Heaven here with you."
- Isla Paschal Richardson

[Les]

Thank you all very much for the kind words; Deb and I really appreciate it. I am glad that I can talk to someone about this that has experience with it, as most don't have any idea of what we just went through. We are dealing with it okay; you know how it goes-you're okay with it, then it hits you and you cry about it, then you realize that she is free of pain, free from living her life mostly in a cage, free to run and walk and play, no more crying out in pain and frustration, and you realize that it was the ONLY way out, and more importantly it was the best thing for her. We got her at the Humane Society about 11 years ago, so we "saved" her from death row back then, and she gave us 11 GREAT years of love and affection; my wife told me the other day "I don't want to say this outloud, but she was always my favorite" which we all knew; Sassy used to lay right on Deb to sleep, and she has sorely missed that these last 10 months. One of our other cats Snickers lays by her now, so that is a help to Deb. But Sas would love to lay on the back of my sofa when we had the woodstove going; last night, I started a little fire, and we dedicated it to Sassy's memory and celebrated that she is FREE of all bad things now.

I lost my best friend Dec. 2007 to bone cancer, and after he died we would get pure white feathers around us, on us, etc. It started with my wife, but then I would get them too, and you KNEW that there was no way that this was a "coincidence". I lost my 93 year-old grandmother January of this year, and sure enough, there on the dining room table for ME to see and find was a pure white feather; now you know that with 5 cats that feather would've been discovered by one of them and played with and chewed, but there it was, on the dining room table for me to find. This morning, as I was going into our garage to go to work, out of the corner of my right eye I saw a feather floating to the ground; I took this very small feather to my wife and asked her "is it pure white?" because I can't see close up very well without my glasses at age 48, and she said "it's grey and white-the same colors as Sassy".

That's just a reminder to me that she is in Heaven.....

Thank you and God Bless you and all your pets...

[puremutt]

wow what a beautiful story!
very comforting for you and your wife to know Sassy is at peace.

[tessa]

les...thankyou for sharing all that.
you've really touched me.

the week we put xena down, just two short weeks ago, i came home twice at the end of the day to find a roaring fire in the woodburner.
like...ROARING.
and with liz at work...and me just arriving home from work myself...the explanations for it are difficult.
it was at once both frightening, and AMAZING.
it was obviously the left-overs of the previous night's fire having a comeback. but this has NEVER happened before.
then it happened twice in one week.
the week we lost xena.

[Les]

Thanks again all....and thanks Tessa for sharing your story, and I'm sorry for your loss also. But I read into it that the roaring fires were Xena getting your attention and saying "I'm fine, strong again and full of energy". I can see how it would be scary yet comforting, but that was Xena's spirit showing that it was "strong".

Take care all...

[troopersmommy]

Les, I'm new to this thread and fairly new to this forum, but I wanted to tell you how sorry I am about your loss. When I saw the name "Sassy" in the title it caught my eye. Last year I lost a little dog we rescued and named Sassy. She wound up dying of internal injuries we think she received in a dog fight, but we had her long enough to fall in love with her. (My husband still grieves for her and cannot bear to hear her name said out loud.) And oh how she loved our kitties...much more than the other dogs. I bet she was first in line, standing side by side with Xena and all the other angels to welcome their new little '"Sassy Sister Kitty"!

I'll end with a prayer to your Sassy that I hope she has endless days of running and playing and taking lots of "angel kitty naps". And if it's okay with you, I'd like to ask her to look down on my new little paralyzed rescue cat, Trooper. Your words...But she was a brave little trooper...were our exact thoughts when we named him. Maybe she can whisper in his ear that it's okay if he can't walk, because it won't make any difference in how much he'll be loved. After all, she had hit the jackpot on that with her mommy and daddy.

[Les]

Thank you, Troopersmommy, for that very beautiful and touching post. I am sorry for your loss last year, and wish you all the best with Trooper. God Bless you for helping with a "special needs" kitty. I'm sure that our Sassy will send Trooper a "message" and say what you said, that it's going to be okay because you have loving parents.

Thanks again,

Les

[troopersmommy]

You're very welcome Les. Sassy must have already whispered to Trooper, because tonight for the first time he came out to greet me.

Sassy

[Les]

I'm glad to hear that! It'll take some time, but he'll come around.

We are in the process of getting about 8 stray outside cats trapped and neutured; we have been taking care of them, and they are such nice cats. We already have plans to take in "Slim", who is the friendliest of them all, and may not stop at him. If it was up to my wife, we'd take all 8 in, but we have 4 inside now, and it isn't cheap as you guys know! We are getting them fixed, then want to get them good homes-they deserve it.

I think Sassy would want us to take what we can in and give it a good home.