Monday, March 16, 2009

Farewell, my friend



Nick, our male tuxedo cat, died last night from kidney failure. He was only eight years old. He should have had many more years of getting pets, of eating tuna and watching birds fly.

We nicknamed him Velcro because he never got enough attention. He’d come sit next to you, and if you were busy doing something and tried to ignore him, he’d reach out one of his snowy white paws and tap you on the shoulder. Tap, tap; pet me, pet me.

I keep thinking maybe I could have done something differently that would have saved him. A different vet, a different treatment. He was too young to die.

He will be missed.

17 Comments:

Blogger Charles Gramlich said...

I'm sorry to hear this. I'm sure there's nothing else that could have been done. Even when cats and dogs live out long lives they are still preciously short. My thoughts are with you.

8:58 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Candy,

I have a B&W kitty, too. He's great. I had a calico and she died last summer, but she was really old.

I'm sorry for your loss and I feel your pain. I'm sure you did all the right things for him.

Hang in there!

Best,
J.F.

3:51 PM  
Blogger Steve Malley said...

I'm so sorry. I wish I had better words for this, because I know how much it hurts...

4:19 PM  
Blogger laughingwolf said...

so sorry for your loss, candy :(

eight, or any age, is too young....

8:26 PM  
Blogger yukari said...

I am sorry for your loss. I feel your pain and sorrow. I still cry when I remember my cat who died 40 years ago.

3:17 PM  
Blogger cs harris said...

Thanks, Charles; that's so true. We let ourselves in for heartache when we fall in love with the little darlings.

JF, thank you. I'm so sorry to hear about your calico. No matter how old they are, it still hurts. Glad your B&W is doing great.

Steve, it does help. Thanks.

Laughingwolf, thank you. You're right, it would have hurt at any age.

Yukari, thank you. I lost the orange and white sweetheart I grew up with when I was 28, and I still cry when I think about him.

5:18 PM  
Anonymous Yukari said...

I wrote about you and your books on my blog which introduce English books to Japanese foreign book lovers.
I hope more Japanese people will fall in love with your books.
http://watanabeyukari.weblogs.jp/yousho/2009/03/candice-proctor.html
http://watanabeyukari.weblogs.jp/yousho/2009/03/what-angels-fea.html

Best,
Yukari

4:36 AM  
Blogger Barbara Martin said...

This is sad news, and I'm sorry about your loss. Pets fill a space in our lives, and my thoughts are with you.

11:03 PM  
Blogger liz fenwick said...

Thinking of you.
lx

5:55 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I am so sorry. I am from Santo Domingo and I am a cat lover, my 16 years old Caru is the love of my life. One of my sister´s two cats, a lovely yellow and white male name Bolitas,recently died of kidney failure, and we both were terribly sorry and went through the same questions you asked yourself: What could have been done??? But really, I gess they are angels that come to our lives with a purpose: To teach us what inconditional love is, and some times we learn the lesson too fast...and then they leave, their mission accomplished. Sorry again for your loss, but be sure you did the right thing... you loved him. Alexia Pons

9:26 AM  
Blogger cs harris said...

Yukari, thank you! I would love to be published in Japan!

Barbara and Liz, thank you. It is always so, so hard.

Alexia, thank you, and I'm so sorry to hear about your loss.

1:31 PM  
Blogger Shauna Roberts said...

I'm so sorry to hear about your losing your cat at such a young age. We lost at least two cats to kidney failure; one was seven. Cats are prone to kidney failure and treatment doesn't always stave off the inevitable; You did what you could, and I'm sure your cat was grateful for eight years of love.

5:06 PM  
Blogger cs harris said...

Thank you, Shauna; I am truly shocked by the number of people who've told me of losing young cats to kidney failure. Much of it does seem to be linked to antibiotics, but then if they have a bad infection, what are we to do?

11:30 AM  
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