COLOURFULWORLD

Thursday 6 March 2014

Rest In Peace my sweet "Mommy Cat"





We were having dinner on Wednesday 5th, when we heard noises coming from outside and what appeared to be a cat fight. As sometimes there is a neighbourhood male cat that comes around and upsets my cats, I thought it would be him.

We rushed outside and heard a commotion from the other side of the fence, and my husband looked over the fence to see the neighbour shouting at his two dogs to get away. Trapped in the corner was our eldest cat "Mommy". He picked her up without a struggle and handed her over the fence to my husband.

He brought her home and lay her down on the kitchen rug. She was panting heavily with her tongue hanging outside. We thought she was just in shock and let her rest for 10 minutes while we patted her to calm her down. She then got up and walked a few metres limping from one of her back legs. She was still panting heavily and we thought it better to take her to the Emergency vet at Murdoch University, where they have the best vet school in Australia.

They are about 15min from our house, and Mommy miowed frequently during the car trip. I presumed she must have been in pain.

On arrival we told the receptionist what had happened and she took Mommy from my arms, and said she would be given oxygen and an injection to calm her down as she was in shock, and the vet would give us a diagnosis within 15 minutes.
We waited in the waiting room and were later called in by the vet.

She explained the situation by saying that Mommy had two ribs broken in two places and most probably a pierced lung judging from a quick preliminary examination and she would require an operation and long term care. 
In her opinion the chances of her recovering and being healthy again were only 50% and the cost of the operation and 24 hour care for a few days would be around 5000 to 6000 dollars.

She left my husband and I to discuss the situation and said she was going to further examine the cat.
She came back 10 minutes later and said, that if we wanted to go ahead we were in the best animal hospital and they had the best doctors and resources, but the cat was worse than she had at first feared. She had been attacked by two bull-terriers and they are quite vicious and strong when they bite, and she had a lot of internal injuries. She was only about 7 years old, she could heal, but she could also have life time health problems.
We had already decided we couldn't go ahead with the operation, the cost was too much.

We were ushered to the state of the art operating room where other "patients" were being treated and were able to say goodbye to our lovely cat. She was comfortable and without pain, the vet said, as painkillers had been administered, she had her little tongue hanging out, laying there calmly with an IV into her paw.

The vet asked if we wanted to be present when they gave her the injection, but I didn't have to courage to be there, sorry Mommy, I wanted to remember you alive. So the vet said that she could administer a "feel good" anaesthetic and when she fell asleep we could then go.
She fell asleep soon with her eyes still open, and I left crying my eyes out.

I will always remember her sweet nature, her cheekiness, her constant miaws when she wanted to be fed, her motherliness towards her daughter Twiggy (in photos below) and most of all I will remember a summer day when she appeared in our back garden with a raw steak which she must have stolen from the neighbour's barbecue, as they had left it unattended. She always made us laugh!

She was pretty, clever and knew what she wanted. On weekends if I wanted to sleep in, and she wanted to be fed, when she had enough of waiting, she would jump on the chest of drawers, and slowly push things around making sure she was making a noise, or she would throw small things on to the floor, like coins, rattle my necklaces, etc, so that I would eventually get annoyed and get up. Then she would jump off and run to the kitchen. 

She loved being tickled on her belly, and most days when I arrived from work and parked the car in the driveway, she would lie with her belly up in the driveway and wait for me to tickle her belly. Then she would give a little run and lie down again and miaw and I would follow her and tickle her again, and she would run off again and do the same, until I gave up and came inside the house. Then she would also run inside with me.
My husband used to call her "Velhota" which in Portuguese means "old lady" as she was the oldest of the 5, and she was his favourite too as she was very social.

I'm sure the rest of your cat family will miss you too.
The morning after she was gone, the other 4 were smelling the kitchen floor where she had lain after being injured, and then would look at me, as if to say "Where is she?"
RIP my lovely cat.





Twiggy (Mommy's daughter will miss her the most, they were always together)






















My thanks to the vets and staff at Murdoch 24h Veterinary Hospital, they were very caring and understanding.

26 comments:

  1. Oh, Sami... I don´t know what to say. What a very horrible situation. Good to let it all out, it always helped me, too, to write it down.
    Guess it even wasn´t the neighbour´s or the dogs` "fault". Dogs are "stupid" like that, "defending" their home, right.
    Good thing you have that uni nearby and that your cat was free of pain in the end and could go peacefully. Xx

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  2. Thanks Iris, yes I also felt better writing about it, even though my eyes were tearing up.
    I know she had the best care, the vets were very caring and understanding.

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  3. Aww Sami, that's so sad.. gosh it's such a tough old world out their in the animal world. Poor Mommy and poor Twiggy, I imagine she'll be searching for a while. Pets are the most wonderful addition to a family but blimey they can break your heart when they pass. Hopefully the four will pull together and comfort each other and you..
    p.s. very happy belated birthday wishes, looks like you had a wonderful family time in Margaret River, it's so lovely down there.

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    1. Thanks Grace, we are all feeling a bit strange at the moment, even the other 4 cats seem a bit lost.

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  4. Oh, Sami!!! Mas que pena! Imagino a sua dor. E ela era tão querida!! Pelas fotos, devia ser muito mimosa. Muita força neste momento difícil. Pena que os custos de tratamento dos animais sejam tão elevados, neste caso, então, para nós, também seria incomportável. Muita coragem, agora! Um grande, grande beijinho.
    PS: O meu Fofinho está a fazer um ano que partiu...

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    1. Obrigada Sandra, uma pena que os custos veterinarios sejam tao elevados... Pois ainda me lembro da ocasiao quando o Fofinho faleceu. Ja quase 1 ano, como o tempo passa.

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  5. Oh Sami,,I'm so sorry for the loss of your beautiful Mommy cat! Your story is heartbreaking and I feel for you. Sounds like she had the best possible care and the best possible outcome as hard as it is for you and your family!
    I went through something similiar with my cat, Nelson , when he developed a blocked urinary tract. I consented to the treatment at the time and he survived but I vowed to never put him through the discomfort again or spend the money. We have a responsibility to keep them comfortable but also to decide when death is the best thing for them. It is cruel to allow them to suffer.
    You have lovely memories and a lovely cat family to fill the cuddle void!

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    1. Thanks Nan. Even the vet said it might be better to end her suffering as she had extensive internal damage. Even though she could be saved, she could have life time problems and probably be traumatized from the attack.

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  6. Aww, now I am crying, what a beautiful cat! My husband ran over our own deaf cat a few years ago and talk about traumatic! We had to put her down due to injuries she'd sustained to her head--The vet kept the cat alive so I could get my daughters over to say good bye--it was awful, we cried for days! Amazing how these little creatures add so much satisfaction and joy to our lives! Sorry for your loss!

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    1. Oh Brooke, that must have been traumatic. Thanks for your kind words.

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  7. Querida Sami, faço ideia como sofres, e o Zé, Sara e Michael. Todos nós sentimos esta tristeza. Já passámos pelo mesmo com a nossa Genny a nossa maravilhosa e inteligente cadela e o nosso Moppy o mais inteligente dos cães que vi até hoje. Os animais dão-nos muitas alegrias mas quando partem deixam um sofrimento muito grande. Fizeste bem em escrever - apenas chorasses todo o tempo - mas alivia um pouco e é uma homenagem que lhe estás a prestar. A Genny faleceu em finais de 1991 o Moppy a 19 de Fevereiro de 2009, mas ainda custa, principalmente o Moppy que me fez muita companhia quando o papá ia trabalhar para Lisboa. Os nossos sentimentos pela perda da tua linda gata.

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    1. Obrigada Mama. Parece que nao mas os animais tambem deixam saudades quando partem.

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  8. Oh I am so sorry to hear about that. When animals are gone from our lives they leave a big hole. I am glad you have such lovely memories to fill that hole.

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    1. Thanks Gill. It's true we have lovely memories of our "Mommy", she was so cute.

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  9. I am so, so sorry to hear this. My heart goes out to you. RIP sweet kitty.

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  10. Ohhhh I'm so sorry for the loss of your gorgeous cat. Animals bring so much happiness and joy to our lives.

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  11. Not sure where they got the barbies Sami, but I reckon there would have had to be nearly a 1,000 of them.. it was really a wee bit creepy :)

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  12. Que história triste! É horrível perder um companheiro de 4 patas, mas acho que foi tomada a decisão mais acertada.

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  13. Obrigada Jose. Dias depois desapareceu-me outro gato, que apareceu ontem a noite. Esta de momento a tomar soro para poder ser operado dentro de 1 ou 2 dias, tambem mordido por um cao(?). Enfim, mas este vai melhorar.

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  14. Very soory, always difficult to loss a cat,we can never forget your pets.greeting from Belgium

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  15. Thanks Louisette for you words and for the visit.

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  16. Que pena Sami e que maneira mais triste de se perder um animal de estimação.

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    1. Obrigada pelas suas palavras Sara. Ainda sinto a sua falta, era tao amorosa.

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  17. I feel bad for Twiggy. Maybe it's time for her to move on. I suggest that you keep the things away that she and her Mom used to play with, like the basket etc. They have memories also right?

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