Death of a Beloved Pet

In four and a half years of blogging, today's post was definitely one of the saddest I ever had to write.

Yesterday, Honey Cat, our beloved family pet for 17 years, died.

She had been losing ground and weight for the past six months or so. She had visits to the vet's and was taking medications.

About three days ago, she stopped  eating. 

As she became weaker and weaker, her walking was labored.  Her usual spirited and spunky meow became a labored, throaty grunt.

The veterinarian, a compassionate and wonderful human being, knew Honey Cat could not be saved. Her time on earth was up.

I chose to hold her soft and gentle body close to me as she was sedated.  Honey Cat put her head against my cheek.


As I cradled her body for the last time, I gently scratched behind her little ears, until her heart took its final beat.

Born in the Arizona desert, she ended her very full and adventure-filled life in New England. 



She was actually my daughter's cat. For two solid years, she lobbied for our family to adopt her and my daughter's passionate pleading finally won.  

Of course, we all grew to love the little ball of honey-colored fluff. 

She brought so much happiness and love to our family for 17 incredible and memorable years.

My hubs, daughter and me buried her in a corner of the back yard late yesterday afternoon.  

Hubs even planted some pink hyacinths near the spot where she was laid to rest.

My eyes are slits from crying and my heart feels as heavy as a bag of wet cement.

It's even hard, at times, to breathe. 

The day before she died, Honey Cat was lying on top of a heater in the living room.

I picked up my cell phone and told her I was going to take her picture.

True to her nature, she hoisted herself up and sat like a royal princess and that is the photo you see at the very top of this post. 



If tears turn into memories,  there will be a million of them of Honey Cat.

A sweet and well loved cat is now gone forever from this earth.