Yesterday we chose to put Kyra, our cat, down. D and I were very sad about it. Kyra basically got a very fast spreading cancer. We thought she was gone in the summer time when she lost about 3 pounds and was almost starving. Miraculously, the blockage in her stomach went away. Apparently just for a little while. About a month ago, her 3rd eyelid suddenly poshed open. This looked very odd and worrying. We took her to kitty emergency and she had a tumour in the lymph node. Some simple drugs did nothing and it got worse. Another tumour showed up on her neck. Three weeks ago, she had surgery to remove the eyelid and another tumour was found in her throat.
The past week she has been huddled and hiding in our bathroom, not moving very far. She couldn't or wouldn't eat any more, couldn't jump up even on to the tub any more, and stopped using her litter box.
We had a fair amount of discussion about how we wanted to talk to our children about it. We decided to do talk straight up, hold no punches explanation. We didn't want to use any euphemisms like "going to sleep" or "going away" as we were worried that the children would be confused and scared.
We spent the last half hour at home cuddling and explaining that Kyra was going away to die, that she wouldn't be back. There were so many hard spots of the interaction. When I brought out the cat carrier, G said "Kyra going to doctor and get some medicine" and I had to explain that she was so sick that the medicine wouldn't help. Both kids held her, gave her nose kisses and big hugs. We took many last pictures.
When we took her to the vet, we decided to stay with her through to the end. Even at the vets office, she didn't do her usual exploring, she just hid under a chair. I have a memory of her passing that I will never forget. Right as the overdose was going in, she looked back and right at me, as if to ask what is going on? She wasn't scared, she just seemed suprised and wanted some assurance that it was all going to be ok. And then she was gone.
When we came back, B asked to play with Kyra, and we explaned that she was dead and wouldn't be coming back. I cleaned out the cat litter, her water and food bowl, and put the things into the garage.
Now we keep on imagining her around. I expected the door to our bathroom to open and her to come in and jump up on the counter looking for water. D expected her to jump up on her lap last night. I instinctively looked for her in the bathroom.
She was a wonderfully friendly and adorable cat. She was absolutely wonderful with the children. We're very sad she only was with us for 9 1/2 years.
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