If I wasn’t a photographer, I think that I would be doing something with animals – be it a vet or even just a tech. I’m a complete animal lover and have been ever since I could remember. My Dad used to laugh at all the stay animals I would drag home – and not always of the domesticated variety. I’ve brought home birds, rabbits, squirrels, raccoons, skunks… you get the idea. I’ve just always had a soft spot for animals – no matter what the variety. I staged a protest at a job I had once where they were killing mice by bringing in a Ty Beanie mouse with signs saying “Stop the Killing!” I’m a bit of a softie!
Needless to say when one of our two cats got sick a couple weeks ago, I made sure we did everything we possibly could to keep him alive and have him beat whatever was ailing him. Sadly though, despite every effort, he continued on his downward decline and kept getting worse. Yesterday we had to make the decision, prolong his agony or put him to sleep. We chose to have him put to sleep. This is the first time that I’ve ever had to have a pet put down (they’ve always died on their own) and it was probably one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever had to make. I know that I am going to feel guilty for a long time about the decision but I also know that he was miserable, in pain and not himself. He didn’t enjoy that situation any more than we enjoyed seeing him in it.
Monday we let him out on the deck (he’s normally an indoor-only cat) to bask in the sun which was his favorite activity. I got some images because deep down I knew that it wouldn’t be much longer he’d be with us.
Have you had a pet put down? Was it just as hard for you??
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What a beautiful baby you had…hope you’re lightened with the fact that he’s no longer suffering. We just had to put our baby girl of 13 years down on Memorial weekend…after a 10 month battle with cancer. It was the hardest, yet in a way the kindest, thing we could do for her. And we too had her out basking in the sun the day before, doing the things she loved to do until the very end. The pain comes and goes 5 weeks into this, but I know in the end she’s loving her life under the Rainbow Bridge and we’re left with beautiful memories. Hope it gets easier for you.
RIP, Sage. 🙁 *hugs*
[…] Ann on October 17, 2011. Filed under Animals, Children // • Last year we lost our cat Sage to an unknown liver disease. We tried our best to make him well but after many tests, drugs and […]