My lovely Bandit has died

[sue11]

Unfortunately we had to have our cat Bandit put to sleep yesterday. For the past few days I noticed that she was straining to go to the toilet and seemed to be starting to go off her food. I took her into the vets and the vet told me that she was constipated and would need to be taken in to get sorted out. he said he did not think that there would be anything major wrong, although he could not say 100%. So I left her quite happily thinking I would pick her up later in the day. The vet phoned an hour later to say that he had found a massive inoperable tumour in her and the kindest thing would be to let her go immediately. I agreed to have her put straight to sleep, he offered to let me be there, but she was already anethetised and I would have found it too upsetting to have been there at the end so I refused. I am devestated though, she was 17 years of age and came with her companion Ozzie from a rescue home, I got her when she was just 9 months old. I am taking comfort from the fact that she certainly had the best life a cat could have asked for and enjoyed all the treats she could wangle out of me and they were many!
I still have Ozzie to cuddle, but at 17 and a half years of age, she has kidney disease although it seems to be progressing slowly, I know that we will lose her over the next few months.
Why do they have to die?

[mrs.chappie]

So sorry to hear about your sad loss, sue. I know only too well the pain that comes with making that horrible decision, I have made it many times as an animal rescuer, and it never gets any easier. In time the pain will dim a little and you will be able to remember the good times.

Big hug for you. [[[[[[HUG]]]]]]]]. xxx

[sue11]

Afcjan, leelapops and mrs chappie, thank you very much your responses, I am thinking of the good times with a smile, it is just the sudden moments that pop univited into my head that tugs at my heart so badly and I so just want to be able to give her a cuddle, if there is such as place as Rainbow Bridge I am sure she is playing there happily with other loved pets, she is probably bossing them about in her rightful place as 'top cat'!!
Pericat, Ozzie is already starting to do things a little differently and I am wondering if she may actually be finding things a bit less stressful for her, as she was always ending up in 2nd place in the rush to get cuddles and hugs. I always reasoned that due to her kidney disease Ozzie was the one who was going to go first, this is one of the reasons why it has been so hard with Bandit I guess. Perhaps now she has not got to compete the stress levels may go down slightly, which may help a bit with her illness?

[karenmac60]

My wee cat had the same thing and had to be put to sleep in July, at the age of 17. I didn't think I could have been with her but when it came to it I held her in my arms and she just drifted off. I also brought her home and let my other cats see her and have a bit of a sniff - they seemed to understand it was Shelley and she was gone, and they never seemed to miss her after that. I know it sounds a bit morbid, but I think they understood and they moved on. It also helped me that I was there and it was so peaceful for her, but it was still very hard and I still miss her a lot, as you will with wee Bandit. But I also remember the funny things she did more now - like follow me to the shops and wait outside for me, but only if my daughter was there. I hope you can remember the happy times with Bandit and not just remember him with sadness.

[afcjan]

hi Sue, just wondered how u were feeling today. There is a lovely book about Rainbow Bridge, I think u can get it from Amazon, it explains a lot about this lovely place they all go too.

Just take a day at the time my love, and it wont be easy, we lost our cat 17 months ago and it is still very raw. I loved him more than life itself. The first Christmas we lost him we bought a christmas tree for him and put it in the back room then after christmas we put it in the garden, and it really grew, then we put it in again this Christmas, and it was lovely, full of life in the warmth of the family. I put a picture of him next to it and I found it very comforting.,

take care Sue, hope u feel a bit better soon xxxx

[pericat]

It is unusual Sue how the 'quiet' one comes out of herself and gets to show her personality a bit more. We had 2 cats from when they were 6 week old kittens - noodles looked after pip as a kitten and took on the mother role and pip was always a very quiet cat and when noodles died when she was around 12 - pip changed completely - she was perfectly happy with noodles and then perfectly happy as a different cat on her own. They are amazing animals. Enjoy Ozzie as much as you can now and remember Bandit and the great life you gave her.

[sue11]

Thank you karenmac for your lovely post, I kind of wish now that I had been there to give her one last cuddle, but I am not sure how I could have taken then having to leave her behind. Ozzie does not seem to be missing her at the moment, I think that perhaps as they grew older they got less close, although they still slept in the same cat bed occaisionaly.
Afcjan I am feeling a lot brighter now thankyou! I miss her madly and have that awful empty space but mostly can remember her with a big smile rather than with tears.
Pericat I am starting to realise a few things about Ozzie! She is a lot less of a picky eater than I thought and is mostly finishing all her food in the bowl. She used to wait until Bandit had finished before eating hers, so now has the place to herself and all the time in the world to eat. She is more affectionate as well, sitting on my lap, although she tends to sit (chillaxe cat for gods sake!) rather than lie down! I am hoping that this is having a good effect on her kidney disease as I am sure that the extra stress that competing with Bandit gave her did not help.
Once again, thank you to everyone for your kind words.
Sue