Cat: Jack (Died 06/25/2011)
My family had to put one of our cats down on Saturday. His hereditary heart murmur led to a blood clot in his spine, which made it extremely painful to move his back legs.
He crawled into my parents’ room and started meowing. Actually meowing, not his usual pathetic squeak. Dad was the only one still sleeping there, so he noticed. He woke us kids up so we could all come with, if we wanted.
We couldn’t calm Jack down. He was meowing in pain, not panic, but he was being friendly as ever. When we got to the vet’s, she explained that his heart problems had caused a blood clot, he had little chance of survival, and that if he did make it, he would most likely go through this again at some point.
She gave him painkillers while Dad went to get Mom from work, so she could come and help make a decision (the cat is her baby). I wanted to scream “STOP!” as the vet injected the overdose of anesthesia into our finally calm cat’s front leg.
We all watched as Jack, the gentlest cat we had ever known, died in Mom’s arms. Dad said that he could see the life leave his eyes.
To be technical here, the dead creature’s pupils relaxed when his lifeless brain no longer had control over their dilation.
Jack will be missed by the whole family. He was so affectionate. We hope to succeed him with a new kitten of the same “ragdoll” breed. We are hoping to avoid watching another pet painfully die by going to a reputable breeder instead of a shelter this time.
Finding Jack in the pet store’s window of cats adoptable from the Humane Society was like striking gold.
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