I have bad news and good news.
First, the bad.
Annwynn is nearly 18. He’s been getting slower and skinnier and more decrepit for many years, and last weekend he had a very bad weekend – the kind of very bad where you realize it’s time to let go.
His appointment is next Tuesday, the 20th. We’re having the vet come to the house, and are trying to arrange things so it’s as calm and soothing for him as possible. And in the meantime, we’re trying to make sure his last week is full of all his favorite things. His favorite foods (basil pesto, blue cheese, and peanut butter), evening sniffs outside, precedence in all chairs and laps and soft places, sleeping under the covers – anything he wants.
And I’m trying to really focus on the present for this precious last week.
Now the good news.
We didn’t plan it this way, but it’s good that it worked out the way it did. A kitten showed up at work. They managed to trap her, and she was taken in by a local adoption agency. However, I sent my name with her, and was just accepted as a foster home for her. I picked her up yesterday.
She’s about 3 months old, is still skittish, but settling into things nicely. Mileva and Lyra are offended and indignant; Annwynn has noticed but I don’t know if he remembers. We got a picture last night of Little Bit laying on top of Annwynn. We got several photos, actually; it was a while before he noticed.
Having her makes this week a whole lot less maudlin. And she’s going to be excellent therapy for next week.
Condolences from Us and our kitties.
Hope the new kitty is adjusting well and works out great for petting therapy.
Well, it’s done.
He had a really good final week. He did take another down cycle starting Sunday – stopped eating, stopped moving. We tempted him with everything we had, but didn’t press the issue too much. It was all about what he wanted.
I took time off from work so I could be with him pretty much non-stop for the weekend and up to today. Just a lot of quiet time sitting by him and reading or messing with the iPad and telling him all the things I needed to tell him.
The very last thing he had to eat was blue cheese, which may have been his very favorite food. He didn’t react at all to the vet & vet tech coming in – he did hiss when they gave him the sedative shot, but that was all. And then I held him, and they gave him his last shot while I was holding him. I was holding him, Joseph was petting him; the two vets were petting him a little too – he was surrounded on all sides by petting and this wonderful calm energy. His last few breaths were fairly labored, but he didn’t struggle.
And then he was gone.
And I had a pretty good cry, then we took care of logistics for a bit, up to and through the cremation process. Then we came home and I had a really good cry. Several of them, in fact. The other kitties have been very good about it … they seem to know that when you’re making weird sounds and dripping on them, that they need to sit tight and let themselves be held.
Giselle (the kitten) is doing her best, too. She is purring at me and being relentlessly cute. I am glad the timing worked out like it did – it helps, having her. We’ll probably take her in for a follow up vet visit in a few days – I don’t know when she’ll start on the adoption circuit, but it should be fairly soon. But she’ll have been very well handled by then.
It has taken me a while to check back and see if you had written more. It hurt when I thought about it and I needed to work through that before I could read more. Sounds selfish of me……
I am so glad it went well. I know it was hard, but you made the right decision. It’s hard to believe Annwynn was almost 18. Hard to believe it has been that long.
Giselle sounds sweet.