The Loss of an Old Friend

Friday, Annie and I took Molly, my alltime favorite cat (I’ve loved them all but, yes, she was my favorite) to the vet for her last visit.  In recent days, it had become more and more difficult for her to walk and, finally, her back legs failed her.  I’m pretty sure she was also in the last stage of kidney failure and she had to begun to cry, just occasionally.  I knew it was time.

I’ve had to take other cats and a dog on that trip and it’s always devastating but I’ve never felt I was jumping the gun, giving up too soon.  I’d like to think I’ve had the courage to make the decision before the loved one really suffered.  You can’t be fully prepared, though, any more than you can with losing the humans in your life.

Just three weeks ago, I wrote a piece about Molly and her personality and her great age:

http://www.cncbooks.com/blog/2010/05/30/our-animal-pals/

A foreshadowing of what was to come, I suppose, but I’m so glad I did write about her.  Molly epitomizes for all of us petlovers what they mean to us, what a huge part of our lives they become.  I’ve spent 20 years of my life either anticipating her birth or living with her.  She outlasted all of her siblings from two litters, nine kittens altogether, and generally had a good life, especially when she went outdoors, up to about three years ago.  Molly was a tyrant sometimes, a whiner sometimes, a phenomenal hunter, a loud little sister who complained about her brothers picking on her (which they did, unmercifully), a scrapper, a screecher who could raise the roof at an amazing decibel level, a tiny bundle of energy, a grand dame who refused to be dragged down by blindness and loss of hearing and arthritis.  She was a joy and none of us who knew her will be able to forget her and her pixie face with the tongue frequently sticking out.

Goodbye, Molly.  I love you and I’ll miss you.

  • Share/Bookmark

June 20, 2010   Posted in: Tales of a Bookseller

2 Responses

  1. M. R. Sellars - June 20, 2010

    ((HUGS))

    Been there. I know exactly how you feel. :(

  2. Lelia - June 20, 2010

    Thanks so much, Murv, that actually helps. Makes me tear up but so does everything else right now ;) It’s amazing what a hole they can leave, isn’t it?

Leave a Reply