RIP old kitty
We had to put Claw (the 17 yr old kitty) to sleep yesterday.
When Jeff and I got legally married in Aug and he moved in bringing Claw, I noticed back then something was wrong with the cat's jaw. It didn't look right and he was always drooling. Claw would cry a lot (I posted a previous journal entry about it). But I just assumed maybe he was old and that's what old cats do. Besides, the cat went deaf about a year ago and that's probably why he cries non stop, because he doesn't hear himself. Besides a few aches and pains with age.
Then a couple months after Claw moved in he wouldn't eat anything and would just cry loudly non stop all hours of the day while Jeff was at work. Jeff blamed it on us (my mom, me and and my bro) for putting him out side, therefore the cat felt abandoned. He said that was the reason for him not eating and just crying so loudly. But I looked at his jaw and noticed all the puss. Told Jeff we had to get him to the vet clinic ASAP. They pulled out a lot of his teeth. I blamed Jeff back then because he told me that the last time he took Claw to the vet had been 4 yrs ago and Claw had been having problems with his jaw for a year already! Holy dang!! You let it go on for a year!!
Anyways... After his surgery back then we thought he should improve but he didn't. His mouth continued to deteriorate. He continued to have trouble eating. Back in Oct he weight a whopping 7 lbs and Jeff said he used to weigh at least double that.
For the last few days he was crying non stop again and wouldn't eat his food. I tried to sooth him, I tried to make his bed comfortable, tried to figure out what was wrong. Then Jeff came home yesterday after helping paint a roof at church, and loked at Claws mouth... he said the rest of his teeth are falling out, bleeding, and he has puss again. I told him we have to take him back to the clinic asap again.
When we got there and finally got to see the doc, she said she suspects he has mouth cancer. His lower jaw bone has rotted away and she can't find much hard bone left, it has softened. He weight 5 lbs this time. Claw was in a lot of pain. We made the decision to put him to sleep. Jeff was crying the rest of yesterday. All I could do was comfort him. He had Claw since he was a kitten. I feel sorry for getting upset at Claw for being cranky and meowing all the time. I didn't know he had mouth cancer. Just thought he was old and deaf. Well he isn't in pain anymore.... RIP Claw.
We will take him up to the north shore to the property where he used to live right on the beach and see if we can bury him there. Claw loved it up there and wasn't very comfortable in my house. Well, Claw, not everyone can afford to have beach front property. lol. But you will be spending an eternity there. :)
When Jeff and I got legally married in Aug and he moved in bringing Claw, I noticed back then something was wrong with the cat's jaw. It didn't look right and he was always drooling. Claw would cry a lot (I posted a previous journal entry about it). But I just assumed maybe he was old and that's what old cats do. Besides, the cat went deaf about a year ago and that's probably why he cries non stop, because he doesn't hear himself. Besides a few aches and pains with age.
Then a couple months after Claw moved in he wouldn't eat anything and would just cry loudly non stop all hours of the day while Jeff was at work. Jeff blamed it on us (my mom, me and and my bro) for putting him out side, therefore the cat felt abandoned. He said that was the reason for him not eating and just crying so loudly. But I looked at his jaw and noticed all the puss. Told Jeff we had to get him to the vet clinic ASAP. They pulled out a lot of his teeth. I blamed Jeff back then because he told me that the last time he took Claw to the vet had been 4 yrs ago and Claw had been having problems with his jaw for a year already! Holy dang!! You let it go on for a year!!
Anyways... After his surgery back then we thought he should improve but he didn't. His mouth continued to deteriorate. He continued to have trouble eating. Back in Oct he weight a whopping 7 lbs and Jeff said he used to weigh at least double that.
For the last few days he was crying non stop again and wouldn't eat his food. I tried to sooth him, I tried to make his bed comfortable, tried to figure out what was wrong. Then Jeff came home yesterday after helping paint a roof at church, and loked at Claws mouth... he said the rest of his teeth are falling out, bleeding, and he has puss again. I told him we have to take him back to the clinic asap again.
When we got there and finally got to see the doc, she said she suspects he has mouth cancer. His lower jaw bone has rotted away and she can't find much hard bone left, it has softened. He weight 5 lbs this time. Claw was in a lot of pain. We made the decision to put him to sleep. Jeff was crying the rest of yesterday. All I could do was comfort him. He had Claw since he was a kitten. I feel sorry for getting upset at Claw for being cranky and meowing all the time. I didn't know he had mouth cancer. Just thought he was old and deaf. Well he isn't in pain anymore.... RIP Claw.
We will take him up to the north shore to the property where he used to live right on the beach and see if we can bury him there. Claw loved it up there and wasn't very comfortable in my house. Well, Claw, not everyone can afford to have beach front property. lol. But you will be spending an eternity there. :)
Replies
I\'m so sorry for your loss, as I understand just how much this hurts you and your husband. The beach sounds like the perfect resting place for Claw :)
I\'m sorry for your loss but glad Claw is no longer in pain.
Thank you, everyone. I really appreciate the support. We drove up in a terrible storm... BUT.... It was a really nice burial. He looked peaceful wrapped in his towel... like he was sleeping. We put him under a tree with his toys... we planted a nice aloe plant over his grave. There were whales splashing and spouting in the distance (and behind them a storm rolling in). We left and drove back home right before the storm came back in.
The ride home was a lot of silence. You could feel the heaviness but at the same time a sense of relief that it was over for him.
That sounds perfect and very peaceful. Now, may the healing begin ~ hugs.