Frecklee the Cat

[pdub]

Freck's been with us for a long time. He's 16 years old. At his age he's got layered health problems. One thing on top of another. One treatment affects another. It comes down to, do we contnue to tortue him with IV fluids and pills down his throat, all of which ruins his day and all of which is only for us to keep him a little while longer, but it's futile.

He's been a member of our family for as long as we've been a family. We've decided to not administer treatment any more. It's his time to go. Sue Unit, being the nurse, would stick the needle into him for the fluids while I held him down and looked the other way because I can't even stand the sight of a needle.

I have seen and heard and read of folks who go to great lengths treating a pet toward the end. Chemo for a cat with breast cancer. Major surgery for a pet with a degenerative nerve disease that can't be cured.

Naturally, the vet community is willing to provide it for a cost. At some point, I think, our pet (everbody's pet) will be gone. We were torturing him with the needles and the pills, and the bottom line is, they weren't helping, and that's the only course of treatment available in Freck's case.

Sue Unit is not really taking it very well. She's cried a lot. She's never seen a pet full term, all the way to the end. She always lost the pets due to a separation or divorce, she's not seen one to the end, from start to finish. This is not going well.

[LORENSWIFE]

Dear Sue, Losing is a pet is a difficult thing. Pets are so innocent. They always love no matter what, you can be the biggest ass in the world and your pet will still be there. It is so difficult to let them go, you have spent your pets entire life taking care of them and usually when things go wrong you were able to fix it, not being able to fix this is a foreign feeling expecially for a woman whose chosen profession is nursing.

My sister kept a cat far beyond when it should have been let go, I went to visit her one day and we were laying on her bed with the cat, so emmaciated, so tired. I spoke softly to this cat as my sister listened with tears streaming down her face.
"Baaboo, Nancy loves you so much and wants you to stay so badly she has done so many things to make you feel comfortable.
All those years She took you with her on the road when she had to do the bird show at the county fairs, she always made sure you were safe and later out of the coyotes reach when you moved further out of town. When you started to get old she knew it was a matter of time but made super human efforts to keep you with her as long as she could, baby food and IV fluids...But it is time for you to go now, it is ok to go. It is ok for Nancy to let you go. What a wonderful bunch of years you both had together, Nancy will never forget you, you will always be in her heart." after that Nancy was able to let go.
Baaboo rests out in the pasture under a giant old oak tree now and sometimes if Nancy and I need to have one of those sisters talks we will go out to that tree, Nancy always talks about her sometime during our conversations.

My incredible Mom Sally would tell Sue that there is nothing more special in this world than people who love animals, people who love animals are special in God's eyes. How lucky Sue is to have had a cat that she was so close too and how lucky Frecklee was to have had Sue. Many animals are forgotten by their owners and never treasured. Sue please know that Frecklee knows how you feel, animals sense when their person is grieving. Each day will get just a little bit easier and someday the pain of this will be replaced by all the great things that you remember about Frecklee.
When you feel better it would be a waste not to embrace another cat that needs the amazing love that you have to give.

~gail

[Huskinhano]

Sorry to hear the news peewee. We had to put our beloved Meow down a few years ago. She was really sick with some sort of GI disease and we were just continuing her pain and suffering because we couldn't let go. It's so hard when they get ill or old. I think I felt worse when Meow went then my mother in law...oh wait, I did.

[Pumpkin]

Well said Gail, that actually helped me cope a little better from my last pet loss. pw, sorry to hear about Frecklee, the cat that loved my flip flops. Please give Sue Unit a hug for me, and let her know she's, as well as you are in my thoughts.

[tardis454]

Sorry to hear about Frecklee peewee. Losing a pet is tough. I think the reason people get so upset about it is because they don't want to lose the unconditional love the pet gives them. I know this all too well. I had to put our dear Mr Steele down when he developed kidney problems. We went through the whole 'give him a shot every couple weeks' deal & he lived another 3yrs, but he got really bad towards the end & there was nothing the vet could do, short of charging us $1800 for a surgery with no guarantees of him recovering. I took him in on a Saturday in March of 07, he was foaming at the mouth, & could not pee. I went in acting like a hard ass, & left crying like a little kid when they put him to sleep. It was pretty sudden, I didn't expect I'd be putting my cat to sleep right then & there. I still get misty thinking about it, he was my pal. He always made sure I went to bed at a decent hour & got up for work on time. It's funny how animals seem to know what time it is without having a watch or even knowing what time is. I did manage to get a video of Mr Steele playing one of my keyboards. He always liked them, he'd sneak into the music room & rub his head or his paw on the keys to hear the sound, it was pretty cool!

We got Thor before Mr Steele died & Mr Steele taught Thor a trick or 2. Thor is my new alarm clock. He also likes the music room, cept he's into guitars lol! I caught him pawing at my Strat a few times, it was pretty funny.



Now Thor is a big boy, & bad too! But we love him like we did Mr Steele.



I miss Mr Steele a lot, but I remember him & all of his antics. Thor is proving to be a cool cat too. He's always waiting by a door or window right about the time I get home. I think the lesson here is all animals give unconditional love, you just gotta pick the one you want to love 'you'.

[STINEY]

The main reason we have pets ourselves, is so that our children will grow up knowing how to deal with loss. Some of our friends disagree, but I don't believe waiting for an immediate human family member to pass is the best way to be introduced to the cycle of life. It kind of eases them into the reality of things, and better equips them for life.

That said, I miss my childhood pets. There are some that stand out more than others, but all are remembered. They really do enhance our life in many ways.

Here's the newest recruit to the Stinehelfer household, Friendly Belle Smudge, dirtball extraordinaire. And her older sidekick, Schnitzel, the crosseyed wonder.

[DanStokes]

Hang in there, you two. You both have grown very special to the disfunctional BangShift family and we feel for you.

Beaux is getting close, we think. Dr. B has done a special job of keeping him as well as possible while remembering "first, do no harm". I'm down in FL taking care of Mom in, what I suspect, a similar circumstance. It is, indeed, the circle of life. I'm getting tired of death, though.

Best to you and Sue. As ME's Dad used to say - "give her a hug from me and get one for yourself".

Dan

[Lon_H]

Sorry about Frecklee. I've lost a couple cherished pets, my favorite was Pixel, named after a Robert Heinlein character. I told my wife and daughter no more pets, yet somehow we ended up with Prissy. She is strictly an indoor cat, except when my wife takes her for a walk. Cant let her outside, due to the chicken hawks, large dogs running loose and the busy country road we live on. She is still young so she'll be around for a while.

[BKBridges]

Its amazing how much a 10 lb animal can change/own your life. We lost our last cat to feline AIDS at the age of 3. Our current cat has been with us ever since (22 years) and doesnt seem to be going anywhere. Neither are we. None of our friends will cat sit anymore due to the cats age and blindness. My wife and I have taken seperate vacations for the past 2 years due to the cat. Dont know what well do when shes gone (other than take a vacation). Shes a great cat. The decision is always a hard one, even when its obvious. Good luck and hang in there!

[daved931]

My mom had a cat for 18 years and she dragged it out for the last 6 months. Actually, at the time, the cat had been in the family longer than I had. It was really sad, but she couldn't part with the little guy. Finally, my dad and I had to sit her down and tell her that she was being selfish and it was time to let him go. She was feeding him ground up chicken and giblets through an eye dropper. He was emaciated and his fur was getting patchy. It was pretty sad. She cried for about a week straight, but a stray cat turned up not long after and sort of helped to heal the wounds.

When it came time for that cat to pass, she had learned her lesson and took him to the vet to have him put to sleep. It was much more humane and, surprisingly, it was easier for her as well. She knew it was coming and and it all worked out.

[pdub]

Thank you all folks, sincerely for the outpouring of goodwill, and the words of encouragement. This forum is such a special place that way, and I've only met Dan and Matt in person from the folks who chimed in on this thread.

We'll get through this, we have to. I think I may have already put the poor fellow to rest myself, but Unit's mindset is not there yet. We're hopng he dies in his sleep, and there's a good chance for that since he's sleeping pitifully about 23.5 hours per day now. That's all he can do, just about.

[Huskinhano]

Ya know peewee, there'll be a poor kitty someplace that'll need a loving home down the road.

[pdub]

I know you folks dread to see this thread get bumped, but I have to come clean on it.

First and again, thank you all for your encouraging words. And I made a horrible mistake when I called BangShift a "forum" in an earlier post. It's not that. It IS a fmaily, as Dan Stokes pointed out. Even if not all of us have had the opportunity to meet each other in person. Therein is the power of the internet. One of the good things about it.

Frecklee has not yet left us. To clarify, his thing is congestive heart failure. It's the treatments that are layered and contradictory to one another, the fluids, and the pills to make him lose fluids, etc. At his worst he couldn't breathe. His lungs were full of fluid. That's how it all started, this "final" episode.

So we took him off of the treatments that were tortuing him, and waited for him to die at home. This is too much information, I'm sure, but he laid in a chair for two days and then he got up! Catting around. He said, "I'm good." He's goofy, his wits are gone, sits and stares at a kitchen cabinet and stuff, but he's still around.

Dang. Still catting around.

So we've already had Freck's funeral here and we won't do that again, whenever the end is real. Who knows, the most dramatic recovery I've seen in person, for sure. What came out of my mouth this afternoon to Sue Unit, these past few weeks have been more stressful than when our parents were dying, one after another. I think it's because we always thought and believed our parents would just get better and carry on. But we know Freclkee won't. It's sure hard to watch, but thanks again for all of your support.

[STINEY]

He's goofy, his wits are gone, sits and stares at a kitchen cabinet and stuff, but he's still around.

Sounds like most of our cats. I swear they do that just to see if they can make us look too.... usually works.

Give him a bit of catnip for me.

[pdub]

He's done. He's in cat heaven now. Thank you all again. Thanks you all so much, it's meant a lot.