Final Photo Shoot

Status
Not open for further replies.
GetFitStayFit

GetFitStayFit

Member Since 2021
My and Robert Ray final photo shoot this morning. I don’t see the option to upload photos here.

8:00 am March 31 I will release his sick body. I ask him this morning what he wanted me to do.
No sounds of pain, just purring.
How do you put your cat down when you don’t think it’s time?
Please help me know it’s time. Maybe it’s not after all.
 
I usually say, when you're in doubt you're not actually... then it's usually time.
So I think it's time.
It never FEELS like it is, cause who wants to lose someone who means a lot to us?

Is he thriving? Have good quality of life? Can you look yourself in the mirror, if you wait? I don't ever want to regret that I didn't do it sooner. Cause if I did, it would be of selfish reasons and my pets deserve the best, and the best is not having them suffer because I can't let go. I've been too late once, and it was awful.. never again!
 
I don't mean to sound insincere or condescending but is this your first time?
In the 19 years we've lived here my wife and I have lost nine cats and three more in the year before we moved. We've also lost a physically fit dog that had severe dementia. In every case we both agreed we were doing the right thing.
Our vet is a close friend who makes it all more tolerable. We get the last room booked for the day and all the time we need. When it's over we groom them, clean their face and eyes and tuck them in to their favorite towel or basket. Some people have had bad experiences, we've just been lucky.

SashaV is right, if you've reached the point where you're in any doubt then it's time. Releasing any animal from pain is an act of kindness some people don't understand. Human lives can be extended but animals cannot understand that the next six months of misery will all be worth it somehow. They live for the moment.

I'll tell you one quick story about Kobiashi. He was a 28 pound rescue deemed unadoptable. He came to us a neurotic and physical mess but quickly realized he was now in his forever home and lived another ten years. After two weeks of weight loss our vet determined he had suffered at minimum two cardiac events. This was on a Thursday night before a long weekend and what I feared most was having to drag him to emergency sometime over a three day weekend. Our vet assured us he would not make it past the weekend so we made the decision right then and there to end his life in peace rather than in the back of a car or being poked and prodded by strangers.

This is what we owe our pets after they've trusted us with their well being their entire lives. I would expect no less from them. Tomorrow is the day, you won't sleep tonight but if you're the person I think you are you'll do the right thing. It never gets any easier but no matter the length of time your kindness and love have made it worth the effort. Safe journey my friend.
 
When I made the decision to put my former cat Simon down, I questioned it all day and had 2-3 friends come over to see if he seemed ready. I had pulled out cardboard boxes for him, took him outside to lay in the grass, fed him his favorite treats, etc. I questioned my sanity all day of how I could do this to him (he was in N stage CKD). When I finally took him in and my vet got everything ready and listened to my sobbing, he said his symptoms had gotten worse from things he could see and I had made the right choice. He wouldn’t have lasted longer and he was really wasting away. Hold tight to your final hours with Robert and know you are doing the right thing even if it is gut-wrenching.
 
@GetFitStayFit
Today is Thursday and we will be thinking of you. Try and get some sleep, be kind to yourself and remember that guilt is a wasted emotion.
We hope you come back. Many members do after a loss because this is one of the few places where people will understand. What helps a lot of people is to write something in the Grief forum. I imagine most people can't think of what to write but that's why the forum is there, for people like you, me and so many others that just need to say something. You don't have to have been here for a long time to be considered a friend.
Noah's story is in there and my wife still cannot bring herself to look at it. When you're ready your friends will be here. :bighug:
 
Noah & me (GA) said:
I don't mean to sound insincere or condescending but is this your first time?
In the 19 years we've lived here my wife and I have lost nine cats and three more in the year before we moved. We've also lost a physically fit dog that had severe dementia. In every case we both agreed we were doing the right thing.
Our vet is a close friend who makes it all more tolerable. We get the last room booked for the day and all the time we need. When it's over we groom them, clean their face and eyes and tuck them in to their favorite towel or basket. Some people have had bad experiences, we've just been lucky.

SashaV is right, if you've reached the point where you're in any doubt then it's time. Releasing any animal from pain is an act of kindness some people don't understand. Human lives can be extended but animals cannot understand that the next six months of misery will all be worth it somehow. They live for the moment.

I'll tell you one quick story about Kobiashi. He was a 28 pound rescue deemed unadoptable. He came to us a neurotic and physical mess but quickly realized he was now in his forever home and lived another ten years. After two weeks of weight loss our vet determined he had suffered at minimum two cardiac events. This was on a Thursday night before a long weekend and what I feared most was having to drag him to emergency sometime over a three day weekend. Our vet assured us he would not make it past the weekend so we made the decision right then and there to end his life in peace rather than in the back of a car or being poked and prodded by strangers.

This is what we owe our pets after they've trusted us with their well being their entire lives. I would expect no less from them. Tomorrow is the day, you won't sleep tonight but if you're the person I think you are you'll do the right thing. It never gets any easier but no matter the length of time your kindness and love have made it worth the effort. Safe journey my friend.
Click to expand...


I wish I could say this is my first time. My Queen cat Regina Renee was put down July 2020. Two days after, Robert Ray was diagnosed with diabetes. I think Robert Rays loss will be greater because I have been so taking care of him. When you treat a diabetic cat, you are pretty much treating them daily and you are very in the know and have such a watchful eye on them.

I dread tomorrow morning at 7:00 a.m. with every ounce of my being. I can't quit crying. I know what I am up against and it hasn't happened yet. I honestly don't know how to pull myself up out of this. I really don't. I sit here at work crying as I type this.
 
Noah & me (GA) said:
@GetFitStayFit
Today is Thursday and we will be thinking of you. Try and get some sleep, be kind to yourself and remember that guilt is a wasted emotion.
We hope you come back. Many members do after a loss because this is one of the few places where people will understand. What helps a lot of people is to write something in the Grief forum. I imagine most people can't think of what to write but that's why the forum is there, for people like you, me and so many others that just need to say something. You don't have to have been here for a long time to be considered a friend.
Noah's story is in there and my wife still cannot bring herself to look at it. When you're ready your friends will be here. :bighug:
Click to expand...


I won't leave any of the Feline Diabetic groups I am a member of. I feel I may can help others who are up against what I am up against. If nothing else, I can cry with them and pray for them.
 
SashaV said:
I usually say, when you're in doubt you're not actually... then it's usually time.
So I think it's time.
It never FEELS like it is, cause who wants to lose someone who means a lot to us?

Is he thriving? Have good quality of life? Can you look yourself in the mirror, if you wait? I don't ever want to regret that I didn't do it sooner. Cause if I did, it would be of selfish reasons and my pets deserve the best, and the best is not having them suffer because I can't let go. I've been too late once, and it was awful.. never again!
Click to expand...


Even seeing his spreadsheet pop up puts me in tears. It is a reminder what he and I did together. Oh my gawd. My prayer is when I get home from work today, he died while I was gone. The thoughts of me holding him while his body goes limp in my arms..I don't know if I can do this! Oh gawd. I think I am having a nervous break down; I really do.
 
Sorry, I thought it was today and you'd be reading this later. Cry as much as you need to and maybe think about taking the rest of the day off. There's really not much else I can say right now but I remember how you're feeling right now as if it were yesterday.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top