Animals enrich our life. Caring for pets makes you a better person. Letting your kids grow up together with animals in/around the house helps them learn the value of care and compassion.
We’ve had cats for almost 30 years now. The original sisterhood – two Holy Birman sisters – passed away ten and twelve years ago, and we adopted two Holy Birman half-brothers soon after, along with all their neuroses and traumas accumulated while being with their first family.
They were already more than eight years old when we took them into our care, and we knew that their time with us might not be that extensive. Still, we embraced them, they fully became part of our little circle and they in turn accepted us as their new humans.
Eventually old age takes its toll and today we had to euthanize Levi. He was deaf, demented, unable to care for and groom himself any longer, and his health had been deteriorating rapidly those last few months.
Levi was a beautiful cat, with a character made of gold. Never raised a claw against us, protesting only with his voice.
The gentle giant (he was almost 6 kilograms in his prime, almost twice the size of the females we had before) – he is no more. And I will miss him.
I feel you man. It’s been almost 2 and a half years since we had to put down the first cat I cam remember having. His name was Presto. He was (likely) part Maine Coon, and was enourmous and full of love and headbutts. He was heartlessly abused by his previous owner, but we gave him the best life possible. Eventually he contracted liver cancer and we had to say goodbye to him at the ripe old age of ~15 (he was so malnourished when we got him that it was hard to tell what age he was, so we say he was roughly 15).
Here’s his picture if you’d like to take a look: https://tronnerd82.nekoweb.org/imgs/Presto.jpg
I wish you the best in your mourning of Levi, and hope your other cat has many healthy years ahead of him.
So so sorry for your loss. One of the hardest things I had to do in my life was have my calico cat put down about 8 years ago. I got her as a 4-6 week old kitten whose mother had abandoned her. My dad found her crying inside an old tire, so I named her Toyo after the brand of tire she was in. Had her for 15 years, and I still choke up whenever I think of her. About a year later, another abandoned cat found me at my summer residence. Started to feed her, and then she disappeared for a few weeks, only to come back with a litter of 4 kittens. Took them all to the vet, and they were all healthy. The vet said that the mother wasn’t even a year old. So I adopted her and one of the kittens, my younger brother adopted a kitten, and we found homes for the other 2 kittens.
I’m so sorry. I think people who don’t have cats underestimate just how gigantic a presence they are in people’s lives. Each time we say we aren’t going to get another cat (because we were gutted by the former cat’s death), one makes their way into our household. It always seems to be the right time, too.
Levi was a beauty! Your story is heartbreaking and brings back memories of my family’s big boy that I grew up with. Gizmo was a Ragdoll and around 25lb US in his prime. In 2006, after 19 and a half years, he had to be put down for the same feline dementia conditions. He still visits me in my dreams once in a while š
During my school years, when I was shy and bullied, he was more than a pet – he was a friend. I still miss laying my head on his belly like a purring pillow, or carrying him across my shoulders like a stole. Lol. What I miss most is when he curled up beside me on cold winter nights, even knocking on my bedroom door to be let in š
Levi was really interested in Slackware for a while, but then got bored…
Laptops have warms; therefore, laptops are for sits. They don’t make the rules. š
My sympathies Eric. I was not a cat person until someone dumped some poor kittens about five years ago next door to my home. There were four of them, three females and a male, a beautiful black cat. One of the females was badly injured. We rushed it to the vet but we could not save her. We were able to give one of the females in adoption, but a beautiful female (Lana) and the black male (Pirata) did not find any adopters, so they were adopted into our family. Sadly, Lana passed away a year ago due to congenital heart failure. Now, Pirata is our companion, and a bonafide rascal.
Levi is in cat heaven, probably maintaining his own Slackware repository. May his memory grant you peace.
Sorry you had to say goodbye to a friend. Cats occupy such a special place in the lives of their owners. Just remember him and remember he certainly loved his time with you as much as you did with him.