My Friend is Gone
By
He regularly demanded food. He spent his whole day lying on top of all the paperwork on my desk. He sank his claws and teeth into my hand whenever I tried to move him. He also had the bad habit of dragging dead or dying birds in through the cat-door for us early some mornings that I had to dispose of.
But now our best soul-buddy is gone, and I personally feel a sudden, deep emptiness.
“Mr. Pookey” had suffered a few brief seizures the night before and I made plans to take him to the vet this morning. Our rag-doll cat buddy of over 6 years never made it; he apparently died in his sleep sometime during the night at the foot of our bed, at an age of around 7 years.
Sad as I am, however, I feel eternally blessed. We almost lost him from heart failure back in 2008 but he chose to give us three more years of comfort and love before he slipped away. I gave him medicine daily, dissolved into a dropper full of “green drink” mixture, and he took it reluctantly but willingly . . . knowing he would get his “treat” immediately afterwards!
I never knew how deeply a pet can affect me. I’ve had many pets before, but none touched my heart as completely as this visitor from heaven.
Having gone through many losses and heartaches in my life, I developed a bit of philosophy that has carried me through times such as these:
“The heart breaks in order to get bigger.”
My heart is feeling pretty big these days. Your comments are welcome.
Each little soul that touches our lives makes us a better person. Pookey shared his soul with you and brought you much happiness and comfort. It is always sad to lose our friends but they are always with us in our memory and our hearts. I am involved in rescue because I know that pets deserve to love and be loved and need to be given that chance. They are our best friends.
Thanks Page. We’ve said goodbye to quite a few critters in our family, and no doubt will say goodbye to more. And it still feels like open-heart surgery done by a loving surgeon. Blissful pain.
Pookey was such a special cat! I always love to hear the stories about him and it was so funny when I was on the phone with Brigitte and he was not amused to get the wrong food, or food was not quick enought at the right place or door was closed or … 😉
It was so amazing that Brigitte met Cassy and she introduced her to such wonderful friens. A few weeks after her visit here in Munich Pookey (who looks like Cassy) came to you both and he had such a wonderful time with you. Isn’t it unbelievable how close to our hearts cats can be and how much joy they can bring to our live. I know how it feels to loose those little friends… Hope you will feel better soon!
Thank you Conny; Brigitte and I are very touched by your concern. Mr. P’s death opened both our hearts in ways we never imagined.