I had to put my cat to sleep yesterday.

[Ash]

Being a big cat lover myself, I understand how you feel.

Many years ago (this would've been around 1986) when I was about 12, my family took in a full grown stray who ended up living with us for several years. 
He was the mangiest looking thing you ever did see but he was so friendly.   
We named him Buddy.

He was allowed to go outside and he'd prowl the neighborhood for days at a time...but he'd always come back.
We'd clean him up and bathe him but then he'd leave and come back with burs in his fur and other various stains on him.

One day, he left and didn't come back for almost two weeks...which really upset me at the time.
Then, out of the blue, he just showed up scratching at the back door.
The good thing was that he came back.
The bad thing was that he was cut up bad and missing his left eye.   
It was pretty nasty...just an empty slot with loads of green mucus oozing out of it.
(I can close my eyes and still see that horrible wound in my mind)
I assumed he got into a pretty bad brawl with another cat or cats.

We took him to the vet but were told that he had a massive infection and we had to put him down right then and there.
That was tough for me.

---------------------------------------------------

By the way, when I heard your cat's name, I racked my brain trying to figure out where I'd heard the name Toonces before.
Then it occurred to me...it's from Saturday Night Live!

Hope this cheers you up!

Toonces the Driving Cat
[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sA4djg6ILxU

[dean]

Peace and love my friend, peace and love.

[trekgeezer]

Sorry for your loss Torgo. I'm not a cat person, but I've had to bury a couple of dogs in my time and know how it is to lose an old pal like that.

We did have a Siamese named Boots while I was growing up.  That cat could open door knobs by herself and we had an old telephone shelf on the living room wall that she slept on.  She would actually groom our dogs, but if strange dog showed up she knew how to show him the way home.

She lived to the ripe old age of 18 and got to point of not being able to get around anymore when my Mom had her put down.

Like I said, I'm so sorry you lost your friend.

[Derf]

Condolences, Torgo. I'm sorry to hear of your loss.

A friend of mine had a cat that adopted him (showed up on his doorstep and wouldn't leave). He wasn't sure how old she was, but she stayed with him for 18+ years. He married late in life, when the cat, Shir-ka, was really getting old. Shir-ka was showing her age, and one day, it seemed that she decided my friend was being taken good care of by his new wife (in other words, my friend was in good hands), and so she (the cat) crawled into a basket of his laundry, laid down, and let herself go. It was like she simply refused to die until she knew my friend would be okay. They found a statue that resembled her, painted it to look like her, and keep it in her memory. It was very tough on my friend, and apparently on me, too; I'm tearing up a bit just remembering her. 

[raj]

My condolences.  I've had to bury three dogs over my life -- it never gets easier.

[Torgo]

I think that I'm going to give that outdoor cat named Abbie a proper chance to see if I can get her comfortable enough to turn her into a proper indoor cat.

I was out petting her on Tuesday and a yellow jacket landed near me so I took off my flip flop to smash it.  I think that Abbie thought I was swinging the flip flop at her as she took off and was really wary of me for the rest of the day.  She's gotten back into her normal swing of things a bit but she's still a bit nervous after that but we're getting back to where we used to be.

I need to get her checked out though at some vet so I called a free service called Angels of the CC that offer pet services for free and I'm going to see if they can come out to my house to check her out and see what makes her right eye kind of watery.

But I truly appreciate all of the kind words and sympathies everyone, one thing I have always told people about this site is that of all of the forums/boards that I've frequented, Badmovies.org has the coolest bunch of people around.      

[Allhallowsday]

I need to get her checked out though at some vet so I called a free service called Angels of the CC that offer pet services for free and I'm going to see if they can come out to my house to check her out and see what makes her right eye kind of watery.

Good idea; I think Abbie has stolen your heart... let me tell you, when I lost my dog nearly 10 years ago,  I did not want any more !!!  So, I understand being reluctant to dive right back in.  But, sometimes, you have to sacrifice in order to gain something, and, well, when a good animal needs a home, a true animal lover can't stand by idley.  I love cats, one reason being they're very easy to take care of!  Francine walked into my life and would not leave.  What could I do?  Gave her a flea bath and she's essentially been with me since. 

I have always told people about this site is that of all of the forums/boards that I've frequented, Badmovies.org has the coolest bunch of people around.     

...back at ya... other than the badmovies forum, here's the coolest group I know:

[Torgo]

That's a really great looking group of animals there.

[Allhallowsday]

That's a really great looking group of animals there.

The cat is cool with the dogs 'cause she was raised with Sam, a scottie, who died 9 years ago.  Sam is buried in my yard.  The cat and the scottie would wrestle... honest!  

Of these three, they're all good; the beagle who I call Beauty, the jack russell terrier who I call Chicken (the dogs are both 9) and of course that's Pinkyloo in the background who I call Babe.  

[Torgo]

I've always heard that Beagles are great dogs to have around if you have children.  My Dad (who passed away a little over 4 years ago) took in a beagle that he named Beagle Buddy ( ) at his farm that he retired to.  It had some sort of esophagus problem that prohibited it from eating solid food so my Dad had to blend up all his food so that he could slurp it down.  My Dad and his wife took it to the vet and it turned that someone had shot at the dog with some buck shot and that is why it's esophagus was all crooked and messed up.  They gave the dog only 1 year to live.

He is a really humble dog that would cower down when you walked up to him (especially men) and then relax once you started rubbing his belly or ears and he chilled out.

Flash forward 7 years to today and Beagle Buddy is still doing just fine.  If I could have at the time I would taken him in when we had to sell my Dad's farm after he died and everything, but his wife still has ownership of him and takes care of him just fine even though I can't stand the woman.

[Trevor]

  Sorry to hear about that and my condolences, Torgo.

All the best to you, my friend: keep Toonces in your heart and Swaigo in your arms.

Warm hugs 

Trevor

[AnubisVonMojo]

I'm sorry to hear about your loss Torgo, but I support your decision. Between my own home and my grandparents' home I've seen lots of dogs, cats and other pets that have had to be put to sleep and though it's never an easy experience, you know in your heart that it's better than being selfish and holding onto them as long as possible while ignoring the pain that they're going through.

Whenever we lose a pet though we look at it as an opportunity to give the same kind of loving home to another animal who deserves it. It's not an attempt to replace the lost pet, because we still hold onto the memories and the love for every pet that passes and we never forget them. Unfortunately we all know that there are few animals we'll ever be able to have as pets that will outlive us, so we have to accept the mortality of everyone we do take into our lives, but as I said, each happy and loved companion that does pass on is chance to give another needy pet that same life fulfillment.

But, again, that doesn't always make a loss any better, so my fiancee and I offer our sympathies. Good luck to you and yours Torgo.

 

[Jack]

My sympathies go out to you.  I had my first cat for about 18 years or so, she finally got arthritis really bad and on her last day she wasn't able to move at all anymore.  She was meowing all night and I held my hand on her all night to comfort her.  When we had her put to sleep it was truly the saddest day of my life. 

After a few months I got Scooter from the local animal shelter, a big old tomcat that loves to play.  He was locked in his cage for so long at the humane society that when we got him home, he was absolutely desperate to play, he'd run after his little foam rubber ball until he was lying on the ground panting, and as soon as he caught his breath he'd want me to throw it some more.  Right now he's walking over my keyboard, making it a little difficult to type 

So get yourself another cat, kitties need love!

[Dennis]

I am sorry for your loss, we have always had cats and dogs and I know that loosing one is like loosing a family member.

[Torgo]

Since I decided to pass on adopting Swaigo I would like to give an update that a younger couple with a child adopted him today since I passed at the moment.

They don't have any other cats and he's supposed to be very easy going with children so this should be a perfect house for him.

I'm still feeding Abbie and the neighbor's cat that I nicknamed Notch across the street from my house has been wandering over again for me to pet her and feed her (feeding being the operative thing).