LOSS and GRIEF are Powerful Emotions

SIMBA

Today, Joy and I decided we had to put our cat of 9 years, Simba, down. Simba developed Feline Urinary Syndrome, which is common in male cats, tiny crystals block the urethra preventing the cat from emptying their bladder. This causes extreme discomfort and can be fatal because urea backs up into the system and results in uric poisoning.

Last week, I had noticed that Simba was trying to mark the wall which I thought was unusual. He was also looking a little thin and I said to Joy that something is wrong. We then noticed he was having trouble in the litter box and not urinating. We took him to an emergency VET Hospital and they confirmed that his bladder was firm and full and that he probably had a blockage. I told Joy that I did not care what the cost was, we needed to give him a chance...he is like a child for us, not just a pet cat and he was not going down without a fight. The bill was well over a thousand dollars, most people would say that's crazy to spend that amount of money on a cat--I really don't care what others think. After they put a catheter in him and relieved the bladder, they also found the crystals causing the blockage...he was on an IV and had a urine bag when we took him to our regular vet on Monday Morning. They did some x-rays and discovered that he had a pea sized stone in his bladder that could be dissolved through diet...the good news was nothing showed in his kidneys...he stayed with the Vet for a couple of days, we hoped that he would recover, but he gradually got worse and the Vet called Thursday to let Joy know that he was again blocked.

We did everything we could do for Simba. Joy is beating herself up thinking somehow she is responsible for what happened to Simba---I told her that she is NOT responsible.

There was a LOT of crying going on since returning to Raleigh last night from Savannah...I loved that cat so much that I could not bear the thought of putting him down. Joy spent the night holding him and talking to him and loving on Simby...every time I came into where Simba was I balled like a baby, I just could not look at him without feeling a deep sense of loss and grief...it is terrible to lose a soul you have come to love with your heart; I know I will not be the same without Simba---it will take a while for me to recover from this loss and the miserable part is that it is Christmas.

I Love You Simba.