I found this great forum a few weeks ago when I was concerned about a lump my kitty Orangey had. I received many kind words and lots of great advice. It turned
out the lump was not cancer, but a cyst. However, in the last couple weeks, Orangey began to suffer from other things, and today, after his long 18 year
journey, I decided it was time to let him go.
I only had Orangey in my home for about a year and a half. He was my parents' cat, my mom's best buddy, and probably the only cat who ever won over my dad. He was "Dr. Orange" to my mom throughout all her many ailments. When my mom died in 2005, he lived with my dad in their house for another year. My dad had Alzheimers disease, and we moved him from his home in Texas to a facility here in California, so we could be near him. He lived about another year. When my dad moved here, we moved Orangey, as well. He had to fly in a plane, and I picked him up in cargo, at the San Jose airport. This was some serious cat-ness! He was pretty stressed for a little while, but he soon learned to enjoy being a California cat with his brothers and sisters in our house.
Truth be told, I never really understood why Orangey was my mom's best buddy until only recently, when I realized I would lose him soon. I thought he was kind of annoyingly feisty, and I didn't like it when he would bite - hard! When he slept on the bed with us, he would push against us - hard, like he was trying to make more space. Very annoying, and very sleep depriving! But I did eventually learn that he was a smart, soulful, adaptable, and extremely cute and lovable cat.
He asked for more and more attention in the past few weeks, and we gave it to him. He became a "best buddy" again, and I realized how much love he gave to everyone he came in contact with. He declined a lot in the last 2 weeks or so. He got very skinny, and had a bit of trouble walking, though he still did walk. I have been worried about him for about the past week, not knowing if I would find him dead when I got home from work, and wishing, that maybe he would die in his sleep at night when he was sleeping on our bed with us. Those things didn't happen. This morning, he seemed very out of it, and he seemed to be suffering, so I made the decision. Even in the vet's office, I wasn't sure though. The vet was very understanding and talked with us a lot. After a very long time, we did finally allow Orangey to have a very peaceful death, instead of letting him get worse, as we were sure he would.
I have had cats die before, but this was the hardest. Rest in peace, Orangey. I love you, Orangey.
P.S. You can see Kitty-Girl in the background. Thanks for reading!
I only had Orangey in my home for about a year and a half. He was my parents' cat, my mom's best buddy, and probably the only cat who ever won over my dad. He was "Dr. Orange" to my mom throughout all her many ailments. When my mom died in 2005, he lived with my dad in their house for another year. My dad had Alzheimers disease, and we moved him from his home in Texas to a facility here in California, so we could be near him. He lived about another year. When my dad moved here, we moved Orangey, as well. He had to fly in a plane, and I picked him up in cargo, at the San Jose airport. This was some serious cat-ness! He was pretty stressed for a little while, but he soon learned to enjoy being a California cat with his brothers and sisters in our house.
Truth be told, I never really understood why Orangey was my mom's best buddy until only recently, when I realized I would lose him soon. I thought he was kind of annoyingly feisty, and I didn't like it when he would bite - hard! When he slept on the bed with us, he would push against us - hard, like he was trying to make more space. Very annoying, and very sleep depriving! But I did eventually learn that he was a smart, soulful, adaptable, and extremely cute and lovable cat.
He asked for more and more attention in the past few weeks, and we gave it to him. He became a "best buddy" again, and I realized how much love he gave to everyone he came in contact with. He declined a lot in the last 2 weeks or so. He got very skinny, and had a bit of trouble walking, though he still did walk. I have been worried about him for about the past week, not knowing if I would find him dead when I got home from work, and wishing, that maybe he would die in his sleep at night when he was sleeping on our bed with us. Those things didn't happen. This morning, he seemed very out of it, and he seemed to be suffering, so I made the decision. Even in the vet's office, I wasn't sure though. The vet was very understanding and talked with us a lot. After a very long time, we did finally allow Orangey to have a very peaceful death, instead of letting him get worse, as we were sure he would.
I have had cats die before, but this was the hardest. Rest in peace, Orangey. I love you, Orangey.
P.S. You can see Kitty-Girl in the background. Thanks for reading!
Orangey 
Orangey 
& Callie
