Stretch the Cat

It has been said that grief is the good-bye you don't want to say. Last evening, my beloved cat came home with a huge hunk chewed out of his lower left quadrant. I knew immediately there was nothing to be done. Because of shock, he wasn't in any pain. So we let him lie on his favorite Persian rug. We scratched the back of his neck and the side of his ears, and told him we loved him. And we also told him it was okay to go, that he had done his job well. During the night, each of us independently left our bed and went to scratch him. He moved from spot to spot during the night. By this morning when I awoke, he was gone. He was lying peacefully and still.
This afternoon we will bury him in the apricot orchard, next to Brian, who was my familiar and whose loss still makes me cry. We sometimes call our orchard the Apricat orchard. Stretch will be buried carefully and deeply, under a mound of rocks beneath the soil so that whatever got him in life can't disturb him in his long sleep.

It strikes me that with alopcia, some of us face the same type of grief, not wanting to say good-bye to our hair. I have only been on Alopecia World a short while, but it seems as if the people who are coping the best are the ones who just shave their heads, say good-bye all at once, and get on with life. This has given me a lot to think about.

Anyway, for today, it's just, "Good-bye, Stretch. You were a good friend and a fabulous cat. You were loved and appreciated. I'll miss you."

Views: 9

Comment by Nancy on January 4, 2009 at 11:12pm
I wish to express my sympathy about the loss of Stretch. I have grieved over the loss of my cats and dogs over the years. They are such great and loving companions. I am sure you have many fond memories of him.
God bless.
Comment by Georgie on January 4, 2009 at 11:59pm
*sigh* I'm SO sorry about your cat. My 3 yr. old is obsessed with cats and sleeps with a pink cat. It's not easy to say good bye to our pets... {{{hugs}}}
Comment by Val on January 5, 2009 at 12:32am
I am so sorry to hear about Stretch, but I love your parallelism between the loss of your cat and the loss of our hair. I was one to hold onto my little bit of hair and I felt so much better once I took the plunge and shaved it off....now I'm loving life as a baldie (hats and bandanas are so much fun!)
Val (c:
Comment by Alexandra on January 5, 2009 at 12:16pm
I'm so sorry about poor little Stretch. I remember my first beloved cat died to kitty leukemia when I was 7 years old. I was devastated and couldn't stop crying for weeks. Then several years later, my other cat was killed. My dad noticed he hadn't come home all day, which was unusual for him since he always came home for food, so he went looking for him. He found him torn to furry little shreds in a pile of leaves. It still hurts to think about it.
I'm deeply sorry about your loss. I know how sad and how hard it can be. *Hugs*
Alexandra
Comment by Donna on January 9, 2009 at 10:26pm
I am sorry for your loss. I experienced something similar a few months ago. My 16 year old cat was my best friend and I had to put him to sleep very unexpectedly. I knew he was not long for the world because he was obviously sick, as indicated by his appearance and demeanor. Sadly he got injured getting on or off of the bed. I took him to the vet and she said injured or not he was very sick. Deciding to say goodbye was the hardest thing I have ever done.

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