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olorielYesterday,
almost exactly at this time, Náro died. Not, as his name would have you expect, in a blaze of glory, but in a bout of misery and renal failure. He was struggling throughout the past week, and we knew the end was coming, but it was heartbreaking to see how he was still trying to follow old routines - coming upstairs to the bedroom at night, curling up on Jörg's chair for a daytime nap, using the litterbox - and how, by and by, his ability to do these things dwindled. And still he kept trying. Except eating. He gave up on that last week. Yesterday, he was too weak to stand, although he kept trying. He also suffered from repeated seizures, and we had the impression that he'd gone blind. Yesterday we made up our mind to take him to the vet this morning, to have him released from his suffering, but he pre-empted us; in the evening, he had another seizure, and after that, he was breathing mechanically only, with no animation whatsoever; and then, by and by, the mechanical breathing grew slower, and slower, and stopped. I had him on my lap and stroked him, so I suppose I should count myself privileged to have been with him both for his very first and his very last breath.
Which is more than I can say for Mr Darcy, who walked out on us the weekend before last while still recovering from an unspecified infection (or, quite likely in hindsight, also suffering from renal failure; the vet suspected a genetic component), and never returned, and although the kids kept praying for him to come back, we very much doubt that he will.
Two cats over the course of two weeks. We've known them all their lives, and it hurts. The kids have known them all their lives, and are also mourning; Felix by asking uncomfortable questions about what happens after death and what the last days may have been like from Náro's and Darcy's perspective, Julian by declaring his intention to get new cats as soon as possible, both by crying. As we are.
The last two months have been utterly draining, physically and emotionally, and this was... a bit much.
The fact that the topic I've got to cover with my 6th graders right now is "Adopt a pet" just adds insult to injury.
ETA: Darcy has been found, dead, in the attic, in the opening between the roof and the floor where he liked to hide whenever he caught on to our plans to go to the vet. He seems to have died during a seizure - some of his claws were lodged into the wooden floorboard - fairly soon after he disappeared, judging by the smell and the bloating. Now the brothers are buried together behind the barn.
It's a kind of closure, but... that doesn't help a lot.
ETA ETA: Have decided to keep the "Adopt a pet" side of the unit to its absolute minimum and will instead blow up the "Bonfire Night" side of it. (They are related; the story in the textbook is that our intrepid heroes occasionally run errands for an elderly neighbour, whose dog has run away because it was scared of the fireworks. The kids find him at the local animal shelter, where of course there are lots of other cute pets looking for good homes.)
almost exactly at this time, Náro died. Not, as his name would have you expect, in a blaze of glory, but in a bout of misery and renal failure. He was struggling throughout the past week, and we knew the end was coming, but it was heartbreaking to see how he was still trying to follow old routines - coming upstairs to the bedroom at night, curling up on Jörg's chair for a daytime nap, using the litterbox - and how, by and by, his ability to do these things dwindled. And still he kept trying. Except eating. He gave up on that last week. Yesterday, he was too weak to stand, although he kept trying. He also suffered from repeated seizures, and we had the impression that he'd gone blind. Yesterday we made up our mind to take him to the vet this morning, to have him released from his suffering, but he pre-empted us; in the evening, he had another seizure, and after that, he was breathing mechanically only, with no animation whatsoever; and then, by and by, the mechanical breathing grew slower, and slower, and stopped. I had him on my lap and stroked him, so I suppose I should count myself privileged to have been with him both for his very first and his very last breath.
Which is more than I can say for Mr Darcy, who walked out on us the weekend before last while still recovering from an unspecified infection (or, quite likely in hindsight, also suffering from renal failure; the vet suspected a genetic component), and never returned, and although the kids kept praying for him to come back, we very much doubt that he will.
Two cats over the course of two weeks. We've known them all their lives, and it hurts. The kids have known them all their lives, and are also mourning; Felix by asking uncomfortable questions about what happens after death and what the last days may have been like from Náro's and Darcy's perspective, Julian by declaring his intention to get new cats as soon as possible, both by crying. As we are.
The last two months have been utterly draining, physically and emotionally, and this was... a bit much.
The fact that the topic I've got to cover with my 6th graders right now is "Adopt a pet" just adds insult to injury.
ETA: Darcy has been found, dead, in the attic, in the opening between the roof and the floor where he liked to hide whenever he caught on to our plans to go to the vet. He seems to have died during a seizure - some of his claws were lodged into the wooden floorboard - fairly soon after he disappeared, judging by the smell and the bloating. Now the brothers are buried together behind the barn.
It's a kind of closure, but... that doesn't help a lot.
ETA ETA: Have decided to keep the "Adopt a pet" side of the unit to its absolute minimum and will instead blow up the "Bonfire Night" side of it. (They are related; the story in the textbook is that our intrepid heroes occasionally run errands for an elderly neighbour, whose dog has run away because it was scared of the fireworks. The kids find him at the local animal shelter, where of course there are lots of other cute pets looking for good homes.)
