Mahjong Life and Living

Of my three cats, Tiger ended up as my last one.  Just over night between 3 AM and 6 AM local time, he passed away at home.  My plan was to hope for him to last long enough for veterinary assistance, which opens up at 8 PM.  However, he did not make it.  Instead, I had brought his dead body to the veterinary clinic for cremation. In the days and hours prior to his death, I had decisions to make.  They were all wrong in terms of keeping him alive.  Via Google, the search term "signs cat is dying" produced a list.  His condition fit all the descriptors.  He was dying.   The only thing I did not know was when.  From here on, everything is hindsight which is 20/20 vision.  In terms of happenstance, this was how it was meant to be.  He died on a carpeted floor all by himself at home, where he wanted to be. In light of everything, I express my satisfaction in having spent my life with all my cats for so many years.  Their m...

 I am fresh from my walk from the animal emergency hospital.  I lost a cat today: Kai (2005-2020). This was Maki's son.  Basically, about six months to the day after she died, he is gone too.  He has joined his mom up in heaven. Earlier today, he seemed fine before his vet visit.  So, I went about my day today without worry.  I arrive home seeing my dad cradling him, and I was told that something was wrong.  What was wrong? He kept his mouth open and breathing hard.  I was told that he fell down the stairs.  Heck, I even put him on the stairs at his favorite spot, only to find that he ended up the stairs momentarily.  Then he was down on his side, breathing hard, with a fast heart rate.  He even managed to get a hiss in because it must've been painful.  This was not normal, but I thought the situation was salvagable. Regardless, this was not normal; and we loaded him into the cat carrier.  Then we head off to the emergenc...

As of 3:17 PM US Central Time, my cat Maki had passed away via euthanasia.  It is a tough pill to swallow, despite anticipation for the past year.  It has finally happened.  Her cancer had reached a state of infection, where it was finally necessary to end her suffering.  She needed regular daily doses of pain medication for the past couple weeks.  She did well, with spirits kept up and even surpassed her 20th birthday.  As for today, the time was right, as her behavior indicated as such.  She knew it was time to go. It was great knowing her.  I miss her already.  When I have myself more collected, I will write more about her.  For now, this was her sleeping earlier this morning.

Late in 2018 just prior to Thanksgiving, I spent a weekend crying. For a few days, my cat was not really eating.  We found her in a very weak condition, barely eating if at all.  Reading the situation, I had to make a decision: Do we put her down or not?  I had never experienced this before, so it was rather emotionally stressful.  The thought of her being dead so suddenly was too much to bear.  Had my decision gone through, she would not be alive right now.  When the "last hope" of her eating was dashed, my mind thought: "that was it".  My sister managed find some added information; and her nausea was relieved as the vet prescribed some medicine. In my tears and desperation, I did write out some words on paper.  One year later, I do not know where that writing went.  It's somewhere.  I have to find it; when I find it, I'll type it out.  The basic jist made me realize how much this cat meant to me.  Before then, I never rea...