We are not pet people, well Brandon and I are not pet people. The offer came from people we loved, The Moultons, to take their cat that they didn't want to take across country. The people in our house we loved (Cole and Laura) really wanted a pet. With promises of mole deliverance to Brandon we welcomed Tiger home. We kept him on our back porch trapped for two weeks to acclimate him and the let him go. He didn't come back and I was so sad, but then one day Brandon comes in and says guess how's back. I was so happy!
We enjoyed him for almost two years. He was the perfect pet for us. He wanted just enough loves. He made good on the moles and would leave them for us as presents on the patio. He would sleep and snuggle with Cole and Cole loved that.
Recently, we began to notice that Tiger wasn't himself, he was turning his nose up to food, losing weight, sitting with us on the couch which he never did. So today I took him to the vet and they basically said he's sick - sick, sick. After weighing our options for Tiger and the vet agreeing, we decided to put him to sleep. I'm from the country there are no decisions about animals. This was so hard, but we knew it was the best decision for Tiger.......
My heart was broken, telling Cole was harder than I thought it would be. He was so so sad. Laura was too in her own way, she wanted Tiger back but was not emotional about it, that's part age, part personality. Hannah was oblivious, Brandon was cool until he told Cole. Cole didn't want to go say goodbye to Tiger at first, but then changed his mind. I'm glad he did. We were able to have a couple of minutes with Tiger and hold him during the go to sleep phase. No one wanted to be there during the final shot. They gave us his body in a box.
Cole wanted him to be near the lemon tree so he could smell the blossoms. We decided on a spot less traveled in the back and put blossoms on top. We had a "funeral" for him where Cole conducted and we sang Did Jesus really live again?, offered a prayer and most of us told of a Tiger memory. We were so proud of Cole, it was so hard for him. Cole wrote on Tiger's coffin (that actually looked like a little coffin). Tiger you were the best cat I will and ever had. Love, Love, Love, Cole. Laura was so sweet and loving to Cole, she wanted so much to help him and would hug him when he cried. She also carried Tiger's box around for us and ended up falling in the hole we dug. Hannah was trying to fill up the hole before it was time and kept wanting to see Tiger. She was so sweet today though, when I was upset after the news she was asking what is wrong with me and she asked if I missed Tiger and I said yes and she said awww we'll get him from the Doctor. So. Sweet.
This was the first of family tragedies for us wherein all of us were effected. I realize Tiger was "just a cat". But I know that there were moments during the day that I was carried by my Heavenly Father, led to people who would help without knowing it. Our family was brought closer together, we were able to teach true principles of the eternities and the Spirit was felt,,,, all over "just a cat". Farewell Tiger, you will be missed!
5 comments:
So, Joe-Z and I read this throght tears.
There is NO SUCH THING as "just a cat." And (call me silly) I really believe that our pets will be with us in heaven. They are family too.
It sounds lke your kids handled this with grace. What good parents you were to hold a little funeral for Tiger. Although I love, love, love pets, I've always thought it would be too hard, for this exact reason...saying goodbye. But as time goes by, I think of what a wonderful way it is to teach your children gospel principles.
I realize how silly this sounds, but I don't even know Tiger, and I'll miss him too...I already do!
oh jenn i am so sorry for your loss. putting a pet down is one of the hardest things.
cole is such an amazing little person, yall have really done an amazing job with him.
and the girls arent too bad either... ;0)
Pets become family members and it is traumatic to lose them. We had many "funeral ceremonies" over the years. I'm with Lindsey, I really do believe they will be with us again. I do believe having pets gives children greater opportunities for empathy skills, which are very important in life. This is truly a grieving time....Vicky
Jenn,
I know how you're feeling right now and I am so sorry you (and your family) are having to feel this way. Stace and I were not "pet people" either. I was always a dog person, but we wanted an animal and couldn't be home enough for a dog so we got two kitties- brothers, in May 2007. We named them Jordy and Owen. Owen really brought so much laughter into our home with his own unique and silly personality. He was beautiful, white with blue eyes, but also kinda goofy-lookin, which made us love him even more. He loved to snuggle and be up close to us. He was really "our baby." They both really brought a new dimension of love and laughter to our home. But in March of 2008 we started noticing Owen was not himself, in fact it sounds like he and Tiger were acting the same way. We took Owen to the vet and after a few tests we found out that he had bone marrow cancer, but the doctor told us to hold out a bit longer on putting him to sleep. We lost him within a week, and it was truly the hardest thing Stace and I had to endure together. Seeing someone you love deteriorate is simply heart-breaking, especially when they were fine just the week before. We were both a mess. I know how you feel too when you say you know it's just a cat. I felt like some people thought we were silly for being so sad over a cat, but we couldn't help how sad we were, no, devastated. But we really did learn a lot from that experience. One of my good friends told me that Heavenly Father gave us animals/ pets to learn about love and taking care of another, and also to learn about death. I know it's hard, and I wish you & Cole & all comfort and peace at this time:(
Thanks everyone for your comments. We had a lot of discussion about seeing Tiger again and hope we do. Kim thank you so much for you comment. I've held such guilt about Tiger and maybe we did something wrong, should've gone to the vet sooner. The vet said there wasn't much we could of done to prevent his illness, he had a double yammy of leukemia and feline hiv, outdoor male cats are at the largest risk. Still the questions came inthe back of my mind and will take a while to go away I believe, but to hear someone else with a similar story has helped.
Thanks again!!!
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