Said Goodbye To Our Sweet Reggie Today Options

[Aaron]

Our sweet Reggie lost his battle with liver illness this morning after being diagnosed Monday Oct 18 with fatty liver disease. He was able to pass in the comfort of his own home surrounded by my wife and me. This was rather unexpected as he had made good progress while at the hospital so that makes it hurt even more, although it always hurts to lose one of your best friends. It feels like the pain will never go away, but over time we will find peace.

Reggie "adopted me" back in Nov 2001 when he was just a kitten. I remember hearing a cat crying outside so I went out the backdoor of my townhome and looked around. I didn't see anything at first but then he spotted me looking around and dashed down to see me. He had a collar on, so I told him he needed to go home, but he knew where his new home was. He kept crying outside my back door so I let him in to hang out. And the rest, as they say, is history.

We bonded a few nights later when I laid on the couch and sat him on my chest and picked fleas off him, one by one. He sat there, patiently, with his eyes closed and let me remove fleas from him for what seemed like hours. From that point forward we were best friends until he left us today. I will always have a place in my heart for Reggie and will always remember the joy and happiness he brought into our home.

He was the sweetest cat I had ever known. He could be in a room with 50 people and would be hanging out like it was nothing. He was always there to greet us when we came home, which we will miss greatly. He was our best friend and we will try to take solace in the fact that he is no longer suffering. You will always be loved Reggie and you always be remembered. May you rest in peace, best friend.

[Aaron]

Thank you both for the kind words, I can't tell you how much they have helped me (and in turn my wife).

moon_beam, you are so right. Our lives were/are formed around our beloved cats and that is by far the hardest part of this adjustment. But then again, they are family and our lives are defined by family and friends. That's why we are trying our best to do things other than "mope" around because we truly believe that Reggie would have DEMANDED we not stop living our lives, but instead embrace each day and love each other and our friends and family as much as we can. As you said, Reggie is looking down on us and nodding in approval as we try our best to continue living our lives and eventually enjoy each day as if he were still with us. I still talk to him and tell him how much we love him and how we can't wait to see him again someday. I know he is happy and healthy on the other side and that gives me some solace. He lived such a beautiful life while on this planet.

For some reason, I am more at peace than I was yesterday. I still miss him dearly and wish he was still here, but I think I am slowly adjusting to the absence of his physical presence. My thoughts yesterday were dominated by those last few weeks when Reggie was sick, but I am making the conscious decision to remember the time before that and how much he made us smile. I want to remember him on my shoulder or me holding him like a baby and rubbing that soft, pink belly of his. Those memories are what will get us through this, as he was a special gift and we were the ones who were blessed to have him in our lives. This pain we feel now will never, ever overshadow the immense joy and happiness he brought into our lives for those 9 special years.

Grief is indeed a roller coaster of emotions. Tomorrow might be different and come with a whole new set of challenges, but we can only deal with our loss one day at a time.

Di, thanks for your thoughts. I "got through" the day the best I could. Being at work was especially difficult because the prior two weeks were dominated by me knowing he was at the hospital getting treatment or was at home. But yesterday I knew he was not at home waiting for me and unfortunately those thoughts dominated my heart and mind. There were several times at work when I wanted to cry but held it in until I was at home and could hug my wife. It felt good to cry and to talk to my wife. Our sweet Kylah hung out with us on our bed for much of last night as we watched TV. So that helped a lot. She seems to be coping as well as we could have hoped. She and Reggie were buddies, but were not "bosom buddies" who slept together all the time or constantly played. They got along wonderfully and were the ying to the other's yang. She is energetic, a princess and a bit of a spazz. Reggie was happy-go-lucky, was always around no matter who was there and was the center of attention. He loved being held and was a lap kitty and Kylah doesn't care to be held and is anything but a lap kitty. So we will miss that dynamic between them as much as we will miss Reggie by himself. Watching them was as fun as watching any TV show or movie.

I am again so sorry for your loss and can empathize with what you are feeling. You wish the pain would just vanish or you could wake up from this bad nightmare, but you can't. Only time and sharing your thoughts with as many others as you can will help ease the pain. I know thinking about your Squiggy only makes the pain worse, but you can't suppress those happy memories as you will one day be able to think about them and smile and find comfort in knowing that the time you two shared was something special. This pain is the price we pay for the years of joy and companionship we enjoy with our furry friends.