I'm so sad my sweet Calico "Manny" was hit by a car yesterday. I cried all day. Now here I am today and I can't stop thinking about her....I miss her so much. She was my little Love...I can't believe she is gone-she was so full of life and was always following me around while I worked in the yard or if I took a nap she would always find me and nap with me...
I have never grieved over a pet as much as this one...
my husband rescued her her about 3 or 4 years ago and surprised me with this beautiful white,peach and grey calico-she was not tamed and I had to keep her in my shower for days. I finally earned her trust, but she was afraid of everyone else...she put all of her trust into me and just wanted to be with me all the time. We live on 10 acres and I never ever saw her go out into the street before. She loved to be outside so she would either sleep in the house or in the garage where she had a special place up in the rafters she loved to go to. Its been so hot here lately that I didn't want to close the garage door down. then the night before she was killed I was going to shut it and the automatic door opener broke, so I thought well she has been doing fine not being locked up so I thought it would be okay to leave it open...Well the next morning I received a call from a neightbor telling me there was a white calico laying in front of my house....... NOOOOOO I didn't want to hear it....Why didn't I bring her in..why was she crossing the road? I'm so sad...
thanks for listening...

I am so sorry for your loss. I think the most important question is - are YOU ok? Tell us more about Manny. Talking will help and cry as often as you have to. The pain you are feeling is because you lost someone that you LOVE. That hurts and all of us here understand how you feel.

She was lucky to have found a human who loved her so much. Just as lucky as you were to have found HER.

Light a candle for her before you go to bed - cry yourself to sleep if you have to. Take comfort in the fact that someday you'll see her again. But for now, she's not really gone. She's in your heart and spirit. She's in the wind and the warm sun. She'll be following you around the garden and napping with you in the shade.

The flicker of shadow out of the corner of your eye, that meow you think you hear from around the corner, that paw-step you think you feel on your bed - that will be her, coming to make sure her Mom's still ok and to let you know she's waiting patiently.

My guys will take care of her. We have a deal. They take care of my friend's furbabies when they pass and I'll care for the Mommies and Daddies on THIS side of the fence until we can be one big family again.

Hugs - keep talking to us. Your pain is ours.

Manny's Mom:

You are a very special person to earn such love and trust from a wild cat. You were blessed to have her in your life and she in yours. Know that we are all here for you, grieving with you.

DJ is right: light a candle for her. Do what ever else you can / want to memorialize her. It is a special and deep loss, and remembering seems to help.

Best to you,
Jennifer

Im so sorry you lost Manny this way you must be feeling awful.
All of us on here have lost our lovely babies in one way or another so we know what your going through, it hurts like no pain youve ever known, i wish we could say their was a quick fix but there isnt just know that time will help to heal.
Tomorrow will be my four-month anniversary without my heart and i can vouch for the pain easing.
Allow yourself to grieve for as long as it takes we have all found posting here to help and doing little things to memorialise our babies.
This forum has recently been updated so this address will take you back to the old one for you to read how we all coped and what we did to help ease the pain, they are sad stories from the heart but it helps to know your not alone.

http://lightning-strike.com/forums/

Thank-you everyone for your support...
Everyday is a new day with new challenges, new memories to go over, spending extra time sitting with my other animals and reminding them how much their loved. I put a marker on Manny's grave site. Its a little garden stake made of metal- Its a cut out of a kitty with wings and it has a loop for hanging something and I put a little pink glass heart there. I had 3 different ones so I put the other 2 in other places that Manny liked to go so that when I walk by I feel like I'm honoring that place. I will probably paint the little metal kitty's to resemble Manny soon. I also scanned some of her pictures and printed an 8x10 and put it on my mirror next to some candles. That will be my little memorial area for her.

The morning that we found Manny my husband was leaving to work and I was so distraught that he said he would take her and bury her for me, I almost let him do it then something in my heart said no, I couldn't let him take her, I wasn't ready to say goodbye yet. So after he left I cried for awhile with my daughter then I got prepared to go bury her...I swadled her in a soft white towel then I walked to the back of my property (We have 10 acres) and I tried to find a soft place to dig. I couldn't find anywhere so I knew I would have to go up by the house, then it dawned on me that right near my garden I had been soaking the ground so that I could dig post holes for a fence that I plan on building. I found the perfect spot right near where Manny liked to hang out and where she and I spent alot of time together. I'm so glad that I didn't bury her in the back of the property and that my husband didn't take her. I didn't realize how much better it makes me feel to know shes right by my garden. I also think it helped to wrap her in that towel and carry her that whole time, it was sort of like a last hug. Before I wrapped her up I stroked her fur and told her I loved her and would miss her and was so sad this happened. If anyone would have seen me they would have thought I was loosing it. (I was starting to wonder myself) Thank-you for listening you are all very special people and your comments have meant alot to me. Kelly (Manny's Mom)

I feel deeply for you, your husband, and most of all Manny. I understand all too well the horror of knowing there is something you might have done. I'll post my story separately.

Dear Manny's Mom,
Loosing it you say? Noooo, far from it. You have to take your time deciding what to do with your pet's body. It is not a decision to be made quickly. As happended with you, because you took the time, the right place to bury her presented itself naturally. My 3 guys are in my garden too, very near the house, in a shady spot they used to enjoy sitting on hot summer's days. When I move house, I will leave them in their beloved garden where they belong.

I think you were very brave to bury Manny yourself after the shock of loosing her so unexpectedly. I needed a lot of time and help from both my partner and dear neighbour before I could relinquish my cats back to Mother Earth. The very few people I told (including my Mum) thought it was totally weird that I slept with Jerry's body on my bed all night after he was PTS. Jerry was my first cat to go and he got ill suddenly so it was a terrible shock. It just goes to show that people don't really understand, because humans are not buried quicky are they. Their bodies can be seen and honoured by loved ones before burial. The bodies of the beloved are to be honoured, there is nothing "yuk" about it at all.

Each day will get easier for you from now on, but loosing a pet suddenly because of an accident reminds us to love our pets today and to appreciate them now because you never know what will happen tommorrow.
- Helen

I personally have been so surprised about how much tending to their remains has meant to me, helped me. I've lost people before, even people near and dear. I was involved in some of the arrangments for my grandmother (but not really; my dad told me to keep my mouth shut and just agree with whatever my aunt wanted!!!)

But I chose Freyja's grave site and I go there regularly. I wish I were a gardener so I could make it lovely. But I go there and I check on her. And somehow it helps.

And at funerals, I've generally refused to view, talk to, touch the bodies... But I couldn't stop petting Freyja or Saki after they'd passed. I also wrapped Saki in her soft blanket when I carried her to the vet. To "logical" people that may seem illogical -- what does she need a blanket for??? But even Tim (who, although he believes in Heaven and all that, still insists that the empty body is nothing) asked "Did she have her blanket???"

So I am really happy for you, Manny's mom, that you were able to carry her and bury her. And I LOVE your avatar -- she's precious.

Best,
Jennifer