Remembering Dilly

On January 19th, we made the decision to put down our cat Dilly. Even though I wasn't very close to either cat, it was extremely sad nonetheless watching her die, and knowing that it was in large part due to a decision we had made. She had developed significant kidney disease, and we decided to put her down without pursuing too many diagnostic tests and/or treatments. She was 13, going on 14 years old, and we felt that because she had already had a fairly long life, and was basically no longer acting like herself - as in, she had become too lethargic to even run away from the kids...she let them pet her!!! - and knowing that regardless of how many interventions we tried and how much money we spent, she wasn't likely to live more than 6-12 months longer anyway, that now was a better time than later. I still wonder if we made the right choice, and if it was more for her or more for us - in the sense of convenience and being willing to fit any treatments for her into our already busy lives...

The euthanasia was a very surreal experience - I do wish you could know they understand and also give their blessing, but really, I just want to feel better about the decision we made.

Greg, of course, had a much longer history with the cats. They were found as tiny kittens in a garbage can and were brought to the Animal Hospital where his ex-girlfriend worked as a vet tech. After a few days, Greg and Mel made the decision to adopt them and they have been with Greg ever since. I can imagine that there were both super-cute little kittens and Dilly being the smaller, more timid of the two, was adorable I am sure. That being said, Greg's favorite memory of Dilly is from when, as a kitten, she was being a bit too curious and ended up surprising herself by falling and/or jumping from the second floor hallway, through the railing, down into the living room. Probably used up the second and third of her nine lives that day!

So...the aftermath? Dobyn (her sister) seems a little lost right now. I suspect she will come around and will probably just interact more with us, but it must really be strange for her. The kids have taken it all quite well - probably in part because Dilly never interacted with them very much due to her skittishness. Also, Mikes is really too young to understand any of it, and Avery has decided that Dilly is in the ground after having "dived", and has a toy to play with there and a book to read. So she won't be bored... :)

Anyway, this is not an experience I relish going through again, but I suspect we will be back to the vet clinic soon enough with Greg's dog Trus. He is going on 13 now, and is going blind and crazy. He has been living with Greg's parents since I went back to work a year ago, and we can all see the fairly progressive decline he has been going through. That decision is not going to be an easy one for any of us...

Picture Avery drew for Dilly

And Dobyn - I am sure she is going to live to be 20, just to drive us bonkers.

We all love and miss you Dilly :)