Grieving a beloved girl

[Kelroc]

Yesterday my beautiful girl fell asleep. Everything has happened so quickly. Biopsy on Monday and results yesterday showed it was an aggressive oral cancer. She wasn’t able to eat or drink and we were advised that she would deteriorate rapidly, so we made the awful decision to put her to sleep last night.
My heart is broken. I’ve had her for 11 years-through so many life changes, and she was my best friend. I know everyone says this, but she was the most affectionate girl-always greeted me when I got home-always by my side. I also have her daughter and they only know living together. I’m wondering if my remaining little one will be okay. And others that have experienced this terrible grief-how long did it take for you to start to feel better?At the moment I just can’t stop crying! I have a lovely husband and wonderful baby, and I know I need to pull myself together but I just feel so sad

I'm so sorry for the loss of your beautiful girl.
Everytime it is so so hard. I still cry for my shadow who died 15 years ago. They are so very special and touch our hearts.
It will get easier but for now allow yourself to grieve and comfort the little one you have left.

Thank you. I always knew it would be tough, but this is so painful

I'm so sorry, it is awful. Let yourself grieve, you have lost a dear family member. When my 18 year old girl passed away, I posted on here, and someone posted something that really helped. What a lucky cat to have been so well loved for so many years. It helped to know she'd had a good life.
Will you get her cremated? We buried the little box with her ashes in, in the front garden where she loved to sit, and got a little stone with her name on, which helped.
If you would like to post any pics of her I'd love to see them.

@HeatedDryer has put it well. Allow yourself time.Its still raw. I lost one of mine to a similar cancer when he was 18 years old. I did rage at the unfairness of it all but was comforted when as @HeatedDryer said by thinking I gave him a good life after rescuing him as a kitten.

I’d love to see some pictures too

So sorry for your loss

I also had my old lady cat put to sleep yesterday. It's a complex story but she had been unwell for a while and she had lymphoma and had simply reached the end of the road. It was a sudden decision though and I'm still in shock. She was 14, I've had her through such a lot. I had her longer than I've had my youngest dd!

I'm hoping time will live up to it's great reputation as a great healer.....

Sending you much love..they are so special and part of our family. I’m so sad my dd won’t get to know her

This is her last night...my last photo of her 😍

One of her favourite chairs

What a sweet looking cat. Losing a much loved cat is devastating, I still miss all of the cats I’ve lost. If you aren’t familiar with it the rainbow bridge story is strangely comforting. After my last two cats dies within weeks of each other I decided to foster for Cats Protection instead so that I could have cats without the devastation of losing than.

With her own baby

They were close

Omg how did you cope losing two so soon? Can I ask was it old age?

Such a beauty.
Heartbroken for you

Omg how did you cope losing two so soon? one was a young cat with heart failure, we knew his time was limited but the end came suddenly, he was my best little boy. The other was 17, and had advanced dementia which got to the stage where she had no quality of life and was distressed and frightened most of the time. The plan had been that the little boy would take over from the old girl, but it didn’t work out that way. She, to be honest, was the meanest cat I’ve ever known, but I still miss her.

Oh she was beautiful 💕

That’s just heartbreaking...lovely thing to foster now though. Won’t be getting another cat - think our remaining fur baby wouldn’t like it. Plus I think I would struggle to find such as beautiful soul again

I really can really recommend fostering to anyone with a cat shaped hole in their life. Seeing them move on to new homes is so satisfying, especially those that came needing help to become adoptable.

It's really awful. One of mine died when she was eight. Time does heal. I really miss her still. But I look back and think of her with a smile now. Her first anniversary was quite hard.
It helped me that the right cat came along fairly soon afterwards and helped fill the cat shaped hole. I'd intended to let her sister settle down first. But cheddar was a perfect fit.

Thank you for your kind words. This is so much harder than I thought it would be

I'm sorry for your loss, its very hard when you loose your cat.

Still just crying all the tone and thinking this time 48hrs ago she was here. I’m also angry that she was only 12-I thought we’d have a few more years. Am exhausted by it all, but my DH is amazing and making sure everything is getting done. Not sure how our other kitty is..she seems a bit sad, but that might be me projecting my feelings onto her. How long before you all started to feel slightly less sad or at least accept it happened. I keep forgetting for a second and thinking she’ll come trotting over

I honestly thought I was losing my mind when my best cat died. It does take time. There is something about losing a pet which just makes tears flow, they are such comforters that the fact that they are not there to fill that role makes it worse. All you can do is know that you gave her the best life and did what was best for her at the end. To be honest the thought of my favourite cats still occasionally brings tears to my eyes (but only when on threads like this) because I miss them individually. You will start to feel better soon though, and get used to her not being there.

That’s exactly it. Feel like I’m loosing it! And you’re right-she comforted me when I felt like this. She’s seen me through a divorce, loneliness and then three miscarriages.
Really helps to know it passes. Sorry if it brings sad memories up for you x

OP, I know it’s awful - I cried all over the customer services lady at Tesco when I took my poor old cat’s unused boxes of cat food back, a few days after he died. He was 21, so had a good innings, but I still grieved.
It was 18 months before I felt ready to get a new rescue cat. I now have a feisty 8 year old, who has been with me two years and I wish I’d got her much sooner. She is a great comfort.
May I share something with you that my dear old minister said to me when my husband died? I think it applies to any bereavement, human or pet. He said “Don’t let their death be more than their life” - he meant that you shouldn’t let your grief over losing them block out all the wonderful memories of the love and life you shared with them. Remember all the good times, be proud that you gave your wee cat a happy safe life, and that you also gave her a kindly death, sparing her any suffering. No cat could ask for more than that - to be loved and cared for all her days.