The Litter Tray Memorial Thread

[TheLongRider]

This thread is for anyone who has lost a cat. It's a place for pictures and memories, to tell stories and to mourn. A cat is never, ever "Just a cat". They are special to their owners and to the people who love them and who they love in their own special way.

The Litter Tray has some lovely posters who have lost cats. I would hope that posters would respect the sentiment of this thread and use it as a place to commiserate and comfort others. Also it would be great to see photos of people's pets. There are some real characters on the Litter Tray who deserve to be remembered.

If you feel that you can't talk about your loss in real life, there will be a sympathetic ear here.

Am so sorry for all of those who have recently lost their cats, it’s such a difficult time 💐

Last Thursday, it was one year since I unexpectedly had to say goodbye to my soul cat, Simba - he was only 10.5. He was my first pet as an independent adult.

The week leading up to it was hard - the thought that “this time last year, I had no idea I only had a few days with him” and “this time last year I knew it was my last night with him” etc.

I can’t quite believe it’s a year. Sometimes, the level of pain and sadness feels as though it can only have been a few weeks. I’m very happy being single and living on my own, but I’ve realised I don’t have someone to share memories of him with on an everyday basis, who misses him in the same way. I find it hard talking about him to other people as they are just hearing “stories” about him - plus, talking about him upsets me so not a win-win conversation for anyone! Plus, he was a belligerent sod, who made his disdain for anyone else very obvious - a very obvious expression on his face which left visitors with no questions as to how they were viewed. But he and I were so close, his favourite place the majority of the time was being smooshed up as close to me as possible.

I’ve still not been able to go through photos of him, as it reminds me of what I’ve lost. I’ve got photos on my phone, which I easily know what they are when scrolling the thumbprints. But I’ve got hundreds more on my old laptop, which I just can’t bring myself to go through yet. I need to overcome this, as at some point I really want to do a painting of him.

He wasn’t very good at being “a cat”. He never caught/killed anything (obviously I was happy about this!) - the only time he ever “caught” a bird was because he got lucky with a fledgling, but he came off worse as it pecked him in the eye before it flew off, it was a bank holiday weekend and cost me a pretty penny at emergency vets.

I’ve got a decent sized garden, and am lucky that he (and his brother) found the garden enough, happy to stay in there and not go roaming. So, lots of places to mooch around/sunbathe etc. His favourite spot was to hunch down in a corner of the decking where there was a small slit in the fence - he’d sit for ages watching the activity in the livery yard next door. One day he was sat in the same place in the middle of the garden for quite some time, just staring down at the ground. This was unusual, so I wandered down the lawn to see if he was ok. Once I saw what was holding his attention, I sat down next to him and he hunkered down right by my side - and we spent the next 30 minutes or so watching as a molehill continued to increase in size 🤣

I’ve seen some people say that they’ve felt grief at the passing of all their pets, but that there has always been “the one” which was so much harder. I think Simba was “my one” and that it’s made it so much harder that he was also the first to go. I love the bones off his younger brother, but the bond I had with Simba was always very different. Makes me feel guilty, but am trying to be honest with myself. His brother has always been a cheeky joker, he frequently makes me laugh with his antics, and I know I’d have been much worse if I didn’t have him around.

Completely random ramblings there, but just needed to acknowledge Simba and the date. Still miss you every day Mr Handsome Cat 💕🐾💕

This time last week I was having cuddles from one of our boys, then I got the call at 10 Thursday morning that no kitty slave wants to hear. He'd been hit by a car, a passing postman got him into his van and took him to the vet but it was too late.

We've been heartbroken ever since, our remaining boy has been super clingy since.

Him last week, with his brother (from another mother) and the last photo I have of him - enjoying the sun last Wednesday. He was very much an outdoor cat but was also very needy

Today I had to put my beautiful boy to sleep.
A month ago we were told he had an inoperable tumour, today the day came to let him go. He was 18, we still have his sister who like me will be lost without him.
He’s seen me through 15 years of domestic violence and soaked up many tears.
Love you Boo

I'm so sorry for all your losses. They really steal our hearts dont they.

I'm having a little cry, thinking about how much my Saffy would have loved this sunny morning. Its been 7 months and it is still raw. I miss you so much my darling girl.

This is our lovely Sam! Found dead yesterday, there never was such a cat!
Rest in Peace, old friend!

My lovely Bertie was PTS this week. He was a mean, street fighting Tom for many years, before he decided that I was good enough to spend his retirement with. He had severe breathing problems, that came on very quickly, and nothing could be done for him. I'm so glad he had a home with Dolly, Tippi (also now gone), and me for the last few years of his life💞

I'm sorry for your loss. They leave such a big hole in our lives for such a small creature.

TheLongRider thank you for your message. It's the toughest part, isn't it.

Our girl was hit by a car today. We think she died instantly. I was having lunch, then went upstairs to get my watch and when passing the window saw a disturbance on the road in front of our house. A car had pulled over and two women were standing behind it. I realised they were looking at a cat, but it took a few moments to realise it might be ours, when it did, i ran down and out accross the road. Just earlier my partner had been upstairs watching our cat rolling around in the sun in our front garden. She was on the drive when i ran out because she had heard a yowling and thought there might be a cat fight. It was immediately clear it was our lovely cat. There was both a surprising amount and surprisingly little damage. We petted her and then i sent my partner for a blanket and i called the vet (the traffic was still having to go around us as we were on yhe road). I picked up my soft, warm lovely cat and we gathered what we needed to drive to the vet. We knew she was gone, but drove down to the vet's. They checked her, confirmed it was massive headtrauma and most likely instant, which was a comfort. She kindly cleaned her up for us and wrapped her in a blanket and we took her home. I sat with a cup of tea, stroking her fur and beautiful ears until the tea was gone. Then we chose a favourite lying-in-the-sun spot int he garden and gave her a place. All i want is for her to crawl up on me and to stroke her soft fur. She was old, but not quite sure how old as she was rescued from the streets by a friend. Probably about 13. We know she had at least a litter of kittens and had had a broken pelvis as a young cat, probably from a kick, from the vet. Just recently her kidneys we're starting to decline, but she was doing very well on her new food. She had a lovely retirement with us, nice foods, many soft blankets, sofas and beds and many cuddles. We are moving abroad soon and had just got her passport and vaccines sorted this week. So we were fully expecting her to continue like this for many years. I have been crying on and off for hours. Turning the water fountain off set me off again.

rivierliedje what an awful thing to have happened. So sorry for the loss of your little cat. It's so painful

@Want2beme Thank you. That is very kind. She was so sweet and grumpy and just perfect.

I grew up with dogs and was never really a cat person, I was asked to take in a boy (Milo) who had been evicted from his home (original owner decided she wanted to breed dogs so just kicked him out onto the streets). He lived in a shed for 2 years and the lady who lived there was feeding him everyday and gave him a bed made up in her shed. She already had a cat so couldn’t take him in. My sister contacted me and asked if I would take him. We caught him and took him to be neutered and then he came to live with me and my son, once he had settled I got him a feline friend (Misty) and he mothered her from the word go, they absolutely adored each other and despite having a bed each they preferred to share his. When my daughter was born in 2018 milo would lie under her Moses basket protecting her. We moved house in 2019 as I needed an extra bedroom and the stress on him meant he developed struvite stones and ended up being kept for 3 nights at the vets with a catheter fitted. The whole time he was away I was so afraid I was going to lose him and Misty was lost without him here. He recovered well and had to have a special diet and came home which we were all thrilled about.
He always went out on a night time as that was his routine but he would always be waiting when I opened the door the following morning.
He went out as normal on Sunday night which surprised me as it was raining and he wasn’t too keen on the rain.
I opened the back door on Monday morning and shouted for them both so they could come and have some food, only he didn’t come which was odd. I thought I would give him an hour or so and then go looking for him, he never ever went far, he was such a home bird.
I came across a post on Facebook which said there was a cat on the road outside of the estate where I live. The lady who put the post up had her young daughter in the car and didn’t want her to be traumatised by it so her post asked someone to please move the cat off the road so it wouldn’t be hit by any more cars. I commented to ask what colour it was as mine hadn’t come home (meanwhile my partner was getting ready to walk up) she said it was dark grey or black and my heart sank.
Sure enough he was my baby. I can’t bear the thought of him dying on his own in the middle of the road. He had no external injuries except some blood on his nose and eyes. I think it was his head that took the impact. I really don’t understand how someone can hit someone’s pet and just leave them in the road to potentially be hit by other vehicles. I could never do that.
I feel so lost without him and my other cat is distraught, she’s barely eating, she won’t come inside, she’s just lying in his spot in the garden.
I sat with him for ages when my partner brought him home, I cleaned him up and cuddled him and told him how loved he was then we buried him in the garden.
I’m utterly heartbroken but I’m also so glad I was the one to give him his forever home. I loved him so much and he loved me right back. He loved nothing better than to jump up on the arm of the chair and snuggle into my body with my arm around him.
I miss him so much

@Mylulu I also think it awful people bit moving a cat though maybe they don't always know. When our Mitsi was hit it was the early hours and dark. The lady that found him works with my OH

I've just realised this thread was stated just after we lost Ernie and since then we have lost our Colin

@Mylulu Oh that is awful. The shock of it is horrible. Ours was right outside our door, we knew our Cat never went far.

I'm so sorry for everyone's losses

@SheepPixie I hope you are finally safe x

Just seen a link for this on another thread.

This is Sneaky, she passed away a week today with throat cancer. We initially thought it was teeth trouble, but she started to lose weight and when I felt a lump under her chin I knew it wouldn't be good news. She was 18, but apart from a bit of arthritis she was quite good for her age. Very upset most of last week, but today has been a good day, we laughed about how thrilled she'd have been to see we had steak for tea!

Oh, Sneaky was so gorgeous @joydivisionovengloves71
I’m so sorry. I’m sure she had a wonderful 18 years with you. Especially if she was often fed steak!

@Batfinkwings

Oh, Sneaky was so gorgeous *@joydivisionovengloves71* I’m so sorry. I’m sure she had a wonderful 18 years with you. Especially if she was often fed steak!

Thanks 😊 she wasn't a bit aloof and always nearby in case she missed out on something!

Can’t quite believe that two years ago was the first day I woke up without Mr Handsome Cat by my side. I still miss him, he really did take a piece of my heart with him.

I’ve recently finished my artwork of one of my favourite photos of him - need to arrange for a frame to be made.

Sorry to all those who have lost their companions 🐾💐🐾

Furries, what a little beauty. That's lovely