# Remembering Sammy



## SneezerCallie (Aug 29, 2005)

Samantha was my bosses cat, but since I am an in-home caregiver for his elderly wife I was with Sammy a lot and really considered her one of my own. I knew her for the last 5 years and she was 16 when she had to be put down last Friday. Sam was definatly her own kitty. All her life she let everyone know that she was princess kitty and things would be her way. I do believe she bit just about everyone she met. She never liked to be held and would go for your hand if you pet her to long, but I finally learned that I loved her just the way she was and wouldn't change her for the world. She loved to go out and explore the garage and basement, and in her last year trained me to open the back door for her to go out into the yard instead of using the doggy door (how undignified!) I learned one day that she absolutly adored crumpled up paper balls to batt around the house, and I provided a ton. I am sure we will be finding them under furniture for years to come. Her favorite toy in the world was a crumpled up paper ball I'd made her and attatched a string too, and hung from the back of a chair. I tell you she was like a kitten playing with that thing, and each morning we'd find the ball tangled up around the chair. Last Christmas I insisted that Sammy be given a bed for Christmas, she'd never had one of her own. My boss(who was Sammy's favorite person in the world) never thought she'd use one. I said you can get one for $10 at Walmart and if she doesn't use it you're not out much. So, he went out to Petsmart and bought her a $30 teepee type bed! I took one look and thought there was no way she'd ever get in that thing, but I wrapped it up for Christmas anyway. When she first saw it she paid no attention so I put a large sprinkling of her Christmas catnip in there and in she went-I tell you she stayed there ALL afternoon! A few days later we did the catnip bit again and from then on she was in that bed every day. I know she only had it for the last 7 months of her life, but that bed made her so happy.

About 10 months ago Sammy started having some troubles, she was diagnosed with a heart murmur and some kidney trouble. We needed to give her a pill daily and as I mentioned before, she was not the most agreeable. No one could give it to her so we had to hide it in some wet food. She went in for frequent checkups and just kept losing weight. A few weeks ago she started having a lot of trouble getting around, she couldn't jump up high enough to reach her food anymore and was "going" outside her litterbox. About a week prior she stopped playing with her ball and was barely touching her food, the day she went to the vet she let me pick her up and hold her without growling(VERY unlike her)so we knew it was not good. The vet weighed her and she was down to 6.6 pounds, 3/4 of a lb down from 3 weeks ago. The vet wanted to keep her and test her blood thinking she was in kidney failure. We drove home without her, I think we both knew Sammy would not be comming home but we still had a little shread of hope. I guess it was time though. When we went back in the afternoon the vet said she had a large kidney stone and that she had very severe arthritis all along her spine, She was in a lot of pain so we had to do the right thing. She looked so sad sitting there in her cage when we went to say goodbye-she didn't even look up. I guess that was the day the pain was too much for her. My boss didn't want to stay so we had to leave her there. I would have prefered to stay, but I know that I had to respect his wished. I trust the vet very much so I know she was in good hands. I've never had to do this before and for several days I couldn't get the image of her in the cage out of my head. I'm finally starting to remember her as she was when she was healthy, but I just can't believe that as long as I live I'll never be able to see her again. I couldn't clean up her things that day, but the following day I had too. I left her bed and put her collar on top of it. I had left her ball on the chair, but my boss couldn't look at it and asked me to take it down. I've never seen him cry before so I knew it was too hard for him to look at. I couldn't even see as I cut the thread. I brought it home and put it by my picture of her, along with an old collar from a few years ago. I pick it up and shake it just so I can hear the little bell. I'm so sorry Sammy, we all miss you so much.


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## Jimmyness (Dec 31, 2005)

Oh im so sorry  
She was a beautiful cat.


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## jezza (Oct 26, 2004)

aw, thats so sad, bought a tear to my eye. its clear that she was really loved, you must have given her so much happyness, thats a really cute pic of her sitting on all the presents


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## Jeanie (Jun 18, 2003)

Such a very sad story. She really touched your life, didn't she? It will take time, but your pain will become easier to live with. Bless you and Sammy's owner. It sounds as if she was very special. She was certainly beautiful.


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## Gypsy Girl (Jun 9, 2006)

Oh, I'm so sorry for you and Sammy's owner. I know how hard it can be to lose a pet. It's very sweet that you kept her ball and collar. I still have my dog's collar tucked away in my memory box. For a while it made me sad to look at it, but now it brings back really nice memories. At first, things seem terrible, but they will get better. I promise.

God Bless,
Kate


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## jezza (Oct 26, 2004)

i kept most of my cats things, theres even still fur weaved on to his comb


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## SneezerCallie (Aug 29, 2005)

Thank you for the kind comments everyone, it's still just like I can't believe she's not here. We still have one more thing ahead of us, when the vet calls to tell us we can pick up her ashes. I don't know how long that will take, but we do know where she will be buried. *sigh*

I'm like that too-I have a few strands of fur stuck to her ball, and a small collection of whiskers and shed claws I found over the years. I may put a few of the whiskers in her scrapbook.


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## jezza (Oct 26, 2004)

aww thats a nice idea, i was going to do the same, create a scrapbook and put all of migs things in it, i never really got round to it tho, picking up the ashes was a daunting thing, as it really does feel so final, holding your pet in an envolope is a sad thing indeed, but scattering the ashes feels liberating, like the can now be free, and i think thats a warming thought


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## Mr. Kind (Dec 24, 2005)

Awful sorry to hear of your loss. Sammy was her own cat and I had one like that and I must admit she was the closest to my heart. Your boss and you gave her what she wanted and she was content with that. It was her time to go and she let you know it when you picked her up without a bite or growl. Time will heal the sorrow.


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