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- Jul 27, 2024
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Though words can't ease your sorrow, hearts can share your loss. May you find comfort and peace remembering all the love and joy you and your husband received from sweet Carleton. The memories will last forever. So sorry.It is with a heavy heart and much sadness that I am writing this tribute to let you know Carleton passed away yesterday.He was slowing down but we attributed it to his senior age, approximately 14 years old. His appetite kept dwindling, he was lethargic, urinating more and had difficulty sitting in a comfortable position. I called the vet and brought him in for an exam and treatments. I had high hopes because he had always bounced back before and I didn’t want to face the inevitable. But when his labs indicated end stage renal disease I knew we had to make a decision for his sake. It was the most humane thing to do.
My husband and I are devastated. He meant so much to us and we would have moved heaven and earth to keep him here longer. I have written about his background before in other posts. He came from deplorable conditions at a hoarder. After receiving medical care he was adopted to a couple who returned him a year later for the only reason that they didn’t want a pet anymore. Our dog had passed away and shortly after Neely, our last cat. We were without a pet and the house felt empty. It was actually our oldest daughter who found a small shelter that was called in to rescue 23 Persians. The neighbors had called the police to report a horrific stench coming from the hoarder’s garage. Long story short, when we heard Carleton’s story I put in an application to adopt him and the rest is history. I later found out that the hoarder had to pay a fine up to $1,500 for each cat with the possibility of serving time.
The first night we brought Carleton home we set up the bathroom in our bedroom with a furry teepee, litter box, food water and toys. But he kept meowing so DH went in there and slept on the floor next to him. When my husband's back started hurting he said, “what the heck,” and let him out in the bedroom. Carleton jumped into bed, cuddled up with us and we knew adopting him was the best decision we ever made. He was our baby boy, the most loving and affectionate cat we could have hoped for, giving us almost nine years of complete joy and happiness.
As so many of you have sadly experienced, we can not stop crying since yesterday. Everything we did out of habit we cannot stop doing, e.g. looking for him resting on my slippers by the patio door, refreshing the food and water bowls, even checking the litter box. But the one habit that I miss most is when he kept me company on the family room couch while watching tv at night. He would curl up next to me and we’d fall asleep together. He was unable to jump up the past few weeks. But the night before we brought him to the vet to be PTS he somehow managed to jump up on the couch and with tears streaming down my face I told him this would be our last night together.
Rest in peace my baby boy. You will be missed beyond belief. If love could have saved you, you would have lived forever.
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