Daisy

Daisy Mae
November 2000 - February 2009

I'm very sad tonight, having said 'good-bye' to my Daisy.

Daisy was my first kitty. I adopted her from a cat shelter when she was just a wee little kitten. She used to have these adorable fang-like eye teeth (until she had all her upper teeth pulled 3 years ago). When she purred, she sounded like a motorboat...totally adorable. And she was so cuddly....she would just curl up on my lap and paw my face with her little kitty feet. She was also very temperamental, moody and would let you know (loudly) that she was angry or irritated. If you were a stranger to her...you should prepare to be hissed at, with some growling thrown in for good measure. But if she liked you....prepare to be kissed to death. Oh, and if you were reading a book and not paying attention to her...Daisy would lay on top of the book. If you were eating cereal, she would paw at the bowl until you gave up the milk.

But lately, Daisy just wasn't acting like Daisy. She'd been having some health issues for the last two years, and the vet (finally) diagnosed her with 'diabetes insipidus' (which is also called 'water diabetes'). Basically, her body was unable to filter the water she consumed and she peed everywhere. All the time. All she did was drink water (think uncontrollable thirst) and then she would pee -- everywhere but in the litter box.

I think the diabetes had been going on for quite some time...but had just recently progressed to being REALLY bad. There was nothing that could have been done to reverse it or stop the progression of the disease, and essentially the vet said she would just get worse and could die of dehydration if she was unable to find water (for example..if we were gone for more than a day).

And so, to end her suffering and save her any further pain and illness, I chose to have her euthanized. Do I feel horrible about the choice? Yes. Do I think it was the right and humane thing to do? Yes.

And so, I went (with my sister) to the vet's to say good-bye to my Daisy....

....and boy was that cat pissed!

For about 20 minutes I tried to coax her out of the cage so I could hold her...but all she did was hiss and growl and scream (yes, cats can scream) at me. I told her that I was sorry...and that I loved her. I wasn't able to stay with her as they put her to sleep...because they were going to have to sedate her first (she was that angry and out of control).

I came home and told Olivia that Daisy had to go to heaven. I have no idea if she understood or not. Emma is too young to realize what happened. And then, I told Gatsby (our other cat) what happened. Yes, I talk to my cats (cat)..sue me. Gatsby has been sad ever since I took Daisy to the vet yesterday afternoon. But, they were very close ... so I think Gatsby is going to be sad for a while too.

This may be too much info to share...but I also chose to have Daisy cremated and have her ashes returned to me. I couldn't bear the thought of them dumping her in some mass grave at a pet cemetary. How horrible. She was part of this family...and should be treated as such, even after she's gone.

So, Daisy Mae...I'm sorry you were so sick and I'm sorry you were suffering...but know that you were loved. Very, very much.