George the Cat (who blogged under the pseudonym “Mencken”), ??-1999 — July 15 2015. He was a good cat, devoted and loving. The Arizona Humane Society picked him up as a stray, he had been eating trash out of a dumpster and his poor little paw pads were scorched from the desert heat. Somebody had thrown him out, because he was already neutered. I brought him home on August 24, 2002. He never wanted to go out again, you’d open the door and he’d walk the other way.
He was a very talkative cat, until he started hurting so much that talking hurt. He loved laying on my lap and curling up against me under the covers, until he started hurting so much that he couldn’t. The vet said he could send me home with pain medication but it probably wouldn’t do anything for the pain from the cancer, cats just aren’t easy to medicate. In the end we both agreed there was only one thing left to do.
-BT
My heart goes out to you, Tux. Our feline and canine friends are very dear to us. Condolences.
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Sorry to hear about your loss. From personal experience, I know how necessary that “last trip” can be. It does not make it easy to do.
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I’m so sorry; pet losses are so miserable.
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My deepest condolences. It is hard to say good bye, but the kindest thing you can do for a friend in pain.
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it’s hard
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Condolences on your loss.
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Sorry for your loss, but his time with you was his gain. How we treat our companions is a reflection of how we are, and you were very good to him.
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I love your blog – and somehow I’ve grown to love your cats thru it. Strange the way these things work.
You (and the vet) did the right thing.
Knightwork above put it beautifully. I can’t add to that sentiment.
My condolences ……………
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Condolences.
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So very sorry to hear. You gave him a wonderful gift.
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As the 1960s philosopher James Morrison said, “No one here gets out alive.” Since we all gotta go, we should all be so lucky to ease out with a minimencken of suffering.
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Condolences to both you and TMF. I will be an adjustment for you both.
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Really sorry BTux!
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I enjoyed reading about the adventures of Mencken and The Mighty Fang. It’s painful losing our furry friends, but you did right by ending the pain when you did-not an easy thing to do. My condolences.
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I am really sorry for you.
w3ski
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Thanks for giving him a great life.
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My condolences on George’s passing. I know how it hurts.
Please pay special attention to TMF. He’ll likely be missing him, as well.
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You have my condolences. I know from personal experience what you are going through, and no, he wasn’t “just a cat”.
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There is no greater compassion than to stop the pain.
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The sad loss of a old friend
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Losing a pet is losing a family member. My heart goes out to you.
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Sorry Tux
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I only just saw this. I’m so sorry for your loss.
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Just came to catch up on your site and saw this – so sorry for your loss Badtux. I hope Mighty Fang is being supportive.
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so sorry for your loss.
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I has a sad.
My heartfelt condolences, ‘Tux, it’s really hard to lose a friend. R.I.P., George; the rainbow bridge is behind you now, and the field of good hunting is ahead…
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George was never interested in hunting. He had exactly what he wanted when I brought him home — a safe climate-controlled place to live, all the food he needed, and devoted staff to cuddle him and love him and cater to him. I am just glad that I could give him twelve years of what he considered heaven before he had to leave.
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I’m sorry for your loss. You did the right thing, as hard as it was.
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Yes, that sour-dispositioned old cat loved me dearly, he loved curling up against me under the covers at night and he loved lying in my lap for hours getting cat massages. He wanted nothing more than to be with me. He’s one of the few cats I’ve ever encountered who would let me rub his tummy without it being a trap. He’d just wriggle in ecstasy. As far as he was concerned, I saved him from a life on the streets so I was the bestest person on the whole planet and could do no wrong. Everybody else… meh, probably an axe killer or something, he’d hide under the futon until they were gone.
When he started hurting so bad he couldn’t do that anymore, when he started hurting so bad that he could barely drag himself to the food bowl and water dish and cat box and then go lie down again breathing hard with pain, when he could no longer do anything that he liked to do more than anything else in the world because he was hurting so much, it was time. After I made the appointment I made his last few days as pleasant as I could and then we took the final trip.
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I am so, so sorry. He looks like my new fur baby Sasha, recently rescued after being homeless for a while. I shall give her extra hugs and skritches in honor of George tonight.
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I had to put down one of my cats last year, as she had developed stage III lymphoma of the stomach and she was only eight. To make matters worse, I used to have a pair of pet rats and all three of them died last year, with the remaining one right during Christmas.
Domestic rats are very much like tiny dogs in their behavior, except much quieter than most “toy” breed “dogs and probably more intelligent. One downside with rats is that they only live for two or three years on average.
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My heart goes out to you over your loss of his companionship.
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