I just read the "Rainbow Bridge" poem, and it reminded me of my three little angels I had just lost in the past year.
Onyx Salem Midnight Pantera (yes, those were all her names)
Baby Girl
Lil' Bit
The first two we lost within 2 weeks of each other. Onyx became ill and died within 2 days. Baby followed suit 2 weeks later. Our finances were crushed at this time, so we couldn't afford a vet. It was the hardest thing I've ever gone through. She slipped away a little bit each day until she was finally gone. She didn't want to leave me. She was my little darling. I could tell you a million stories about her. Onyx was my brother's cat, but Baby was mine, from day one.
The only comfort in my loss of her is that a year before she passed, my brother and I lived in a small, 2 bedroom apartment and we couldn't let her outside. She was miserable. I promised her that we'd find a place to live where she'd be able to play outside again. Chance intervened and my brother and I had to move back home with my dad, and once again my Baby could play in the grass and enjoy the sunshine. I am so glad that she got to live out the last of her life that way. She was so very, very happy.
Lil' Bit was my dad's cat, but I had spent half of my life growing up with her, so she was very special to me, as well.
We lost her similarly to the other two...she just got sick and in a couple days, she was gone.
I remember her, barely alive at the end of our hall. I put her on a cushion in a closet with a small heater focused on her where she would be warm and comfortable and free from being disturbed by our other animals...moments later, she was gone.
I miss them all so terribly, and would give anything to kiss and hold them again. I have other cats now, but I always feel a pang of guilt because out of habit I call my cat Patches my baby, and that was what I called, well, Baby...
Thank you for this board...I haven't fully been able to mourn my babies because people around me don't seem to understand. They don't see how deeply the loss of a beloved pet can truly affect someone.