Tilly was especially adept at proving cats have nine lives, especially when we hadn’t yet learned not to let our cats outside. One day she got scared up a tree by a German shepherd. I didn’t realize this fact until walking onto our second story deck, noticing her high above next door, and then seeing the dog.
I quickly descended our stairs and stood on uneven ground at the base of said tree encouraging her to climb down. Holding a towel intended to cuddle and comfort her once safe on the ground, instead I watched horrified as she slipped and fell. In the blink of an eye I somehow turned the towel into a safety net and caught her without us tumbling down the slope.
Another time we were out having breakfast with my parents when an ominous feeling sent my husband racing home. He found Tilly downstairs with a deep throat slash and raced her to our veterinary clinic. Bless him, he likely saved her from bleeding out. To this day we don’t know what happened. All three had been outside the day before and came inside seeming fine, so perhaps Jezebel accidentally snagged her neck during a rough overnight wrestling bout. How even a razor sharp claw could cut through Tilly’s thick wooly coat… again, we have no clue, but something did.
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| Our sleepy old girl with slowly balding hindquarters... |
Tilly lived until the end of 2019 and died peacefully at home before our sorrowfully planned euthanasia. What amazes us to this day is that she ran to jump into my husband’s lap the night before passing away. Our loveable goof lived to twenty plus years of age, her health only failing in the last few months.
Is it not bittersweet when a pet passes like that? And isn’t it sad that my husband never experienced this before Tilly?
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I wish mine could die like that, on own terms, at home, especially the ferals and former ferals. I can't believe you caught her! I am picturing that in my mind's eye. You were always there when she needed you most.
ReplyDeleteYes, that is sad. One thing I've learned after mega years of cat care, if you leave them out, never expect them to come back alive.
ReplyDeleteHugs and purrs as you think about Angel Tilly.
ReplyDeleteMy parents wouldn't allow us kids to have pets.
After all, there were six children...that was enough animals for them to take care of!
Therefore, I didn't grow up with pets, and The Hubby only had friends and family with dogs or cats...maybe fish.
Is amazing that we agreed to adopt two kittens in 2004, and had a slightly steep road to climb, not knowing a single thing about cat care.
And yet, here we are, with three cats, and I'm always waiting for the Cat Distribution System to bring us another.
Dear Darla, I am (as you know), 69, will be 70 in October. I have had cats a huge part of my life. Your story has touched me deeply. Yes, cats seem to know when it is "their time". Sometimes they will hide away in a closet (if they are sick), or sometimes they will come to someone to offer affection and thus receive it as well.
ReplyDelete20 years is an amazingly long and good life! My last cat, sadly, at the tender age of 10 and a half years, got anemia and a heart murmur.
He passed in January of 2024. I still think about him and miss him. Before this, I had had cats for 14 years. So yes, 20 years is an amazing life for a cat. You are indeed blessed.
Thank you so much for sharing your story.
How incredible that your husband had a feeling to go home when Tilly was injured. You were blessed to have her for such a long time although, no amount of time is ever long enoough. XO
ReplyDeleteThe death of a pet can be quite a wrenching experience, even if you know it's coming.
ReplyDeleteewe waz a gorgeouz gal tilly ♥♥ eye am glad ewe getted out de tree with out mizz hap two ewe ore yur mom....N glad yur dad haza 6th senze ~~~ ♥♥
ReplyDeleteTilly definitely got into some scrapes.
ReplyDelete