R.I.P. Ren (1992-2007)

[Teacher's Pet]

At 5:29pm, Ren's year-long battle with kidney failure ended peacefully.

 

She was such a loving, wonderful cat.

 

She came into my life as 3 month old kitten, and I was a 21yr old college student.

 

She left me, 15 wonderful love-filled years later, and as a 35yr old man, I have so many memories of her.

 

The veterinary staff was so acommodating, they really made a painful moment pass easily.

 

It was a tough decision, but my mother and I stayed in the room with her as she was sedated, and then shortly after given her final injection.

 

Ren was so thin and so weak, the Vet had to use a special needle just to be able to enter her vein. It was almost as if even sedated, she wanted to fight just a bit more.

 

She was always the fighter, but she doesn't need to anymore.

 

Before leaving the examination room, my mother kissed her head, crying, and as she left, I kissed Ren one last time and whispered in her ear "Remember that talk we had a few months ago? Thanks for listening."

 

When I was at my absolute worst, about 8 months ago, I poured my heart out to Ren. She didn't mock me. She didn't judge me. She just listened and understood my pain, to the extent of her comprehension.

 

Coming home to an apartment just a little bit more empty was so hard. Stimpy, her sister, has lost a lifelong companion, and Pikachu, my cuddly chunky girl now gets more of the couch.

 

And me, I've lost another child.

 

My grandfather was right when he said pets don't belong in the home.

 

Today I learned the hardest lesson of pet ownership: The owner usually out-lives them.

 

I'm just glad I convinced myself to be at her side when she passed.

 

Between my mother ALWAYS fawning over her, and my constant "baby talk" and "play wrestling" matches and sleeping with her next to me, this cat had it pretty good.

 

And so did I, and I'll always cherish her memory. Perhaps one day, I'll meet a HUMAN female who is capable of as much love as that little girl always gave me.

 

It's taken a long time, but I've FINALLY found the woman all other women should be judged against.

 

And this one has white whiskers and crapped in a box.

 

Let's see Match.com beat that.

 

-tp

smiling next to you, in silent lucidity.

[allina]

I'm very sorry TP, this post made me so sad *tear*

I'm glad she had such a loving home during her long life.

[melodymatters]

I have tears in my eyes TP. I lost a puppy-friend last yr and still cry over her more than most of my past relationships.

 

Now, I am in an emotionally lonely place ( just moved, no friends or family nearby, a tattered LD relationship on it's last legs) and I have found myself obsessing over my brilliant, best friend, dachshunds eventual demise. She's only 6, and I know i need to knock it off, but lonliness will do that to you. All the moves, hearbreaks, adventures good and bad, she's been by my side, more even than my child, and I already tell people I may need a short stay in a white coat when It's her time.

 

I feel for you buddy, so, so, so, MUCH !!!

[AFarAwayPlace]

I had read your prior thread about the kitty, I'm terribly sorry for your loss, I went through the same thing about a year ago with an older cat and his liver was failing, we also had him put down and stayed in the room, it's so very hard but I am sure they take comfort that you were there at the end.

[Topper]

PT we may have had our philosophical battles, I'm sure in the future we will have more. Right now in this time and place my sincerest condolences go out to you. I hate reading things like this. I just get way to emotional. I have a 16 year old Golden Retriever. She is a pain in azz a compleat bozo and my best buddy. I could bore you to tears with Goldie stories.

Pets being so much to us and ask so little. Take care TP be grateful for all the good years you had together.

[AriaIncognito]

Yeah i'm crying too. I'm sorry for your loss. I know how hard it is to lose a pet you've had so long. It does suck that we outlive them, but you can't replace the joy they bring to your life every day. If i didn't have a pet to come home to I'd probably go crazy. And you're right, they do listen, and maybe they do judge, but they can't tell us that :-)

[johan]

...Perhaps one day' date=' I'll meet a HUMAN female who is capable of as much love as that little girl always gave me.[/quote']

 

I actually think that's probably a reasonable expectation.

 

Sorry to hear about your cat. In spite of the fact that they're pretty useless overall, they are still pretty good little pets.

[pelagicsands]

I'm just glad I convinced myself to be at her side when she passed.

Dude, you rock.

[silentcharon]

I'm sorry for your loss. I lost a pet too, a Golden Retriever- he was poisoned. I recieved a card with this poem, and I have always had a copy of it. I would like it to share it with you.

 

"The Rainbow Bridge"

 

By the edge of a woods, at the foot of a hill,

Is a lush, green meadow where time stands still.

Where the friends of man and woman do run,

When their time on earth is over and done.

For here, between this world and the next,

Is a place where each beloved creature finds rest.

On this golden land, they wait and they play,

Till the Rainbow Bridge they cross over one day.

No more do they suffer, in pain or in sadness,

For here they are whole, their lives filled with gladness.

Their limbs are restored, their health renewed,

Their bodies have healed, with strength imbued.

They romp through the grass, without even a care,

Until one day they start, and sniff at the air.

All ears prick forward, eyes dart front and back,

Then all of a sudden, one breaks from the pack.

For just at that instant, their eyes have met;

Together again, both person and pet.

So they run to each other, these friends from long past,

The time of their parting is over at last.

The sadness they felt while they were apart,

Has turned into joy once more in each heart.

They embrace with a love that will last forever,

And then, side-by-side, they cross over… together.

[KittenMoon]

Aww.... Rainbow Bridge poem- ALWAYS reduces me to tears.

 

TP- so sorry for your loss. I was raised in a home where our cats were like siblings and treated thus. One of my earliest memories, I couldn't have been older than 3, is remembering my parents crying over a tomcat hit in the road (he was an abandoned outdoor cat adopted by my parents, so they didn't try to confine him to their tiny rented house).

 

Before my breakup and subsequent joining of LS, the hardest thing in my life was losing my kitty my first summer after college- my mom took her to the vet one day and she just dropped dead. I cried every night until I went back to school.

 

Pets are our best friends, they give unconditonal love and support and the only bad thing about them is that they will likely pass long before us. But every moment until then is pure gold- as precious as any moment with a human being, IMO.

 

I- and the grey cat at my side- are terribly sorry for your loss.

[Teacher's Pet]

OMG..

 

That is so beautiful.

 

Thank you so much.

 

Thank you everyone....

 

-tp

my eyes....there is liquid coming from my eyes!

[polywog]

tp, Your post broke my heart. I am sending you two great poems, one I recently posted on here for someone who lost a dog. While it's about a dog, the sentiment is about losing a beloved pet. Take care. (((tp)))) and (((Ren)))

 

"The Housedog's Grave"

By Robinson Jeffers

[American Poet 1887-1962]

 

I've changed my ways a little, I cannot now

Run with you in the evenings along the shore,

Except in a kind of dream; and you, if you dream a moment

You see me there.

 

So leave awhile the paw-marks on the front door

Where I used to scratch to go out or in,

And you'd soon open; leave on the kitchen floor

The marks of my drinking-pan.

 

I cannot lie by your fire as I used to do

On the warm stone,

Nor at the foot of your bed; no, all the nights through

I lie alone.

 

But your kind thought has laid me less than six feet

Outside your window where firelight so often plays,

And where you sit to read -- and I fear often grieving for me --

Every night your lamplight lies on my place.

 

You, man and woman, live so long, it is hard

To think of you ever dying.

A little dog would get tired, living so long.

I hope that you when you are lying

 

Under the ground like me your lives will appear

As good and joyful as mine.

No, dears, that's too much hope: you are not so well cared for

As I have been.

 

And never have known the passionate undivided

Fidelities that I knew.

Your minds are perhaps too active, too many-sided . . . .

But to me you were true.

 

You were never masters, but friends. I was your friend.

I loved you well, and was loved. Deep love endures

To the end and far past the end. If this is my end,

I am not lonely. I am not afraid. I am still yours.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

 

For a Dead Kitten

 

Put the rubber mouse away,

Pick the spools up from the floor,

What was velvet shod, and gay,

Will not want them, any more.

 

What was warm, is strangely cold.

Whence dissolved the little breath?

How could this small body hold

So immense a thing as Death?

 

Sara Henderson Hay

[frd150]

I am very very sorry TP.

 

You have inspired me to finally get a pet. I am not feeling very wordy today but i will say a little prayer for Ren this evening.

[boshemia]

Last year we lost Jed, he had been a part of our family for more than ten years. He was actually my mothers dog, but he eventually moved in with my Grandmother and refused to leave. We rescued him from the pound when he was about two. His name was short for Jed Clampett, because he was a terrible mess when we got him.

 

I'll never forget the look on my Grandmothers face when she came running to my home with Jed in her arms. This dog she didn't even want, and here she was wanting me to fix it. I took one look at him and knew, that terrible way he was breathing, when you hear that breath you know it's too late.

 

I miss him, but it was actually seeing the heartbreak on my Grandmothers face that stuck with me. Some people have pets, and some people have family members. Your kitty was clearly the latter. I am sorry to hear about your loss, and I hope that your other kitties will pull together and help you through. It takes a big heart to love an animal that deeply, and I suspected that you had a pretty big one in there even though you try very hard to hide it.

[KittenMoon]

Darnit, polywog, your poems got me crying.

[Totoro]

Sounds like a very special kitty!

I'm glad she lived a good long life.

 

Sorry for your loss, TP.

[Teacher's Pet]

And me' date=' I've lost another child.[/quote']

 

That's all I've been dwelling on this evening, but then it dawned on me (partially thanks to the people who posted those great poems)

 

I haven't lost ANOTHER child.

 

I just sent my child a new friend to play with.

 

I've really been good about holding it together the last few hours. You guys, my friends, and especially Ariawoman and Mollyanna (as always) have been just great.

 

Right now, Ren is nuzzling the cheek of my kid, I just know it.

 

I don't know of anyone Ren's ever met that she hasn't brought a smile to their face.

 

She was just so awesome that way.

 

I miss her terribly!! :( :( :(

 

-tp

i dont know what to put here.

[LakesideDream]

TP, I don't often comment on your opinions. We don't agree on much. As in all things, we do have common ground.

 

My best friend is "Stan the Wondercat" who I rescued from a riverbank, in the High Sierra wilderness in the spring a dozen years ago. He was about six months old, with a healing break at the base of his spine (vet said kicked or thrown) living on his wits, lizards and insects.

 

I often worry as he cuddles ME to sleep about life without him. I worry for me, 'cause he is my best friend. I feel for you, I do.

 

And, Stan's pawing my toe telling me it's time for bed.. gotta go.

[allina]

Pets being so much to us and ask so little.

 

Ha! I love my cats dearly but I wouldn't say ask a little. Maybe my cats are just spoiled. But on a daily basis they ask the following

 

-Move your head, I wanna sleep on your pillow

-Move your feet I wanna sleep at the foot of the bed

-I'm hungry, wake up and feel me now!

-I want wet food not this, meeeeeeow!

-Where are my treats?

-I pooped, remove it from my litter box at once

-I tossed my toy mouse under the couch and can't get to it, get it for me

-I tossed the bouncy ball in to my water dish, take it out and wipe up the water, I don't want wet paw pads!

 

Ah how I love my fur babies

[Topper]

Ha! I love my cats dearly but I wouldn't say ask a little. Maybe my cats are just spoiled. But on a daily basis they ask the following

 

-Move your head, I wanna sleep on your pillow

-Move your feet I wanna sleep at the foot of the bed

-I'm hungry, wake up and feel me now!

-I want wet food not this, meeeeeeow!

-Where are my treats?

-I pooped, remove it from my litter box at once

-I tossed my toy mouse under the couch and can't get to it, get it for me

-I tossed the bouncy ball in to my water dish, take it out and wipe up the water, I don't want wet paw pads!

 

Ah how I love my fur babies

 

The return on the investment is still pretty darn good.

[dr strangelove]

How did that ever end up?

[Ssheena]

keep to the topic Dr. ....(but I bet tp could get a mercy f* with this tale of woe)..

 

TP.. I also have had a kitty that had kidney problems. I was giving him fluids and trying to get him to eat and he was sooo skinny.

 

Rainbow Bridge poem always makes me cry BUT it gives me hope. I almost look forward to dieing so that I can see all of my loved pets again. When I cross that bridge there is going to be a stampede (cat herding!) of cats, dogs and a very special horse as well.

 

No cat will ever replace Ren but you will have others that will add to your memory.

 

Best wishes.

[dr strangelove]

Hammy hamster I

I mad this swing out of mecanno and hammy did tricks on it he also had a weird plastic ball I bought him to run around in..

 

Max- bought to cheer me up. He was the puppy out of the puppy pile that was curious about me, the rest kept play fighting with each other. He was a weird dog. He had a huge blanket he dragged all over the house with him it was 5 times his size.. when I said it was time to go to bed he barked and woudl grab his blanket and drag it up to flights of stairs. He had weird facial gestures, and secretly planned covert operations to steal food off the table

 

Kitty I and II

First kitty was brought home by and ex when we broke up.. part of getting me to stay. It worked. Weird cat, became very attached to me. Did this weird thing that made her look like an alien face grabber.. And she came when I called her name

How many cats do that?

 

second one.. I was asked if I wanted a cat and before I could answer it was let loose in my place.

The cat did tricks and was just odd. One time dissappeared I found the cat sleeping in a display counter in the window

Tricks were things like dancing around, etc

[allina]

The return on the investment is still pretty darn good.

 

Oh of course, I love my cats tons:love:

[MagnoliaJane]

Tp, so sorry to hear about the loss of Ren...

 

when I was in college I had a hamster couple called Flor and Charlotte that housed under my fridge - Flor would always seek contact, try to jump on my lap and then I would put him on the ground again and he would turn around and make another try - so funny

 

Now, my 12-y old cat, Wolfi, always looks for me around 10 pm and comes to "ask" if we go to sleep - often he goes first up the stairs and then waits for me in the middle of my bed

 

Those wonderful pet stories... They will always be there.

 

Take care tp