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R.I.P Luisa

Luisa back in the day when she ruled the household

Born:  ??/??/1992 or 1993

Rescued: 08/26/1996

Died:  05/05/2014

In August 1996, we rescued Luisa from a local park, popular with runners and students, and adjacent to a student housing complex.  She liked to hang out on the roof of the restrooms.  My husband had fallen in love with her a few weeks earlier and fretted that she might have been abandoned.  We resolved to at least take her to a vet and post notices in the hope that her “owners” would come for her.  No one came forward to claim her, so she came home with us.

And lived with us for almost 18 years.  In all that time, she seemed to be the healthiest of the bunch, outliving Rascal, Smokey, Joshua, Elodea, and Mikey, and not showing any evidence of the chronic illnesses that they had all been afflicted with in their later years.  We had one scare in December 2011 when she developed fatty liver disease.  We had had to euthanize Mikey just two months before and neither of us felt emotionally strong enough to go through that again.  Fortunately, medication resolved the disease and soon she was eating and drinking and being as contrary as her usual tortie self.

This time ’round though, the big C knocked her down.  Although we tried medication, nothing could stop the progression of the disease.  These past several weeks have been a hellish roller-coaster ride with us getting hopeful every time she would raise her head and purr and chirp at us, alternating with painful dread of her imminent death when she started to refuse food and eventually only drank if we brought water to her.

Timing is everything, but it’s never perfect in this situation.  Either you euthanize them when there is still a shred of quality of life within them, and forever wonder if it was too soon and inhumane.  Or you put it off until they are simply a shell of a living creature, breathing hard, almost unable to move, and forever flog yourself for waiting one day too long.

In Luisa’s case, we feel we put it off too long.  Yet we are grateful she died at home and we were with her.

We gave her all the love and care and comfort in our power.  We loved her and will miss her deeply.

Luisa is survived by:

Maxine
Maxine

 

Junior
Junior

 

Wendy
Wendy

 

 And two broken-hearted furless bipeds named

Marie & Greg.

 

Marie A Bailey

59 responses to “R.I.P Luisa”

  3. It’s amazing how pets worm their way into our lives and become a part of us, a part of our families. Luisa was a beautiful tortie, and I know she’ll be missed. So sorry.

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  8. Marie, this made me cry. I have many cats in my life, and each one is so special to me, so I can imagine how you feel, I think. The way you wrote this obituary is beautiful. A tribute fit for your wonderful Luisa. xoxo

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  10. Aw, she’ll be sorely missed by all of you, I’m sure… You did right by her and that’s what counts….Sorry for your loss.

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      • You’re most welcome…you take care now and think of all the lovely times you had together. That’s what Pat and I do for Leon (our cat that disappeared)…we always cherish his memory with comments and smiles when something reminds us of him.

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          • It was, still is sometimes depending on one’s mood when a memory is sparked. We have two lovely little ‘boys’ that keep us chirping. 😀

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  12. I am sorry for the loss of your friend. It is so hard to lose a treasured member of the family after so many years. You did a wonderful thing by rescuing her and I’m sure she had a long happy life.

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  14. Oh Marie. I was gone all day and this is the first I heard. I am so sorry for your loss. Our beloved fur children should live with us longer, but it seems they have other places to go. It is so hard to let go and hopefully the sadness will be replaced with the lovely memories. Hugs to you at this difficult time.

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  17. So sorry, Marie. I can feel the hurt in your words. Went through something similar a couple of years ago with our dog. Very tough to make that decision as to whether it’s time or not, and you never feel like you made the right one. But you did, and you did it all out of love for Luisa.

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    • Thanks so much, Dave. It never gets easier. We had to put down four other cats in the last several years and perhaps only once did we feel we got the timing right. Both Greg and I wish now we had acted sooner with Luisa. But it’s all hindsight. Our oldest now is 10 so we’re hoping we don’t have to go through this again for a very, very long time. Thank you again for your kind words.

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  18. Hi Marie – Been thinking of you for a couple of days now, and I’m sorry I didn’t reach out until now. I’m sorry you lost your friend, and I’m glad that she got all your love right up until the end.

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  19. I know how sad that can be. I’ve had a number of cats over my life, or more particularly my daughters, have and I know the pall of sadness which can be thrown over a household by the loss of a much loved pet

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  21. Awe Hun I feel the pain of your loss and I completely understand. Sending you huge hugs and positive vibes to use in the moments you need them most. She was beautiful and blessed to have you as her “parents”!
    We are still having ups and downs with old pup, it’s so hard to see them grow old and not feel well 😦

    Huge hugs to you! ❤

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    • My sympathies for the double heartache you went through. It’s never easy. We just try to be grateful for the time we had together and enjoy the memories. Thank you for reading and for sharing.

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  23. So sorry about your loss of Luisa! You gave her a wonderful tribute and ‘send off.’ I love animals and have always considered them a very special part of my family, too!

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  24. I’m so sorry you lost a beloved family member. Losing a pet is so hard but you wrote a beautiful post about her. ((HUGS))

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  25. We had a cat who looked like Maxine. She lived a wonderful life, more than 17 years. Like you with Louisa, we probably put off euthanizing too long. She died on the way to the vet.

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    • Thank you for sharing, Gwen. I’m happy to say that Luisa really did have a good life up until the last few months. Aside from losing a few teeth, she missed a lot of the chronic problems some of our other cats had. So you had a Tuxedo kitty? I plan to tell Maxine’s story soon. She rules the household now 😉

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  26. Sorry about your loss, Marie. My parents just lost their cat as well who they adopted around ’95/’96. Glad to hear you have two others to keep each other company.

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    • Thank you, Phillip. I’m sorry to hear about your parents’ cat. It is really hard when you’ve had them for so long. Before she got sick, we really thought Luisa was out to break an age record.

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  27. I am so sorry Marie. Cats are so special and they become part of our family. I live in dread of the day that anything happens to mine. Sending condolences to you and the rest of your moggy brood. x

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    • Thank you so much, Jade! Fortunately our other three are keeping us very busy. And we did have almost 18 years with Luisa … we’ll always be grateful for that 🙂

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