This is something I wasn't planning on having to write for a long time. But here we are.
Ellie, our first pet, our little cat princess, left us this past Sunday afternoon.
Starting about a week or so before Thanksgiving she didn't seem quite like herself. Normally she'd be the first to greet us when we'd come home from work. She'd hop up on the kitchen island to say hello and insist we pet her before doing anything else. But she wasn't doing that. Instead, we'd find her sleeping on our bed. That's not too odd, since that's her normal spot, but it wasn't what we were used to. Something just seemed a little off.
We assumed she was just a little sleepy. Or maybe she was mad at Leo. Or maybe she was just starting to get older and this was her new routine. Or maybe she was a little under the weather. A kitty cold, perhaps. She was still this way, not quite herself, when we left for Thanksgiving weekend.
Once we got home that Sunday we knew something wasn't right. She never misses a chance to greet us at the door when we've been gone for a weekend, but she didn't show up. We found her curled up on our bed. For the rest of the night she wouldn't get up to do anything but use the litter box and eat. I had to get her and put her on Leslie's lap since she wouldn't even do that herself. That's something I've never had to do before.
Leslie took her to the vet the next day to see what was wrong. They did blood work and other tests but weren't really sure what was going on. She got fluids and some medication and we took her home to see if she would perk back up. The rest of the week went pretty quickly. She kept getting worse. She stopped eating and drinking on her own, so we started feeding her with a syringe. We tried a few more treatments, gave her more fluids, ran an additional panel, did x-rays, and still nobody could figure out what was wrong. And all the while she got weaker.
Come Sunday morning she was the worst she'd been. For the few days prior we'd had to carry her to the litter box since she hardly had the strength to do it herself. On Sunday she could barely stand. We could tell this was probably the end. We carried her on her blanket to the sofa so we could cuddle with her one last time.
After about an hour of petting her, loving on her, and saying goodbye she breathed her final breath and was gone.
Ellie was our first pet. We got her just over a month after we'd been married. She was our only pet for about a year, so all the love was heaped on her during that time. Leslie was especially close with her. Ellie was rarely far from her and would cuddle up on her lap any chance she got. She followed Leslie from room to room, much the way that Leo does to me. Ellie knew her name and would come running from any room in the house if Leslie called her. She loved to sleep between us in our bed and, even if it was sometimes annoying, we loved it too.
She was a great cat and will be missed terribly.
This will be the last post of the year, so here's to a great Christmas and a happy New Year. Hold your family close and give your pets an extra squeeze for us.
Thanks for reading and see you in 2017.
Ellie was our first pet. We got her just over a month after we'd been married. She was our only pet for about a year, so all the love was heaped on her during that time. Leslie was especially close with her. Ellie was rarely far from her and would cuddle up on her lap any chance she got. She followed Leslie from room to room, much the way that Leo does to me. Ellie knew her name and would come running from any room in the house if Leslie called her. She loved to sleep between us in our bed and, even if it was sometimes annoying, we loved it too.
She was a great cat and will be missed terribly.
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| November 2012 - My very first picture of Ellie |
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| November 2012 - This is the day we got her |
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| February 2013 - She already loves cuddles with her mommy |
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| May 2013 - Sleepy kitty knows her spot on the bed |
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| June 2013 - Helping us paint at the new house |
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| August 2013 - Meeting her little brother Bernard |
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| August 2013 - More cuddles with Mommy |
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| September 2013 - Playing around in the tub with new little brother Franklin |
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| September 2013 - Quite the pair already |
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| September 2013 - Always ready to help with house projects |
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| October 2013 - She did eventually learn to share Leslie's lap |
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| December 2013 - And share her spot on the bed |
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| February 2014 - She was always getting in the way, but that was ok |
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| March 2014 - Getting into mischief with Frank |
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| March 2014 |
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| April 2014 |
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| December 2014 |
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| March 2015 |
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| August 2015 |
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| December 2015 |
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| December 2016 - This is the last picture I have of her, days before she died. She's so weak all she can do is cuddle with Leslie. |
This will be the last post of the year, so here's to a great Christmas and a happy New Year. Hold your family close and give your pets an extra squeeze for us.
Thanks for reading and see you in 2017.
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