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Goodbye, my beautiful blue-eyed Little Man

Oh Catherine I am so so sorry! Gabriel was a beautiful cat and such a sweet boy. I was lucky enough to have met him in person. I will never forget him following me into the bathroom at your house to keep my company! So friendly and lovable. Having lost my sweet baby last year I know all too well the pain you are feeling. I am sure you did everything you could for him and he was certainly well loved and happy with you.

When I lost my girl someone sent me this poem, and while it still makes me tear up reading it even now, it also helped bring me some comfort. I hope it can do the same for you. Love you girlie....

Beyond The Rainbow

As much as I loved the life we had and all the times we played,
I was so very tired and knew my time on earth would fade.
I saw a wondrous image then of a place that's trouble-free
Where all of us can meet again to spend eternity.

I saw the most beautiful Rainbow, and on the other side
Were meadows rich and beautiful -- lush and green and wide!
And running through the meadows as far as the eye could see
Were animals of every sort as healthy as could be!
My own tired, failing body was fresh and healed and new
And I wanted to go run with them, but I had something left to do.

I needed to reach out to you, to tell you I'm alright
That this place is truly wonderful, then a bright Glow pierced the night.
'Twas the Glow of many Candles shining bright and strong and bold
And I knew then that it held your love in its brilliant shades of gold.

For although we may not be together in the way we used to be,
We are still connected by a cord no eye can see.
So whenever you need to find me, we're never far apart
If you look beyond the Rainbow and listen with your heart.
Click to expand...
 
My sincerest condolences Catherine. :(

It's funny how it's so easy to accept animals into our lives and yet so difficult to let them go. At least the one thing that never leaves us is all of the wonderful time and memories that we get to share while they are with us.
 
I'm so sorry to hear about your loss. He was a beautiful cat.

Both cats and dogs hold such a special place in our hearts. Such wonderful little personalities.
 
Again, thank you all. Its comforting to hear such warm condolences. Who better than animal people to comfort the grieving animal lover?

ArpeggioAngel said:
Oh Catherine I am so so sorry! Gabriel was a beautiful cat and such a sweet boy. I was lucky enough to have met him in person. I will never forget him following me into the bathroom at your house to keep my company! So friendly and lovable. Having lost my sweet baby last year I know all too well the pain you are feeling. I am sure you did everything you could for him and he was certainly well loved and happy with you.

When I lost my girl someone sent me this poem, and while it still makes me tear up reading it even now, it also helped bring me some comfort. I hope it can do the same for you. Love you girlie....
Click to expand...

You know, you are the 3rd one to send me this poem. Every time I've read it, it makes me cry. I'm so glad you got a chance to meet him. He was such a special boy... He seems to have touched so many hearts. Thank you, Katie. Your kind words mean so much to me
 
I'm so sorry you have lost your Little Man :( maybe words can't comfort you much right now but hopefully remembering the fun you had together will. You're right that fellow animal lovers understand, especially cat and dog owners - our pets are the family we have chosen, they mean so much and it leaves such a gaping hole when they are gone :(

Take care x
 
I am so sorry. He was gorgeous. Absolutely gorgeous. And I can feel how much you love him in what you wrote. They leave us far too soon, and even more so in Gabriel's case. ((hugs)) On my cat lists, we say we will ask our cats who have left us to meet the newly passed & show them the ropes.

I can tell you did everything possible for him. I will ask my "angel Phillip" to meet your Gabriel.
 
I am so sorry about the loss of your "Little Man". He will always hold that special place in your heart. It is so hard to lose a family member, no matter the age or reason. He was very handsome and he knew he had the best home, ever.

Rest well, Gabriel.
 
Catherine you know if you need anyone to talk to you are more than welcome to contact me. My cell phone number is the same and I can always send you my home number.
For anyone who doesn't know I got to meet Gabriel at Catherine's house when I was out there a few years back. I could not believe my eyes when I first saw him! He was the biggest cat I have ever seen and you would've sworn he must have been mixed with a wild cat! His size could have easily made him intimidating to some people, but with his sweet disposition that was definately not the case. He was just a big lovey teddy bear to me - a complete stranger! Where Joe was teasing Catherine about stealing some of her snakes, I wanted to steal Gabriel! Even just from that short meeting I know Gabriel was definately one of a kind. I may have only met him that one time, but even I am feeling his loss all the way out here. RIP sweet Gabriel. I hope my Liebe girl was able to greet you at the Rainbow Bridge and welcome you.
 
This reminds me of my cat Chloe...she was an all black long haired cat, and I had her since she was 6 weeks old. She used to be one of 7 cats we had, and she had two litters of kittens in her life. But then she was the only cat left cause we had to give away the other 6 for various reasons, and then we got 5 dogs. Poor Chloe was so overwhelmed with their friendliness (they would follow her everywhere trying to play or make friends with her but she didn't want to have anything to do with them, cats are like that). One day we decided to let Chloe out in our fenced backyard to give her a break from the dogs. For some reason she decided to go over the fence into my neighbor's backyard and their dog came running at her and picked her up. The neighbor's dog was rather large but he didn't want to kill her, just play. He picked her up in his jaws and ran around with her before we could get him away from her, and though there were no external injuries (not even a scratch!)apparently he bit hard enough to cause internal damage, plus poor Chloe was in shock cause she didn't know to run away since she was used to our dogs not bothering her (well, in that way.). She died that night at the animal hospital. It was over a year ago, but I still miss her terribly. I feel bad about what happened to her because its kind of my fault for letting her outside...she was an indoor cat, she had only been outside a few times in her life, she didn't know the rules, she didn't realize the danger. My last memory of her was my dad carrying her to the car from my neighbor's backyard, her eyes wide with shock and her little pink tongue hanging out of her mouth. Its an awful memory to have...


So, I understand your pain. I know what its like to lose a pet you've had since it was a baby, that you've loved for so long but you feel its ended too soon. Chloe was about the same age when she died, its rather young for a cat. My aunt had a cat that lived until he was 18 years old. But, these things happen. Its a tough world out there. I'm sure Gabriel had an excellent life with you, something a lot of cats aren't privileged enough to have.
 
I'm sorry for your loss, Catherine. He was so beautiful. That's such a tough way to lose him, too. *hugs*
 
This was indeed a horrible way to lose him. It happened in the span of 2 days. He'd been losing a bit of weight lately, but I attributed it to being able to go outside since I moved 5 months ago, and also the recent addition of a kitten as a playmate within that time as well. He'd always been a pretty lazy cat, so I thought he was just getting back into shape. While I was at the horse show, he became completely anorexic. I thought it was because I was gone so much in those few days. He would never tolerate my absence well for work or vacation trips. On Saturday, I noticed his eyes looked green instead of their normal blue, which prompted me to investigate more. His sclera and oral mucosa were yellow... Jaundice! I checked the litter box, and sure enough... empty. I immediately took him into an emergency vet clinic.

He spent 3 days there, hooked up to every tube known to cat-kind. We shotgunned his treatment, and ran every lab and diagnostic imaging test under the sun. He was severely anemic and neutropenic (critically low white blood cell count), so we ran an infectious disease panel, which revealed the toxoplasm. We tried 4 different antibiotics, but he responded to nothing. The treatment was futile, and on Monday afternoon I came to the most horrible realization in the world... this is killing him.

He was so miserable, he could barely lift his head. Any kind of human interaction earned a weak growl, which was so out of character for him. He was just in so much pain, there was nothing left to do but take it away from him. I held him the whole time, and he died in my arms.

Katie, everyone always reacted to his size like that. I knew he was a big boy, but I never realized just HOW big until others saw him. I suppose he had a little "wildness" to him. He was the best hunter I'd ever seen. Unfortunately, that caused his demise. :(

So, sorry bird-lovers, but I now hate birds =/ No offense to them personally. Its just a general disregard at this point.

Again, thank you for all the loving words said. I almost made it a few hours today without falling apart completely. I know it will take time, but my life without him right now is so heart-breaking... Alot of my day revolved around his schedule and antics. I find myself at a complete loss. Its not just me either... My yorkie, Baby, and kitten, Remy, loved their brother dearly and are clearly mourning him as well.

I'm not a religious person. Not that I'm not actively religious... I'm not religious period. Its not something I like to broadcast; just a personal belief. However, it is definitely a pretty though to think that my Little Man has found better than just nothingness. Funny how that happens. While I'm not inclined to believe in a heaven for myself, the thought that there might be some kind of... something out there for my baby makes this a little easier to handle.

Regardless of what I do or do not believe in, I know that he is not suffering. I know that he had a great life, and was loved & spoiled probably more than any kitty possibly could be (of course, I'm biased). He will always be loved like that, and will always be missed.
 
Catherine, I'm just seeing this for the first time due to Jess posting it in the WIR. Don't know how I missed it, but I just want to tell you how sorry I am for your loss. Gabriel was such a beautiful cat. I think we can all empathize with how you're feeling during this time. Our animals add so much life to our lives and our homes, and their absence is deeply felt. I lost my beloved Ivan last summer, and my remaining dogs are just not the same. It's not that they're not happy and playful together, but their whole daily dynamic has changed.

I can feel in your words just how much you loved him. I hope that each day brings you a bit less sadness. RIP, beautiful boy. ((((Catherine))))
 
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