Houdini The Bestest Cat!

Yesterday I promised to post of pictures of Houdini after his visit to the Salon to get a Lion Cut. All did not go as expected and it is a very long story. The pictures of him after his cut are near the bottom of this post. You have have to rifle through all the other photos I have of him as well, along with a poem I found that pays tribute to Houdini since today he had to be put down due to a genital birth defect that was brought to fore after yesterdays excursion.



I really can't tell you what happened to him on the trip to the salon or what happened to him after he was dropped off that caused this birth defect to occur now. I was not there, I went with hubby to pick him up and that is when I was told about his problem. I thought he was just angry, scared or stressed out. This was his second clipping and he sure did not act this way after the first or he would never have been subjected to it a second time.

This morning, after watching him lay around all night lethargic, (visions and memories of Fat Cat stirring in my mind) we headed to the vet about 9 AM when the office opened. I did not make an appointment as I felt it was an emergency. The vet examined him and said all his vitals were laying on top of each other and may have been that way since birth (no previous x-rays had ever been taken) or they may have shifted yesterday with any jarring. But he doubted that very much. Surgery was not financially possible for us on fixed incomes, (over $4,000.00) and no promise of success. The other two options were to take him home and watch him suffer this way while we HOPED that things would shift back to normal or to have him put down. He had a hole in his diaphragm that could be closed by the surgery but that was not going to help things shift back. And if they performed this shifting back of organs there was no guarantee that they would stay that way.

I was at a cross roads again, between a rock and a hard place. What way should I go. I am not cold hearted enough to watch him suffer. I can't afford the surgery. That left the one decision that started the heartbreak and tears to flow.

So, there is no more Houdini and I don't think, at this time, that I want another cat and have to go through this process a third time. It is hard! Only those who have been there can know just how hard it is to think that you are the one that makes the decision of life or death for a member of the family that you love dearly, just as you would a human.

I am sorry that I have shared this awful story with you all but I needed to put it all down to ease my hurt. Please forgive me for that.


TO MY CAT
Roy Burton

My cat, my dear and gentle friend,
As you lay sleeping quietly,
I think of all the times we spend
In true and happy company.
How I delight my life to share
With you, so loyal and dignified,
Sublime reward beyond compare,
Just to see you by my side.



Dear cat, how full of grace you are,
As near perfection as could be,
Most elegant of life’s gifts by far,
Proportioned in pure symmetry.
Yet your placid form does hide
A supple strength and gallant heart,
You are, it cannot be denied
Nature’s finest work of art.



How much joy you bring to me,
Like sunshine to a winter’s day,
What greater pleasure can there be
Than to watch you as you play.
When troubles seem to grow apace
I tell you of my fears and pain,
You rub your head against my face,
And suddenly, all is well again.



In the private world that’s all your own
You have no thoughts of greed or spite,
Nor waste your time to weep and moan
Of things that do not seem just right.
I look at you with grateful heart,
As in the fire’s warm glow you lie,
The simple joys that you impart,
No money on this earth could buy.



Oh, my dear friend, when you are gone,
Such sadness will be hard to bear,
The rooms so empty, days so long,
When you are no longer there.
But you, sweet cat, you cannot know
That final parting brings such pain,
When fate at last deals that cruel blow,
And I cannot hold you tight again.



My cat, my dear and gentle friend,
As you lay sleeping quietly,
I thank you for the time we spend
In true and happy company.
How I delight my life to share
With you, so loyal and dignified,
Blessed am I with riches rare,
When I have you by my side.