Gone Too Soon
This is not the Thanksgiving weekend newsletter I’d ever thought I’d write.
Today, this November 26, 2022, we lost Sami, our beautiful and sweet cat. She was only about seven years old, but disease has no age barriers.
And what makes it even harder is that we had no idea how desperately ill she was until this past Wednesday.
She’d had health problems, including one that required emergency care a couple of months ago. But she had bounced back well and until very recently was her usual playful and happy self, a cat who loved chin scratches and belly rubs and who often hopped into bed at night and laid down on top of Barb.
But we noticed over the past couple of weeks that she was sleeping more than usual and wasn’t eating or drinking water the way she should. That prompted us to make an appointment at our wonderful vet, Mid-North Animal Hospital, which at first was quite routine.
But our vet took Sami for blood tests and when she came back, she was practically ashen. The tests showed that Sami’s blood count levels were off so much that she recommended taking her the same day to an emergency clinic with internist vets on staff. It was the start of the Thanksgiving weekend and the closest practice that could help us was in north suburban Bannockburn, 25 miles north.
There the news was even more devastating. The doctors told us that she was in an irreversible decline and we likely only had days with her. After we confirmed that she wasn’t suffering, we brought her home and hoped she’d rally at least a bit, but she only got worse. Today, we made that hardest decision to let her go.
We got Sami shortly after we lost our 14-year-old Gracie, who we’d dubbed the Queen of Chicago. Barb had the notion to get a Tortoiseshell, named for their beautiful multi-colored coats, and we found one listed on the site of the Chicago Cat Rescue organization.
We initially thought we were fostering, but it was love at first sight. Sami was so lovely and affectionate and fun to be around. She even became a bit of a celebrity in our apartment building: In the spring of 2021, she rushed to a window to defend her domain from a window washer, a fellow of good humor who played with Sami from the other side of the glass. We shared the photo with the building’s managers and they posted it for a while in the elevators.
We were so happy to have given her a forever home. We just never imagined forever would be so brief.
Barb and I have been married for almost 38 years and we’ve had cats for 36 of those years. We can’t imagine living without one for long, but this time we really think we’re ready for fostering. We’ve grieved for four of our own cats, and this one is hardest of all.
We miss you, baby girl, and we’ll never forget you. See you in my dreams.
Nobody said it was easy
It's such a shame for us to part
Nobody said it was easy
No one ever said it would be this hard
Oh, take me back to the start.
— From the song The Scientist by Coldplay
Thank you, Nancy.
So sorry you lost Sami. I lost Mushi, my very first cat, quite suddenly. One morning he was playing on the bed then got settled to jump to the floor. He fell and died before I could get to him.
I mourned him for almost a year, until Simba took over my home and heart. I hope you will find hope and healing in these Comments.