Missing My Dagney

Sunday, September 08, 2013

             I was holding Daggy on my lap loving her down when the phone rang about 4:00 p.m. yesterday afternoon. It was the Vet. He told me he could stop by after he closed up. Originally it was planned on him stopping by Sunday morning to put my Dagney "to sleep".  As much as I wanted some more time with my cat I told him that it would be best to get the deed over with.

Immediately I took Daggy into the kitchen and opened up a can of tuna fish. I drained out the water into her bowl. This would be her second bowl of “tuna fish water” for the day. How she loved that special treat. I then laid down on the bed with her on my chest. I made a triangle with my thumbs and index fingers which she rubbed with her face. This was one of her favourite interactions to do with me. Her whiskers were fully extended meaning she was content and safe in “cat language”.

This picture is from September 2006 showing Daggy in one of her favourite spots: on my chest giving me kisses.

How my heart was breaking. My poor little girl. She had been incontinent for about a month. I could live changing out the dog training pads, but there was more. She no longer climbed the stairs to her “kingdom” on the second floor. That was her domain. She seldom ventured into the backyard, driveway, or front porch on her own anymore. It did not seem right to be weeding and not have Daggy “helping” me by demanding love and attention. There were a few spots in the bedroom she now claimed being pretty much inactive 24/7. I could tell she was having difficulty walking. She no longer stood for very long. Her joints must have been aching.

The door to the driveway was open so I was able to meet the Doctor and his assistant when they arrived, holding Daggy to my chest. They came into the bedroom. Daggy was very docile as I held her on my lap, sitting on the edge of the bed. Under normal circumstances she would flee with any stranger entering the house. I stroked, talked, and loved on her as the sleeping injection was given to her. When her tongue slipped out, I knew she was under. The Doctor laid her out on the bed and she was given the injection to stop her heart. It was painless and she died in familiar surrounding. I just hope I’m as lucky when my time comes….

It has been very dry here for the past few weeks. I had to use the pick axe to break open the ground where Daggy was to be buried. She had a spot she loved to lounge and soak up the sun. That is where I laid her to rest. She was placed in a linen pillowcase that was handed down from mom’s first cousin, Elsie. There was a monogrammed “E” just under the hem stitching. She was then placed inside another flannel pillowcase that had been my mom’s. I gently lowered her into the ground. I had a pile of loose topsoil nearby I used to fill in her grave. The hard lumpy clay would not do.

I keep looking for my little girl in her favourite spots as I walk around the house. She is out of her pain…it will take a while for me….

My Dagney:  1998-2013