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Tuesday, December 10, 2013

I got back from Crowborough at 5:20pm yesterday, which gave me ten minutes to collect my cat, gather my thoughts and head back out to the vet. But it was long enough for Amelie to stop me in the hallway and hand me this picture...


That might look like Eve climbing Jacob's ladder in the Garden of Eden, but it's actually us in happier times. Amelie's picking apples, Chloe's in fine health, and Lisa is pregnant with Toby. Which explains why she's bulging at the seams.

Amelie told me that the picture was to cheer me up. Which had the effect of reducing me to tears. So I gave Chloe a quick cuddle, popped her in her basket, and headed straight out. I was the last appointment of the day at the surgery, and the twenty minutes they kept me waiting was spent trying to hold myself together. It's almost two years since they told me that the best case scenario was for Chloe to live another year, so I've known this was coming for a long time, and I thought I was very well prepared. In fact, if you'd asked me a week ago, I'd have said I wouldn't be upset at all.

Suffice it to say, I was wrong. By the time I walked into the consulting room, I was so choked up that I was reduced to communicating with the vet in sign language. At first she thought that Chloe might just be in the end stages of kidney failure, which is what they always expected to happen, but in the end, it appears to have been a stroke after all.

The vet brought in a chair from the waiting room, and let me sit with Chloe on my lap while they administered the injection. I was warned that they often get a moment of euphoria as the drugs take effect, and that Chloe might sit up for a second. As it transpired, she cried out unexpectedly and struggled, which took the vet by surprise, and was slightly heartbreaking. The vet, who was very apologetic, told me that's highly unusual, and suggests there was something wrong with her brain, which wasn't responding in the normal way. So a stroke seems quite likely. She assured me that despite that reaction, Chloe wouldn't have felt any pain.

I hadn't planned to take Chloe away with me, as we don't have a garden, and I had no intention of driving over to St Leonards that evening for a burial at my parents' house, but when it came to it, I just couldn't leave her. Having sat there for five minutes, stroking my cat as she slipped away, I was overwhelmed by the feeling that I had to take her with me. Frankly I would have driven to Scotland and back if I'd had to.

The vet, who was lovely, arranged Chloe on a towel with her paws carefully positioned to look like she was sleeping, then wrapped her gently and put her back in her basket. The cost of all that loveliness was £63.66, which I still feel is excessive, but the care I received was faultless.

Ten minutes later, I was driving in the direction of Hastings, from where my Mum kindly came and met me halfway. Chloe's now at rest in their garden, where Amelie can lay flowers on her grave.

She had a full life, and was the world's most patient cat. She's been Amelie's straight man...


... her fall guy...


... her reading companion...


... and her dance partner...


And she's never once complained. When I adopted her from Colchester Cat Rescue on 15th September 2001, four days after 9/11, I was in a very different place (and I don't mean Suffolk). Chloe's been with me through the most significant changes of my life, and I've known her longer than I've known Lisa. Which is why I always gave Chloe first dibs on the sofa. She'll be greatly missed by everyone in this family.

Not to mention all her fans online...


48,000 people can't be wrong.

4 comments:

Phil's Mum said...

Think you should have your blog made into a film. It would be a tear-jerking, blockbuster success.

Andrew, Stefan, Rozi and Zita said...

absolutely, I can hardly see the key-board to write this!
RIP Chloe.
XXX

Zed said...

Dearest Phil, the last thing you can do for your pet is hold her and give her a kind death. I'm so sorry. I can see the eyes of every dog I've held as that injection was given, but I couldn't have given the task to anyone else. You did the right thing at the right time and Chloe was loved and knew it. You'll never stop missing her, but you'll remember her with love and that's the most any of us can hope for in the end. Love to you all xxx

Kristy said...

So sorry to hear about Chloe. Best to you and your family.