Every New Beginning is Some Other Beginning’s End

Nancy contacted me to talk with her 13 year old cat, Clovis.

Clovis

Initially, it was going to be a conversation about how he was feeling physically. However, by the time his appointment came around, there was no question that Clovis was dying of intestinal cancer.

Please don’t stop reading this.

When I first tuned into Clovis, he said, “Tell my mom that I love her and I’m sorry and I thought we’d have more time.”

I called Nancy to see how his diagnosis was. He had been on steroids for two weeks, and his appetite was initially better, but had now fallen off again, and the normally fastidious cat was having accidents around the house.

This cat had only been sick for a few weeks. Clovis told me he was in a lot of pain, but was he ready to go?

I asked him, and he said, “I’m not ready to go. What will my mom do without me? She needs me. I can’t go.”

I told Nancy this, and she said, “It’d be selfish to make him stay since he’s suffering so badly. You tell him that I’ll miss him but I’ll be okay.”

I told Clovis this, and also that he was going to the other side where he wouldn’t be in pain, and also that perhaps he could come back and of course, he’d be able to see and help Nancy after he passed away.

I felt Clovis get peaceful. “Okay.” he said. “As long as she’s going to be okay.”

I started crying at this point, because this sweet cat wasn’t thinking about his pain at all.

Clovis and his mom had a few more hours together to say their goodbyes. She called me back to have me tell him that he’d be going to the vet to be put to sleep.  While we were on the phone, she said that whenever I was talking with him, his ears perked up like he was listening.  Then, as she and I talked, Clovis walked over to the cat carrier and stepped into it.

Normally he hates the cat carrier. You can’t get him near it.

Later this afternoon, I received an email from Nancy. Here’s a piece of it…

I wanted
to tell you that Robin, (the pet sitter that took Clovis to the vet) said she
has never ever seen an animal go so peacefully.  Clovis hates the car and
the vet office, being in his carrier, you name it, he gets stressed very
easy.  Today he never made a sound in the car or the vet’s office, Robin
said he just purred and rubbed on her as if to let her know he was ready.
She said that Clovis never flinched or fought and he passed away before the
shot was even finished being injected.  He was so ready to let go after
our conversation today.

The vast majority of my clients are like Nancy. They put their animals’ well-being first. I love that aspect of my job! And even though it’s sad to see Clovis go, it’s an honor to help a sweet cat peacefully pass.

I’m talking with Clovis on the other side on Friday.