The Passing of Pug

The Passing of Pug the cat

PUG

We had sensed this coming for probably about a month. Little Pug, called this because of her wide face and wide eyes and small body, was close to 16 years old. Her life began as a kitten who had had kittens of her own too early, who lived with a noisy and hectic family in a small home with  small children. She was passed on to rescue and from there through various adoptive homes and a few foster families until she came to live with us.

This was an independent cat of the first degree. If she was forced into doing anything she didn't want to do and became stressed, she let everyone know it by pulling out her own coat until she was almost naked.The vets gave her a battery of tests and various medications but she still kept pulling out her fur.In desperation at our house we basically ignored her , leaving her to come and go as she liked, to eat the food we put out for the cats and to sleep where she felt comfortable. That was often outside and in the early years we would see her only once in a  while.

When she did come in she was friendly enough but never a lap cat. She liked to sit beside you but didn't choose to be cuddled. She loved water and if it rained you could see her often standing outside in a downpour just soaking wet. To find her we would put on the sprinkler and out she would come running to stand under the shower. Yes she was quite a character.

PUG & fried MOCHA

As she got older she got more picky about food and over the last few months got thinner and thinner and began to stay inside more often. She was losing weight rapidly and probably now only weighed about 2-3 lbs. This last month I could see she was failing and wouldn't be long for this world. She still would try and jump up on counters and on the couch but began to miss her footing and I could see that something had to be done. Even walking across the room was becoming a big effort and took time. 

Last week I began debating whether I should be thinking about putting her to sleep as she was sleeping most of the time and eating and drinking so little. A sure sign that the end is near.

So last Friday I took her on my lap and to my surprise she settled right down and let me pet her so gently. I talked to her in my mind about how I loved her and how we all would miss her but it was time to pass on and let go.

Then I put her on the ground in her favorite place , right in front of the refrigerator, while we had our evening meal and we did the usual evening things we do. It wasn't until a couple of hours later that I asked Mike where was Pug  and he replied she was in the kitchen.

Well she wasn't. She seemed to have disappeared into thin air.

I looked around searching just about everywhere I could think . Mike joined me and we extended our search to every nook and cranny, cupboard and corner in the house and even in places she could not have gone to. No sign of her.

Then we looked outside under every bush and in all the places a cat could hide..We knew the possibility of her even making it outside the house was extremely limited as this cat could not have gone far in her present state but we looked and looked. I fully expected to find her lying dead somewhere but after a couple of hours in began to get dark and we had to give up. I think we both knew that our little Pug had passed on.

We continued looking all the next day but I really knew that we would not find her and now 3 days later no sign of her anywhere.

She had decided that it was now time to go and so she went. No fuss. This is what independent cats do.

Goodbye Pug we shall miss you.