TD and I had the most wonderful cat for seventeen years named Rose but recently we had to say good-bye and put her down. Oh, it is so hard and heartbreaking to lose a beloved pet.
We found Rose on a farm seventeen years ago in Fort Edwards, in upstate New York, near where my uncle Brian and his wife Susan live. Susan had spotted a sign for kittens at the farm and so we went down to investigate. It was a Fourth of July weekend and the farmer and his wife were not home. But we watched the passel of kittens roaming around the yard and we chose our favorite who was the most lively one. We returned later when the farmer and his wife were there and picked up the kitten and named her Rose.
Here is a picture of TD and Rose the year we got her -
She was wonderful company over the years, a sweet girl who enjoyed being with people. She would follow me from room to room like a shadow. She liked to sit in between us on the couch, and she got on the bed at night and slept next to me. Later we got a little cat named Bell, and they were often together and touched each other when they slept.
Bell and Rose in the kitchen -
Rose on Ted's birthday last year -
Kidney problems and thyroid problems are common in older cats, and Rose developed some but we did not treat them really aggressively because we had been badly burned in the past by a terrible vet.
When our first cat Katie was twelve years old she had a thyroid issue and we took her to Dr. Ann Wayne Lucas at Washington Square Animal Hospital on E. 9th Street. For Katie she prescribed Tapazole which caused the cat to become anemic and after $5,000 of blood transfusions (at the Fifth Avenue Veterinary Specialist hospital on W. 15th Street which you should avoid at all costs), our cat Katie needlessly died. Dr. Ann Wayne Lucas was not familiar with this reaction to Tapazole, even though a simple Google search shows that it can be a problem. After Katie died, she sent us a condolence note which said it had been "a learning experience" for her. Terrible vet. Terrible place. Do not go to Washington Square Animal Hospital or Dr. Ann Wayne Lucas.
We have a wonderful vet now - Dr. Maureen Hurson at City Vet Care on West 72nd Street who is fantastic and we recommend her highly.
We had old Rose checked up regularly and she was doing ok but one day a couple weeks ago she started to fail. Without going into the myriad details, we were told that the problems were insurmountable and that it this point she would be very uncomfortable.
TD on the last night with our Rose -
And so we decided to let her go so that she would not suffer further. It all happened very fast over one weekend in August and it was a shocking development. Afterwards, my heart actually hurt. We miss her terribly. Bell seems to be depressed without her and sometimes Bell cries out. Rose was a good companion for all of us.
That night after she was gone we got some roses for our old Rose -
