Goodbye, Poppy

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As if 2020 couldn’t get worse, The Boy passed away on Thursday. He was 14 years old and hadn’t been well for a while – being diagnosed with chronic kidney disease last year – and despite the endless tests and multiple changes in medications it became obvious that his quality of life was declining and he was becoming distressed, so we made the decision to say goodbye. I have known it was coming for a while and so I made sure that we had a lovely last day together, and he went to sleep peacefully on my lap which is the best thing I could have hoped for. He is the last of our three cats to pass away – we lost his sister in 2016 and our 19 year old cat in 2014, and it never gets any easier.

He’s been my little dude since he was 5 weeks old. He and his sister were brought to my house in a carrier bag and he’d had a horrendous start to his little life, being so small that he could fit into the palm of my hand. For the last 14 years he has been my personal shadow and has seen me through every step of my life – following me from room to room, only settling when he was on my lap, proudly bringing me socks that he had stolen from the hamper as gifts, joining in every Zoom call and entertaining The Bloke and I by screaming the songs of his ancestors at 3.00am… and 4.00am… and 5.00am… and…

The King of the Five Breakfasts, this was a cat who owned his own couch and had more toys than the average toddler, but his greatest pleasures in life involved sitting in boxes, chasing random bits of paper, having standoffs with the neighbours cat who likes to sit in our back garden, sticking his head in the bags of anyone who visited, yelling at the squirrels in cat videos on YouTube and patting plastic bags down until they were completely flat on the floor. He never failed to come running while yelling hello at me whenever I had been away. And oh my gosh, he could wear the heck out of a hat.

Yesterday was tough. I took a duvet day to myself during which I lay in the couch and watched a whole bunch of films, but the silence within the house was something I found it quite difficult to deal with. Aside from two days last year while Poppy was at the vet hospital having tests, this is the first time in 17 years that there hasn’t been at least one cat in the house, and it is strange.

Bye dude, I’ll miss you xx

28 thoughts on “Goodbye, Poppy”

  1. He did look jaunty and cute in that hat! I’m so sorry I’ve lost both dogs and cats but losing that one who snuggles in your lap is especially harder. Sending hugs!

  3. Oh Suzie – I am so so sorry to hear this – when we lost the last of our five cats I took to my bed for a day ad wasn’t happy again until we got another cat six weeks later over Hubs objections
    Take some comfort in the fact that you gave him a good life – let the good memories take over an make you smile

  4. Oh Suzie, what a beautiful tribute to your little Poppy. So sorry for your loss. We’ve only had our twin sister kitties for 15 months (they were a year old when we rescued them), and I can’t imagine life without them. Hugs xx

  9. My condolences… You are right, no matter how many times we have to go through this kind of loss, we can’t get used to it. I’m sending warm thoughts your way. *Big hug*

    • It’s the worst, isn’t it! I think this one hit me harder because I always had at least one other that still needed looking after. Thanks so much for your message.

  12. Sadly it is our job to help those we love to lasting peace. It is the hardest thing to do but so necessary at times. We too are without a cat in the house after 24 years. I hope your pain of loss will be replaced by the joy of memories, Susie. Until then I am very sorry for your loss.

  13. Condolences over the loss of your 4-footed family.

    No, it never gets any easier. We still mourn over the doggies and kitties — for years after their passing — and we will always carry a part of them within us. No matter how hard it is after they’re gone, we still know they enriched our lives…and we can only hope we enriched theirs.

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