OT: Loss

An off-topic post, but I had to.

We lost our cat Zena last night. She had been losing weight for the past month, and recently she had been hacking like she needed to puke a hairball, but nothing would come up. She wasn't looking too good in general.

Well, last night I got a distressed call from my mom saying I needed to come say my goodbye. I pretty much sped over there, but even then, I was too late. She was gone before I got there.

If you've ever seen a beloved animal still with death, you know that heart-wrenching feeling that slams into you like a train, knowing they're gone forever.

Zena was with us for about five years. She had been my (at the time) boyfriend's cat, and was with us while he lived with us temporarily. When his parents moved to a different city, he decided to go with them for better job opportunities. He was going to take his dog, a pitbull puppy, but leave Zena at the pound. I said F that, I'll take her. I couldn't believe he would just abandon her like that.

My parents took her in and let her live with them, and she became part of the family. We know she had a rough past--she was fixed, and the vets found out she was pregnant, but did the operation anyway. She lost her kittens. When she lived with my ex-bf's, she was a strictly outdoor cat and you could tell it had been rough on her. She was a grumpy cat, but I never blamed her for it.

My parents opened the front door on a sunny day to see if she wanted to go out onto the porch to get some sun. She never showed the slightest interest. That's how much she appreciated being inside and part of a family.

She had two extra toes on her front feet. She got along really well with my dad (who doesn't like cats in general). She absolutely adored me and my mom.

We loved her more than anyone else on this planet, and she will be sorely missed.