My cat is dead.
We are in deep mourning. Suddenly the cat threw a blood clot that paralyzed his back legs and put him in terrible pain. The heart damage was too extreme to treat so we had to make the terrible choice to end the suffering for Whisper. #4 son is devastated. This was truly his cat. #3 son is angry at the world. I face having to tell #1 and #2 sons someday. They are still in basic. Would you tell them via letter, when they eventually call, or would you wait until they are finished? It’s not that they can do anything. It’s a question of when do you share the pain and would this simply distract them. We had informed both of them that if anything happened to a human family member of the household while they were in basic, we wanted them to remain there and not come home. We didn’t review the etiquette for informing of the death of a very valued feline member of the family. Grief.
I am so sorry. It is such a loss. Our companion animals are such members of our families. (My opinion on the older boys? Tell them in a letter, but do it sooner rather than later. Don’t wait til they are done with basic training. They need to grieve, and it might be hurtful for you to decide when and where that is best done. Of course, you know them best).
Vickie
Comment by VickieNJ — July 9, 2007 @ 7:52 pm
I agree with Vickie about tell them sooner than later. By telling them later you may hurt them more and they may also be agree with you. But i am sorry to hear about your loss.
Comment by Holly — November 6, 2007 @ 4:31 pm