Godspeed, Lily

[rg_girlca]

My sympathies are with you at the sad hour.
What a beautiful tribute to your beautiful Lily.
May the loving memories comfort you and help you overcome the pain.

Rest in Peace dear sweet Lily.

[Randi]

I'm so very sorry to hear you have lost your Lily. I know you will miss her terribly. Your tribute to her is beautiful. She sounds and looks like a wonderful girl (reminds me of Fister's mom)
She is not in pain now, so you did what was best for her. I know you will keep her in your heart and she will never be forgotten!

Rest in peace, sweet Lily!

[catmandu]

The Found Cats and I are so sorry to hear about poor Lily. But now she is out of pain , and will be young again , with plenty of Pet Angels to play with. and Know that you will be together again!

[AvaJoy]

Thank you all for your words of comfort. They mean so much at times like this. I will share your posts with my husband as I know he, too, will so VERY much appreciate your caring and kindness.

I couldn't bring myself to talk about this last night, but I will now. What made this even more difficult was the fact that after the vet gave her the injection, her diaphram kept on contracting, still trying to make her breathe!! Lily was given a sedative first, which put her completely out of it so she had no idea what was going on, thankfully. Her pulse was weakening, but the vet said her heart was so strong that . . . well, it seemed like forever before her body gave up. It was agonizing for us to endure this, but as I mentioned we knew SHE wasn't consciously aware of any of it, and that is the important part.

Yet, it made us feel like maybe she wasn't ready to give up her fight, and we were sending her to the RB prematurely . . . the vet reassured us that it was time because she was so frail and wasn't eating. If we let her linger on, her heart was so very strong that she would have suffered a slow and painful death due to starvation/kidney shutdown, and we wouldn't want her to go through that. If cats don't eat regularly, many organs are adversely affected.

I have had to watch my horse and 2 dogs PTS via injection, and it was instantaneous. With Lily it took about 15 minutes until the vet pronounced her gone.

I just want to let others know that if they are faced with having to put their furkid to sleep, it may be best to insist that the vet FIRST GIVE A SEDATIVE INJECTION, before the lethal one. (This may be common practice, however my vet gave me the OPTION when Shasta was going to the RB, which leads me to believe that administering a sedative beforehand is not neccessarily a prerequisite to euthanasia.)

With sedation, if there are problems finding a vein, or the pet lingers as Lily did, it will save you additional agony in the midst of the heartache and sadness such an experience creates. The sedation renders the pet virtually comatose so they have no awareness of what is happening.

Blessings to you from Lily and her family.

[slick]

My tears are flowing as I read this. I can't even begin to imagine how hard that must have been for you to watch her those last 15 min. I just don't know what to say......I'm crying so hard for you

[trayi52]

All I can do is cry for you. That had to be the longest and hardest 15 minutes ever.

Willie

[krazyaboutkatz]

I'm so sorry to hear about Lily's passing. What a wonderful tribute you've given her. At least now she's pain free and able to play again at Rainbow Bridge. RIP sweet Lily. Please take care.

[Killearn Kitties]

I'm so very sorry to hear this news about Lily. She sounds a great cat. So full of personality, I'll bet it was loads of fun having her around.

Rest in peace beautiful Lily and watch over your family for us.

[ramanth]

RIP Lily.

[Tubby & Peanut's Mom]

I'm so sorry to hear this. I've been thinking about Lily and was going to post today to ask how she was doing, but now I see that is unnecessary.

She sounds like she brought you so much joy that I'm sure she will sorely be missed.

RIP sweet Lily.

[catnapper]

What a special kitty, and she now has a special place over the Rainbow Bridge. I am sorry for your loss.