Goodbye, Jade

We had to say goodbye to Jade on Wednesday. I'm sure most of you have been in this position of saying goodbye to your pet(s). Jade had a kidney condition, a heart murmur, and age was not on her side. Last week, she got an abscessed tooth. But at 16 years old and with those other ailments against her, her percentage of survival was very slim.

We had a few more days to enjoy her company after the initial vet visit and just gave her a lot of attention and love. I broke down quite often while petting her and seeing her, because her health declined so rapidly and I knew goodbye was near. I'm torn on which was more touching and heartbreaking at the same time- watching my husband with her (she was his baby!) or watching my dog Indy look after her. Indy and Jade tolerated each other but have never been that close since I adopted him last summer.

In the last week, she started sleeping on a rug by his upstairs bed and sitting on the couch near him and he sat there beside her in each case. Normally, he would give her a lot of space. It was incredible to watch how he sensed something was not right and looked after her. Animals never cease to amaze me, honestly! Even two days later, he is still going to her litter box and looking in it to see if she is there. I wish I could explain it all to him.

It's been a long week and we still are sad over our loss, but we know it was the best thing we could have done for Jade. I just thought I would share a few pictures from Tuesday and Wednesday. It's emotionally draining to write this post and look at these pictures, but incredibly healing at the same time. I want to thank everyone who left us comments and support on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. Reading them all made us feel such love and uplifted our spirits during this sad time!

To quote what I said in my Facebook post:

To the cat that was often our alarm clock, loved lasagna, enjoyed sitting anywhere she wasn't supposed to, and gave us years of love and entertainment.