Beauty the Cat - a sad story

Beauty is dying...

We got Beauty when she wasn't even 2 weeks old... she was abandoned by her mother. In fact, her eyes weren't even opened... And she had a vertigo problem, where one paw was caught behind her head and she kept rolling over and over and over.... She was found on a construction site in the Bay Area, and I took her to my vet and immediately got her on meds. Also, had to nurse her for about a month or two, and well, I had to wipe her bottom to stimulate her to go potty every 2 hours. Totally gross.... but she survived, and so did I. I fixed up a box for her with a big stuffed kitty in it, and a heating pad wrapped in a towel. Meghan was in 2nd grade at that time. She loved Beauty. We named her Beauty, because we figured that some BEAST came along and stepped on her. Beauty and the Beast was a popular movie at that time. Whenever Meg came home from school, she'd sit by her box and read stories to her, and bottle feed her, but she couldn't pick her up until she was bigger and stronger. So, Beauty basically was Meg's cat. Dyan had Blackie, I had Princess, and so Meg got to keep Beauty. That was 16 1/2 years ago.

Four years ago, Beauty was diagnosed with FIV... the cat equivalent of HIV. She got it from a cat fight. She has plugged along well, until recently. She went into Feline AIDS with the onset of a urinary tract infection. We cleared that up, but she hasn't been the same.

Oh, and back in 1996, when we moved to Kansas from California.... Beauty ran away. She took off 3 days after we got to my mother in law's house. (we stayed with her for a year while waiting for our house in the Bay Area to sell) Anyway, Beauty was gone. Meg was so upset.... but we prayed every night for Beauty. I reminded Meg that God is so big, and He knows where Beauty is, and that He would protect her. Fast forward 3 months and one huge snowstorm later... a farmer called, and said he thought he had our cat. We went out there, and went into his garage, and Meg called "Beauty" and she lept out from behind some stuff, and jumped straight into Meg's arms. We could NOT believe it! We were jumping with great joy! The Lord protected her and restored her to us. She didn't have a scratch on her. She had walked 9 miles, heading west. It was all undeveloped land, and full of coyotes. By all intents and purposes, she should have been killed. But God is good, and we got our cat back.

Beauty stopped eating over a week ago. She has gotten very weak. And she's a skeleton of a cat. A furry, cute, beautiful skeleton. She wasn't interested in food, even when I tried hand feeding her.

This morning, I was awakened to the sound of a loud thump... I thought maybe she got on my desk and jumped down.... so I went to investigate, and she had apparently stepped out of her bed and crashed onto the floor. She was lying so still, I thought she had died. Her breathing is very shallow and she doesn't have the strength to hold her head up or move. I called Meg, and she came right over and has been holding her ever since.

I also called the vet, and made the arrangments of what to do with Beauty when she dies.... it's all taken care of.

Beauty has been a wonderful cat. She's been curious, funny, fun to play with. Sometimes in California, I'd see her in the back yard flipping something into the air, and I'd call out "Beauty's got a snake!" and more than once, I've had to rescue garden snakes from Beauty. She loves being outdoors, sitting in the sunshine. She loves Cali, and really attached herself to her, especially since she missed Princess so much when she died. Princess' death really upset Beauty. She acted very strange for a while. So, when Cali came to our house, Beauty was like, "FINALLY.... my dog is back!"... LOL

We will miss Beauty.... Yet I'm so grateful that she is dying at home, and that I'm not taking her to the vet to be euthanized... she would be terrified, and I don't want her last moments being filled with fear. She is dying peacefully. No moaning or groaning... just very calm. Shallow breathing, very little movement. She will soon be in kitty heaven.... where she won't be suffering from FIV or AIDS....

We love our Beauty.