Our cat Bailey recently went over the rainbow. Usually here in the USA when our pets has passed away, we say “so & so has gone over the rainbow.” We had to put her down. 19 years on this earth. I’m sad. For a while I still did my routine when it came to her.
For example, first thing in the morning while my coffee is being made, I clean her litter box. She was at the point where her litter box needed to be cleaned daily, and puppy pads needs to be placed around it. Then I can hear meow softly, and then louder when I put her cat food in her bowl. Often, after having a minute of two of eating she would walk around in the kitchen where I was preparing baby hulk’s lunch. She then rub herself on me, or my slippers. Sometimes I accidentally step on her tiny paw or tail, and I would then shuffle my feet so I don’t do it again. She then makes her way upstairs to the warmest parts of our home.
During the last few months of her life she has been hiding in her cabinet instead in our room. You know how you see the little signs not so good changes with your pets? Well, I did. My husband was kind of in denial. Eventually, he accepted it was time. Then, it was weeks of mourning.
Feeling The Ghost Of Our Over The Rainbow Cat
A week after she was gone I frequently caught myself still stuck in my routines pertaining to her. The cleaning, the feeding, and I’ll admit I was still hearing her meows. Sometimes I catch myself expecting her to just pop out for an ear rub, or to see if I’ll give her a bite of my food. Now those moments of grief are much less.
Decluttering Our Cat’s Items
We are still decluttering our cat’s items. We will keep the cat litter bags that are still unopened. We are planning to throw away everything else. I don’t have that much dry cat food left. She was eating special senior cat food, and I don’t know any friends/family who had cats of similar age. We have mostly Dog people family/friends.
I already threw away the living room cat litter, and tree. I gave all the puppy pads to my sister who has two dogs. Pretty much downstairs is what I worked on. Upstairs I will go through her cabinet and clean it out. There is an old used blanket she slept in that I’ll throw away. Probably will use that cabinet to store everyone’s Lego sets.
I don’t really have anything of hers I’ll keep. My husband, and I use to have 3 cats. Only one of our cats was close to an item that was a stuffed plush bat. I do have plenty of pictures, and videos of her.
This is what’s been going on these past few weeks. My children were never really close to Bailey. They interacted with our other cats more because our last two frequently stayed near them. Bailey was a very skittish cat. I honestly think she would have been happier living in a household that didn’t have children. My husband adopted her 15 years ago at our local Petco. Even before we had Baby Hulk, and Little Princess, she kind of did her own thing. Either way, I think we gave her a good life compared to whoever her previous owners were.
Aftermath
If you are wondering if Baby Hulk misses her. Well, I’m not sure. He never was closed with Bailey compared to our other two who went out of their way to rub themselves on him. After we put her down he was sad. His teacher mentioned he has been having trouble controlling his feelings. Her not being at home was a change for him. This is also the first time I actually have to explain death to him, and she’s not coming back. For a while I catched up repeating to himself “Bailey gone, poor Bailey.”
As of now though, our life at home is slowly getting used to not having her. Our routines have changed, her items are slowly disappearing, and eventually the grief will be just a memory of a part of our lives my husband can reflect on.
