Jinx

Well some of you know our sad news. Jinx, our 15 year old cat died last week. Her little kidneys were failing for over a year and she lived longer than the vet anticipated. Right before I left for a work trip, she started going down hill pretty quickly. We thought it might be time to put her to sleep but really had a hard time making that decision. We had decided that when I got home from St. Louis, I would take her to the vet. She was so thin and was barely eating anything. It was very hard to see her so thin and even harder to pet her or hold her and feel how thin she was. (Billy offered to take her to save me the heartache but Jinx was my cat before he and I started dating and I felt like I needed to be the one to take her.....as hard as that would be.)


Well, I didn't have to take her to be put to sleep. Jinx died on her own. Billy went to check on her last Thursday morning (4/2) and she had passed away. It was very sad but we feel it was better that she died on her own and didn't have to be put to sleep.


Billy really didn't want to be the one to talk to Olivia about it. It was hard enough for him that he had to call me and tell me. I had been thinking how we would tell her since we knew Jinx's health was failing. Unfortunately, Liv overheard Bill on the phone with the vet's office telling them that Jinx had died and asking about cremation. Olivia had lots of questions and was very sad. Addie is too young and really didn't know anything had happened.


Olivia said she would miss Jinx and worried that Chevy (our other cat) would be very lonely without Jinx, especially while we were all at school or work. Of course we talked about heaven and tried to explain why she died. We explained that she was old and she was sick and the medicine couldn't make her better. Last Saturday night I was putting Liv to bed and she broke my heart. Chevy jumped up on the bed so Liv again told me that she was sad for Chevy because she didn't have her sister-cat to play with (Jinx wasn't playful for the past 12 years or so.....how do you think she got up to 22 lbs??). But she also said that sometimes she gets sick and maybe next time she gets sick, she might die. Boy, I never expected that one!


To make her feel better, we've thought of ways that we can remember Jinx. We put her picture up as our desktop background and Olivia wants to put a picture of her in her bedroom. She thinks that heaven is up in the clouds and likes to look at the clouds and find different shapes or animals. Liv thinks that she will be able to find a cloud shaped like a cat and it will be Jinx.

It's funny. Jinx was not an active cat at all. But, she had her favorite spots and at different times of the day, you always knew where to find her. We still look for her in those spots and miss her very much. Olivia's plans for how to remember Jinx has helped all of us feel better.