Tragic Accident

A couple of hours ago, Paul went outside to pick up our daughter from
her Ganny's house after dinner. He got into the car, readied himself
to leave, & drove away. It wasn't until after Paul got off the
driveway that we could see that there was a cat underneath, that he
had run over. We have seen this cat for about 4 months now, because he
comes to the feeding bowl every day. We named him old faithful because
we couldn't find out who he belonged to , & we offered him shelter
during the floods recently too.

Obviously, Paul is beside himself, & nothing we can say makes any
difference to the terrible guilt that he feels any better. There is no
consolation in knowing that he was a very old cat. he was deaf, &
nearly blind too. In fact a few days ago we had discussed what to do
regarding him. We couldn't offer him a full time home, but we were
looking for someone who could have him to see out his final months, or
maybe a year @ the most ( He looked older than Jasper did @ 18 years
old). We frontlined him, &wormed him last week, & took him next door
to my neighbor for advice (she is a vet!), & she advised us to try &
home him if possible, but if he deteriorated, then we should look @
other possibilities. I think she was trying to say that there is no
cure for being old & worn out, & that he couldn't be cured of that,
but he could be spared the mercy of lameness, pain & no quality of
life. Now all of this seems so pointless!

We carried him indoors, cleaned him up, then my boys buried him right
next to Jasper, our old faithful friend. I hope that with time, that
Paul will get over what happened, but right now, nothing can take away
the guilt, horror & pain he is going through. We all said our
farewells to him, & wished him peace on the other side of the Rainbow
Bridge, & instilled the hope that we hoped he would remain a part of
us & our family, as he did in life, all be it a short few weeks.
I hope that time will heal Paul. It must way terribly on his soul, all
we can do is encourage him to believe that ultimately, it was a tragic
accident.
Purrs of healing for Paul
Sheelagh"o"

Tragic - yes. Accident - yes. Sometimes these things happen, and
it's out of our hands. Purrs to Old Faithful and to Paul.

-bonbon

Sheelagh o wrote:
A couple of hours ago, Paul went outside to pick up our daughter from
her Ganny's house after dinner. He got into the car, readied himself
to leave, & drove away. It wasn't until after Paul got off the
driveway that we could see that there was a cat underneath, that he
had run over. We have seen this cat for about 4 months now, because he
comes to the feeding bowl every day. We named him old faithful because
we couldn't find out who he belonged to , & we offered him shelter
during the floods recently too.

Obviously, Paul is beside himself, & nothing we can say makes any
difference to the terrible guilt that he feels any better. There is no
consolation in knowing that he was a very old cat. he was deaf, &
nearly blind too. In fact a few days ago we had discussed what to do
regarding him. We couldn't offer him a full time home, but we were
looking for someone who could have him to see out his final months, or
maybe a year @ the most ( He looked older than Jasper did @ 18 years
old).
We carried him indoors, cleaned him up, then my boys buried him right
next to Jasper, our old faithful friend. I hope that with time, that
Paul will get over what happened, but right now, nothing can take away
the guilt, horror & pain he is going through. We all said our
farewells to him, & wished him peace on the other side of the Rainbow
Bridge,
Purrs of healing for Paul
Sheelagh"o"

Sympathy wishes to both you & your husband, but you both know well it was an
unfortunate accident. You can go over & over in your mind "the should have's
& could have's" but they wouldn't have been practical or possible, & you were
already looking out for him & doing the best you could under the
circumstances.
M.

--
Message posted via http://www.catkb.com

On Sun, 05 Aug 2007 09:38:27 -0700, Sheelagh o wrote:

A couple of hours ago, Paul went outside to pick up our daughter from
her Ganny's house after dinner. He got into the car, readied himself to
leave, & drove away. It wasn't until after Paul got off the driveway that
we could see that there was a cat underneath, that he had run over. We
have seen this cat for about 4 months now, because he comes to the feeding
bowl every day. We named him old faithful because we couldn't find out who
he belonged to , & we offered him shelter during the floods recently too.

Obviously, Paul is beside himself, & nothing we can say makes any
difference to the terrible guilt that he feels any better. There is no
consolation in knowing that he was a very old cat. he was deaf, & nearly
blind too. In fact a few days ago we had discussed what to do regarding
him. We couldn't offer him a full time home, but we were looking for
someone who could have him to see out his final months, or maybe a year @
the most ( He looked older than Jasper did @ 18 years old). We frontlined
him, &wormed him last week, & took him next door to my neighbor for advice
(she is a vet!), & she advised us to try & home him if possible, but if he
deteriorated, then we should look @ other possibilities. I think she was
trying to say that there is no cure for being old & worn out, & that he
couldn't be cured of that, but he could be spared the mercy of lameness,
pain & no quality of life. Now all of this seems so pointless!

We carried him indoors, cleaned him up, then my boys buried him right next
to Jasper, our old faithful friend. I hope that with time, that Paul will
get over what happened, but right now, nothing can take away the guilt,
horror & pain he is going through. We all said our farewells to him, &
wished him peace on the other side of the Rainbow Bridge, & instilled the
hope that we hoped he would remain a part of us & our family, as he did in
life, all be it a short few weeks. I hope that time will heal Paul. It
must way terribly on his soul, all we can do is encourage him to believe
that ultimately, it was a tragic accident.
Purrs of healing for Paul
Sheelagh"o"


Years ago my Aunt died in an auto accident. At the funeral, the speaker
said that she "died magically, not tragically. One minute she was with us
here and the next minute with the Almighty". Purrs that your husband
will look at this accident the same way. Purrs for the kitty at Rainbow
Bridge. MLB

On 5 Aug, 17:38, "Sheelagh o" wrote:
A couple of hours ago, Paul went outside to pick up our daughter from
her Ganny's house after dinner. He got into the car, readied himself
to leave, & drove away. It wasn't until after Paul got off the
driveway that we could see that there was a cat underneath, that he
had run over. We have seen this cat for about 4 months now, because he
comes to the feeding bowl every day. We named him old faithful because
we couldn't find out who he belonged to , & we offered him shelter
during the floods recently too.

Obviously, Paul is beside himself, & nothing we can say makes any
difference to the terrible guilt that he feels any better. There is no
consolation in knowing that he was a very old cat. he was deaf, &
nearly blind too. In fact a few days ago we had discussed what to do
regarding him. We couldn't offer him a full time home, but we were
looking for someone who could have him to see out his final months, or
maybe a year @ the most ( He looked older than Jasper did @ 18 years
old). We frontlined him, &wormed him last week, & took him next door
to my neighbor for advice (she is a vet!), & she advised us to try &
home him if possible, but if he deteriorated, then we should look @
other possibilities. I think she was trying to say that there is no
cure for being old & worn out, & that he couldn't be cured of that,
but he could be spared the mercy of lameness, pain & no quality of
life. Now all of this seems so pointless!

We carried him indoors, cleaned him up, then my boys buried him right
next to Jasper, our old faithful friend. I hope that with time, that
Paul will get over what happened, but right now, nothing can take away
the guilt, horror & pain he is going through. We all said our
farewells to him, & wished him peace on the other side of the Rainbow
Bridge, & instilled the hope that we hoped he would remain a part of
us & our family, as he did in life, all be it a short few weeks.
I hope that time will heal Paul. It must way terribly on his soul, all
we can do is encourage him to believe that ultimately, it was a tragic
accident.
Purrs of healing for Paul
Sheelagh"o"

this poor cat was probably killed instantly and would not have known
anything about it, in which case paul probably saved him from a long
and drawn death from old age or beign attacked by a fox or something
which may have been worse.
ok that doesn;t make anyone feel any better, but he did not know that
the cat was there, you often assume that when you start the enigine
that it would be enough to spook any cat hiding underneath into moving
pretty quick, but obviously this cat did not have the hearing or
reflexes to do so.

stuff happens and we all to die sometime, and perhaps being killed
instantly by a car would better than a slow death from some painful
disease. hopefully this old cat will be over the rainbow bridge and
happy now, poor sausage

bookie

On 5 Aug, 18:53, bookie wrote:
On 5 Aug, 17:38, "Sheelagh o" wrote:





A couple of hours ago, Paul went outside to pick up our daughter from
her Ganny's house after dinner. He got into the car, readied himself
to leave, & drove away. It wasn't until after Paul got off the
driveway that we could see that there was a cat underneath, that he
had run over. We have seen this cat for about 4 months now, because he
comes to the feeding bowl every day. We named him old faithful because
we couldn't find out who he belonged to , & we offered him shelter
during the floods recently too.

Obviously, Paul is beside himself, & nothing we can say makes any
difference to the terrible guilt that he feels any better. There is no
consolation in knowing that he was a very old cat. he was deaf, &
nearly blind too. In fact a few days ago we had discussed what to do
regarding him. We couldn't offer him a full time home, but we were
looking for someone who could have him to see out his final months, or
maybe a year @ the most ( He looked older than Jasper did @ 18 years
old). We frontlined him, &wormed him last week, & took him next door
to my neighbor for advice (she is a vet!), & she advised us to try &
home him if possible, but if he deteriorated, then we should look @
other possibilities. I think she was trying to say that there is no
cure for being old & worn out, & that he couldn't be cured of that,
but he could be spared the mercy of lameness, pain & no quality of
life. Now all of this seems so pointless!

We carried him indoors, cleaned him up, then my boys buried him right
next to Jasper, our old faithful friend. I hope that with time, that
Paul will get over what happened, but right now, nothing can take away
the guilt, horror & pain he is going through. We all said our
farewells to him, & wished him peace on the other side of the Rainbow
Bridge, & instilled the hope that we hoped he would remain a part of
us & our family, as he did in life, all be it a short few weeks.
I hope that time will heal Paul. It must way terribly on his soul, all
we can do is encourage him to believe that ultimately, it was a tragic
accident.
Purrs of healing for Paul
Sheelagh"o"

this poor cat was probably killed instantly and would not have known
anything about it, in which case paul probably saved him from a long
and drawn death from old age or beign attacked by a fox or something
which may have been worse.
ok that doesn;t make anyone feel any better, but he did not know that
the cat was there, you often assume that when you start the enigine
that it would be enough to spook any cat hiding underneath into moving
pretty quick, but obviously this cat did not have the hearing or
reflexes to do so.

stuff happens and we all to die sometime, and perhaps being killed
instantly by a car would better than a slow death from some painful
disease. hopefully this old cat will be over the rainbow bridge and
happy now, poor sausage

bookie- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Thank you to all of you who have responded. Your words are comforting,
& appreciated as are the purrs to comfort Old faithful, on his travels
over the Rainbow Bridge. I think shock has simply set in. it's never
easy for any of us to deal with a cats death, but, when it happened by
your own hands, it really does drive deep into the soul. Guilt is
something you ultimately have to learn to live with....

Of course it is all the worse, knowing that we had been trying to keep
him alive, so when this happened, you don't need me to explain what it
did to Paul. He might be a Big Chap, but that doesn't stop a man
weeping. If anything, I admire him all the more, because @ least it is
helping him to accept what happened, which goes a long way to
forgiving yourself in the long run.

My guess is that having done so much to try & help cats escape dangers
like this, it is all the more crushing!

I agree with all of you. I would have hated it had he just disappeared
one day, never to return. At least this way, we can find some closure
to this extremely sad incident. He has the honour of sharing a plot
next to our beloved Jasper, & the kids all helped with the burial, so
that Paul didn't have to. I am so grateful to them! At 17 & 16, both
boys have acted very maturely throughout the entire incident. I am
keeping an eye out for them just in case there is a delayed action...
( they saw it all happen, but couldn't do anything to prevent it!)

I feel comforted to know that he has gone to a better place where he
can be young & chase butterflies all day when he wants to. I have told
Paul that the last moments we so brief that I am not sure he ever
realised what happened, & he certainly would never want Paul to suffer
for what happened. We didn't know him for that long, but he certainly
entered our hearts in a big way. He will never be forgotten
Thanks to all of you,

Sheelagh"o"

"Sheelagh o" wrote in
ups.com:


Purrs of healing for Paul
Sheelagh"o"


My thoughts are with Paul. This is a terible thing to go through.

Andy

Sorry to hear about this Sheelagh... it's a shame, but if he was old and
died quickly, that's the silver lining.

Charlie

On 6 Aug, 01:13, Charlie Wilkes
wrote:
Sorry to hear about this Sheelagh... it's a shame, but if he was old and
died quickly, that's the silver lining.

Charlie

thats exactly what I think, and as you said sheelagh, he probably
never knew what hit him. I truly hope that when all our cats cross the
rainbow bridge that they go back to being young healthy kitties again
in heaven, fit and free from any pain and able to chase butterflies
around, occasionally bothering to look down on us silly humans and
laugh at what we get up to in their absence.
this old fellow is probably looking down right now and thinking "well
at least they cared for me in my last few weeks on earth and tried to
do something for me and feed me when noone else would" and if he could
be he would be thankful for that.

bookie

On Aug 5, 6:05 pm, bookie wrote:
On 6 Aug, 01:13, Charlie Wilkes
wrote:

Sorry to hear about this Sheelagh... it's a shame, but if he was old and
died quickly, that's the silver lining.

Charlie

thats exactly what I think, and as you said sheelagh, he probably
never knew what hit him. I truly hope that when all our cats cross the
rainbow bridge that they go back to being young healthy kitties again
in heaven, fit and free from any pain and able to chase butterflies
around, occasionally bothering to look down on us silly humans and
laugh at what we get up to in their absence.
this old fellow is probably looking down right now and thinking "well
at least they cared for me in my last few weeks on earth and tried to
do something for me and feed me when noone else would" and if he could
be he would be thankful for that.

bookie

Yes, and he knew love in his last days. He was at "his" home where he
felt comfortable. I'm very sorry. I know how it is to keep having
strays show up and not being able to bring them all inside. We can
only do what we can do and it sounds like you did quite a lot for
him. Time will heal Paul's wounds; it's sad but life sucks sometimes.

Candace