Buried my SIL's Cat This Morning

[lightman]

My Sister-in-Law called early this morning all hysterical. Her 17 year old Cat died during the night. We went over to get the Cat and I wrapped him in a heavy trash bag, found a box that fit and wrapped the box in industrial shrink wrap like they use on pallets. It took me more than an hour to dig a hole. I would dig for 5 minutes, sit down for 5 or 10 minutes, dig for 5 minutes, until I finally got a hole that I was happy with. The SIL rents so we buried him in the flower bed at our house. It was as much of a dignified send of as I could make it. RIP Tigger!

I can't work like I once did. Five years ago I would have dug a 2' X 2' X 3' deep hole in about 5 or 10 minutes. This took me an hour or more and I'm pretty ragged out. He was not my pet but its still sad. Our Cat is only a little younger and I dread the day.

[Thundarstick]

Some times we gota do what we gotta do. Good BIL!

[WILCO]

Real men do the hard things. No safe spaces in that.

[RED BEAR]

Sorry to hear of your sil loss losing a pet can be hard. It was good of you to take care of him for her.

[DerekP Houston]

It is the unfortunate burden of having a pet in the family, they age faster and pass away quicker than I'd ever like. Still wouldn't trade it for a non-pet household even with the cleanup. My condolence for Tigger and thank you for putting him to rest properly.

[MaryB]

When I buried my Tigger he was just wrapped in his blankie(an old towel he claimed as his) so he can decompose and fertilize the yard. Hope to plant a tree next to him one of these years...

And it was 3 years ago and I still miss him, he was my constant companion...

[lightman]

Thanks for the kind words everyone. Mary, I remember when you posted about your Tigger. Doesn't seem like its been that long. Yeah, its sad to loose a beloved pet.

[Elkins45]

We recently lost our 14 year old 75 pound Lab/Shepard mix (the dog in my avatar picture) and it just about wore me out digging a hole for him in this terrible heavy clay soil. I don’t even try to dig with a shovel anymore and go straight to the mattock and a big breaker bar. The shovel is just for removing the soil the other tools have loosened.

Between the sweat and the tears he must have thought we were burying him at sea.

[abunaitoo]

I've had my pets cremated.
Their ashes will be scattered with mine when the time comes.

[Three44s]

I get the burial detail around our place and with all our pets it seems to be happening all too often. Horses, dogs and cats, it just seems like an endless dread.

Our soil is tough as nails but the digging is done with our ranch’s backhoe.

The missing and remenecing is still the same though. As is the life we enjoy by having these animals of ours and seeing our pets love and life they enjoy while being associated with us.

Not having these animals in our lives certainly would insulate us from these otherwise enevitable sad events but then we all know how empty that alternative would be.

RIP Tigger, Sorry for the loss for light man and particularily his SIL.

Best regards

Three44s

[trapper9260]

Sorry to hear the lost of your sister-in-law pet. I know how it is. It is never easy for a lost of a family member. I have went through it with my coydog that 16 years old about I think now 2 years ago and lost his brother a few years before him. Also others I lost before them. It is not easy.I still will have them .I got one now he is going good that is just over 5 years old now. Hope I will have many years with him also . I know what it is also to not do the things you use to do before in less time .All we can do is make the best of it . Sorry for the lost

[richhodg66]

Always tough to lose one. Had to put a little Shi Tzu we had about 15 years down about a year ago. I really put it off too long, the last year he was around, his quality of life wasn't good and he was confused and anxious a lot of the time when he was awake, slept most of the time. He hadn't been much of a dog for quite a while, but it still surprised me how hard it was for me to take him to the vet and stand there. You really do get attached to them, our oldest cat is 12, wife rescued him as a stray tiny kitten and he has bonded with me more than any other we've had I can think of. I hope he has five or six more years before I have to go through that.

[WRideout]

Lightman, it was an honorable thing to handle that for someone who was having a bad time. Our old cat, Whiskers, had a bad ticker, and the vet told us he could go any time. He died in my arms one evening. I cried the whole time I was burying him. I didn't think I was that attached to the old feline.

Wayne

[Three44s]

richhodge66,

It’s love bond shared in both directions that tears us up when we lose them. We recently went through it with my wife’s two Tom cats, Fred and Barnie. Full brothers from the same litter different in many ways and so similar in more subtle other mannerisms.

Our two dogs are getting aged, a Border collie and a Blue Heeler/Aussie/Catahoula cross, both females. Ages 12 and 10 respectively. The collie has worn herself out and the Heeler/Aussie/Catahoula eats herself out of house and farm. Both are plagued with arturitus. I know all to soon one of them is going to have something serious go wrong.

Three44s

[gwpercle]

I'm sure your SIL and wife both appreciate you giving Tigger a proper funeral and grave site .
Good deeds never go unrewarded .
Gary

[William Yanda]

We had a black cat with a few white hairs on his chest, Buster. We could watch him look for traffic before he crossed the road. One spring, we saw a black cat, obviously dead on the remnants of the snowbank at the corner of the lot. My wife had me dig a hole-in frozen ground. Then we found Buster, sleeping on the couch. That wasn't even one of his lives.

[Echo]

About 50 years ago our Beagle Ahab chased a rabbit across a road - the rabbit made it, Ahab didn't - and we were about the first on the scene, on our way to a performance, and on base. Took him to a vets, who pronounced him dead and kept him in the cooler overnight as we went to the performance. Next day we picked him up, wrapped him in the old GI blanket he slept on in his house, took him out to the Club Range I shot at, and buried him under a tree there. Got him as a pup, saw him yell the first time - so funny, he had just been barking and then he went 'Arooo' - and jumped back, like 'What did I just do?' - and never barked again, just yelled. Smart about rabbits, but not so much about cars, and would get away from being hooked on his run occasionally - dang it...

[jonp]

I once shoveled 3ft of snow from under an apple tree and pick axed into frozen ground to bury my girlfriends daughters hamster. Made them feel better so it made me feel better