Dear I,
I'm taking a day off today, in memory of Sayang, N's teen cat who was put to sleep at about 1:20am after the xrays showed that she was paralysed due to a spinal cord injury.
I had a pleasant day yesterday and day before - ferry cruise to Liberty and Ellis islands, caught up with Mak P at Macy's on 34th St, slept over her place, then shopped for grocery and cooked dinner for N since she was fasting.
After dessert, she decided to show me Sayang, who spent most of her time in N's bedroom; naturally, she was afraid of me and hid under the dining table, jumped on the other two window ledges before she jumped on the ledge of the opened window, out into the airwell and three storeys down to the landing in the basement.
We went down and found her dragging her hind legs and unable to stand, took her to the emergency vet at downtown Brooklyn and cried our eyes out while waiting for the xray results and told of the options - a surgery that would cost USD5-6k but will not guarantee recovery or put her down and end her misery.
I know this is the umpteenth time I witnessed a kitty pass away - from Brownie to Elsa to Whitey to Patch but this is the first time I saw a cat being 'put down' and finally understood the meaning.
One minute she was responding to N's touch - narrowing her eyes, turning her cheeks and raising her chin - and the next minute her head was down, her soul had flown, her body stiff, wrapped in her favourite red blanket and taken away by the nurse to be cremated and buried.
N found her as a stray when she was about two months old in June 2008 - an exotic French breed with velvety dark grey coat and yellow eyes.
She hardly mewed or whimpered, even after the tragic fall, throughout the bumpy 15 minutes taxi ride downtown and the heartbreaking final moments - such a loyal and stoic character, such a short and cloistered life.
Salam, Sayang, hope you are happier now than you were before!
