A Beautiful Life with Trixie

Born to a stray, abandoned at an animal hospital, Trixie had a hard start to her life.  We adopted her at 3 months old on Aug. 20, 1998 (our 10th wedding anniversary) and were very excited for her to meet our then 5 and 2 year olds.  Thinking that she would embrace our family as we had embraced her we were very surprised when she spent the first three full days under our curio cabinet.  I began to worry that we had adopted a “dud” of a cat until I heard my 5 year old daughter exclaim “the cat is on me”.   I found Trixie lying on my daughter’s chest on the sofa and for the next 14 years that is where she preferred to be.

Living with 2 small children and eventually another cat named Bennie her motto seemed to be “go with the flow”.  No matter what was done to her from being put in strollers, dropped in the wading pool or decorated with barrettes and bows Trixie was a people lover.  I never once saw her use her claws unless it was in defending her home against our neighbor’s cat.  Trixie loved the outdoors though she never wandered very far off our porch and most of all she loved her family.   She even loved her pal Bennie, letting him eat first at dinner time and occasionally grooming him like a Mom.  Anytime you sat in a chair with a blanket in your lap you were sure to have a furry friend come join you for some pets, nudges and purrs.

As time went on the kids grew, life got busy and Trixie continued to let us know that she loved every part of being our treasured pet.  She and Bennie slowed down a bit and we soon realized they both weren’t feeling well.  They both were diagnosed with early kidney failure in 2010 with Bennie succumbing quickly to the disease.  In a very unfortunate set of circumstances we had Bennie euthanized June 14, 2010.  We were all devastated at his loss and at the manner in which he died.  It was unnecessary for him to be scared and crying at the end.   In the midst of our grief for Bennie we decided that when the time came for Trixie we would do everything we could to euthanize her at home.

After being diagnosed with oral cancer on Dec. 26, 2011 we realized Trixie’s time with us was limited.  Our current vet did not do house calls so we turned to the internet for guidance.  Devastated, we contacted 6 different vets, one of which was Dr. Harris.  In all my years in the health care business I have never met anyone with the compassion, care and love for pets and their owners that I found in Dr. Harris.  She was an answer to our prayers.  From our first e-mail to the very end I knew our entire family was in the best care possible.  Deciding to euthanize a beloved pet is one of the most difficult decisions a family can face and doing it in a peaceful manner is the greatest gift you can give your treasured friend.  Trixie was suffering and Dr. Harris helped ease her suffering and ours.

On  Jan. 8, 2012 with Trixie purring on my lap on her favorite blanket and her family all around in her own house  she was peacefully and lovingly released of her misery.   Dr. Harris was our angel of mercy.  Though we were devastated to see her go we knew that we had done our best in making Trixie’s death as peaceful as possible.

Trixie, you will always be our sweet girl, we miss you terribly but know you are at peace.

Paul, Cindy, Carolyn and Olivia