Hannah Rose

There are two kinds of people in the world; those who see their pets as family and those who have no heart. I am clearly in the first camp. Cats and dogs have always been so much more than pets to me - they are family.

Hannah Rose was one of those family members. I had to put Tiffany down shortly before her twentieth birthday. She had been with me since she was a kitten. It took about a year, before I was ready for another cat; not one to replace Tiffany, of course, but one to be a new companion.

The Humane Society of Wisconsin was running a free adoption special on adult cats. I fell in love with a beautiful girl they had named Sparkle. The rest of the family fell in love with an adorable little black and white girl. The adoption counselor, of course, suggested that we could get two! I wasn't keen on getting two, but I knew without a doubt that "Sparkle" was my girl and Diane and the boys wanted the other one.

As you would expect, we left with two...

The people at the Humane Society really had no idea how old the girls were, but they were at least one year old that day they came to their new home.

Sparkle became Hannah Rose before we even got to the car. I don't remember the other cat's name at the shelter, but she became Haley; an appropriate name because she is like a comet!

Hannah was my girl, though.

My office was in our home at the time, and Hannah promptly claimed the back of my desk chair as her spot. She spent many hours there as I madly typed code. She was definitely "my" cat and I was wrapped around her little paw.

That was fourteen and a half years ago, and our relationship never wavered. She spent countless hours graciously allowing me to pet her as she sat on my lap. She grew a bit more restless in recent years and would jump up and down from my lap a dozen times as we watched hockey or baseball games, but she always preferred my lap over any other. I loved to feel her soft coat and hear her gentle purr as I stroked her.

Hannah was also our mouser. Even as recently as a week and a half or so ago, Diane went downstairs to find a dead mouse proudly displayed for all to see.

Hannah Rose was a big girl - until just a couple of weeks ago, that is. We noticed she was starting to lose weight and eating less of her hard food. We started offering soft food which she took readily at first, but even that was met with a less than enthusiastic response after a bit. We also noticed that she was starting to drool and it was a bit blood tinged at times.

Hannah Rose took a turn for the worse over the weekend. She began rejecting even soft food and was very restless. We knew we had to make the tough decision to let her go before she started suffering.

Diane called the vet's office as soon as they opened yesterday. They had several openings, but she chose the one in the afternoon that would allow me to leave work early so I could be with Hannah at the end.

We put Hannah Rose in a towel lined box to take her to the vet. She fought being in the box at first, but then it was almost as if she realized that this was best and settled. They took us right into a room and the doctor came in to check her. She knew immediately that Hannah had developed a very aggressive malignant tumor in her mouth. She said it was fairly common in cats and that it was reaching a point where it was hurting her. She reassured us that it was time.

We had a few minutes to stroke and snuggle Hannah as they went to prepare everything needed to compassionately euthanize her. Our tears flowed as we said goodbye to my precious Hannah Rose. She purred even as the medicine coursed through her veins and she peacefully fell asleep.

The vet's office made a clay plaque with her name and her paw print that now sits on my dresser - a permanent reminder of my precious girl.

The vet helped us wrap Hannah in the towel and put her back in the box for her final trip home.

We buried Hannah Rose next to Tiffany behind the pond in our backyard. Two rocks mark her grave.

I will never forget my sweet Hannah Rose.