It was July 2005 when I first got that little beast, on the first day, she sneezed. That would be her name: “Atchoum” in french.
She was a very calm and lovely cat. From my memories of that time, she never broke anything but required attention. She especially liked to be petted while eating, sometimes she wouldn’t eat if I didn’t pet her… She also used to come on the bed and lick my hair if I woke up too late…
When she was little, she used to catch balls and other objects thrown at her at more than a meter high, she was more skilled than Fabien Barthez during the world cup! But then, she became fatter and fatter, I neglected her diet, but her character never changed.
During my long time abroad in China, my parents took care of her, and ultimately kept her. I kept seeing her almost every week, and would keep her when my parents went on holidays. But it was a time when I cared less about her.
A few months ago, she started getting thinner and thinner while sleeping more and more, but was still in relative good health with respect to her age. However, since the start of the year, she would often puke, while not eating for a few days. Some days it was better and some days worse. And she kept getting thinner.
After some rounds to the veterinarian, nothing changed much. Last week, it suddenly got worse, she didn’t eat for a few days and was so thin, that the feeling while petting her was just that of a skeleton with fur.
The veterinarian told us it would be best to end things here, treating her more would only delay the unavoidable ending by a few days, and make her suffer more with the treatment. So we decided to end it.
It took 2 shots, the first one to make her fall a sleep, the second one a few minutes later to stop her heart. It really was a sad feeling to watch her fall asleep and to curl near me, like knowing she would not wake up.
The veterinarian then needed 3 attemps to inject the lethal poison, as her veins were too thin for a good shot. At last I felt her stop breathing and her heart stopped. She was gone for good…
Goodbye Atchoum.