Tony called from his truck on April 1 to say that he was bringing home a cat. He was delivering to a warehouse in Philadelphia and found a cat in the stockroom who had been badly hurt. Everyone else ignored the poor guy or just kicked him out of the way so my Tony picked him up and put him on the bunk of his truck wrapped in green sweatshirt. Tony fed him and bandaged his leg and brought him home to me. I took him to the vet right away because he was clearly in a great deal of pain and still bleeding.
We were so gentle and tried very hard not to hurt him although I know we did but the whole time he pured and rubbed his head all over us as if to say thank you. The vet bandaged up his leg but couldn’t assure us of his health. We brought him home anyway and made a comfortable nest for him downstairs. We decided to give him a name and chose Hagrid but that soon became Baby Hagrid. We fed him lots of food and fell in love with him right away. He was so sweet and seemed so happy to see us each time
we went to check on him.
He took a turn for the worse a few days later and had to return to the vet for another stay. We missed him so badly and the house seemed so empty without him. I visited at the vet’s office and Hagrid seemed so happy to see me and curled up in my arms and held on to my shoulder. Again, we brought him home and loved him and even introduced him to our dogs. He was so calm and sweet and wasn’t bothered by the “boys” sniffing all over him. He seemed happy to just be in Tony’s arms.
Unfortunately, Baby Hagrid took another turn for the worse and it was back to the vet again to have my worst fear confirmed, it was his heart. Infection had settled in the valves and there wasn’t much hope. Dr. Stratton called us at 7:30pm on April 19, 2003 to say that Hagrid was not doing well and we had to make a decision about his future. Tony and I had a tear-filled ride to the vet where we visited with our special guy for a while. It was clear to both of us that Hagrid was in pain and not going to get better so we stayed with him and held him while Dr. Stratton euthanized him.
We brought him home and buried him under our cherry tree. I miss him so much even though we only had him for a short while. I have wonderful memories of him eating ice cream from Tony’s bowl and checking out the fish in the tank that is next to the couch.
My only comfort through all of this is the knowledge that we cared enough to rescue him and try to heal him and love him while he was here. We didn’t turn our backs out of fear or selfishness and we cared enough to make his passing as comfortable as it could be. He didn’t die alone or unloved. We will always remember and love you Baby Hagrid!
Love to you always,
| Hagrid |
| 19, Apr 2003 |
| Amy Avey |