For the love of Sophie

Last updated on July 5th, 2024 at 10:58 am

On Tuesday, August 8th I had to say goodbye to my sassy orange Tabby. Sophie lived a good life but over the last few weeks, she’d been declining.

Cats don’t always let on how they feel so it’s hard to tell when they are really sick. Sophie had been doing okay for a bit but last week we noticed that she didn’t want to eat as much. She also threw up some food after eating it.

I was able to get her an appointment on Friday, August 4th. Well, my vet checked her out and the stated she had pancreatitis and an infection.

She was given some antibiotics and pain meds. They also gave her a vitamin B-12 shot and an antibiotic shot.

They prescribed her an antibiotic liquid that I couldn’t find anywhere. It’s more popular in pill form. I did find it online and placed an order but found out it would take about a week or a week and a half before it would arrive. (That’s a long story in itself.)

So we waited to see how she was on Monday and Tuesday. After I made a few calls to see if any other Pharmacies could fill her script. But no one could.

I made the very difficult decision to just let her go.

SOphie had a boyfriend

I rescued Sophie from under a peach tree during a heat wave in July. We had found her and her siblings under a tree branch at my late brothers house. She was the only oragne kittne in the litter. Her brothers were gray tabbies. By the time we came back later that afternoon she was the only one left. We brought her home and cared for her. She was around 3 to 4 weeks old.

We rescued another kitten a little after Sophie. My late brother’s girlfrend had caught him and named him Jimmy. She brought him over and asked if we wanted to keep him. She had bught him a red mouse. I remember the first time he and Sophie met she bopped him on the head and tried to take his mouse. Poor Jimmy was confused but he bopped her right back and took his mouse back.

He had Sophie became friends. Jimmy had lost his litter mates to illness and he had developed a corneal issue. But he lived a good life with Sophie. I liked to say he was her boyfriend.

Jimmy passed in 2008. He was hit by a car.

She was the last of Pal’s friends

Pal was around 5 or 6 years old when we rescued Sophie so he wasn’t sure if he liked having a little orange thing following him around. I remember the first time she ran up to him and licked his nose he hissed at her. She puffed up and hissed right back.

Pal came to love her over time. They would regularly nap on my bed together.

When Pal passed in 2018 it was hard on Sophie she became an only cat. She adjusted well but didn’t like being left home alone for long periods of time. I didn’t blame her because she would get bored being alone. She never liked it when we left the TV or raido on if we left for a few hours.

Even in 2021 when we adopted Dylan, Sam and Teddy she was a bit annoyed. She didn’t want to make friends. She tolerated them but still showed them who was boss.

Surprsingly enough she became a bit more accepting of everyone late llast year(2022) and this year. So I think she knew she wasn’t well.

It’s hard to believe after 16 years I won’t see her orange litle face again.

She was like a unicorn

For some reason every time I would tell someone I had a female organge tabby you’d swear I’d told them that I had a unicorn. They would say wow most orange tabbies are male. I would say yes I know but I got found a girl.

Rocket loved her orange baby

Rocket loved her orange girl very much. Rocket was nearly 2 years old when we rescued Sophie. She was so excited to have a kitten of her own. She loved Sophie so much.

This by far is one of my favorite pictures of them together.

We were gardening and my mom was filling pots with newspaper. While we were gone the girls had gotten into the wheelbarrow.

Knowing it was time to let her go

After not being able to fill her perscription and watching her not be intersted in eating I knew it was time to let her go on Tuesday. I feel bad because I think I should have just said goodbye to her on Friday. But at that time I was so worried about getting her seen by the vet that I listened to them.

I could have saved myself a lot of money and worry. But I guess like they say hindsight is 20/20.

I’m just glad she went willingly. She didn’t fight me to get into the carrie nor did she cry on the way to the animal shelter.

It’s hard to say goodbye but at least I know she’ll be in a better place. She’ll finally be reunited with her family. Pal, Rocket, Jimmy, Tigger and Jake. She’ll also get to see Bowie and Shadow again too.

After we came home today Sam looked for her for a few minutes before going back to his nap. I don’t know how much she will be missed by this new group but they found her facinating all the same.

She was the little old orange lady who lived in the house. She would go out and boss them around sometimes.

But I can say she lived a good life. She had 16 years of love. That’s all any pet and their owner can ask for.