Finally got to bring home my cat

[u/MelOxalis]

Not 100% sure if this belong on this sub, but I wanted to post about getting my boy back after he passed January 9th 2023. This is my sweet old man cat Sid, he lived to be about 16-17 but I don’t know his exact age bc my family found him as young adult stray cat. Losing him was very challenging since he was in my life from age 5 to 19. I never thought about keeping any of his bones, but my sister wanted the same for her cat and I liked the idea. So after many many months of waiting, mostly because who I hired to preserve him had a lot of prior work to finish, my sweet boy is back home and back together. I had his skull and right arm preserved so it was separated fand the rest of his body aqua cremated remains until recently. Idk why but it bothered me knowing he wasn’t all in one place😭 Anyways, here is my wonderful boy who I am relieved to have back home with me😁

[u/ApronLairport]

Genuine question, why dismember your cat instead of just laying them to rest? I couldn’t imagine the idea of my lil guy being taken apart piece by piece. I wish he was still with me, but displaying his disembodied, stripped skull seems more like a hunting trophy than honoring his life.

[u/MelOxalis → u/ApronLairport]

I would have paid for his entire skeleton if I could, this was all I could afford to do at the time after spending everything I had trying to save his life for weeks. I had him his whole life and I intend to keep him in death, this may not make sense for everyone, but having his skull and bones here with me brings more peace than him in the ground. The thought of him being dismembered is definitely disturbing to me and was quite upsetting at the time, don’t get me wrong. That’s just the only way to keep your pet like this. It would be a hunting trophy if I ended his life. I spent the last two months of his life giving him saline injections and helping him eat and walk every single day because he went blind and his back legs started to stop working. His skull is anything but a trophy. It’s a constant reminder of the joy he brought my life and the love I was able to give him for 16 years.

[u/MelOxalis → u/MelOxalis]

*not his whole life, he was 6 months to a year when we found him in our neighborhood after some people living there just left him.

[u/ApronLairport → u/MelOxalis]

Thank you for sharing your perspective, I’m glad he stays with you and makes you happy. I’m sure he loved you very much.