In Memorium: Chip the Cat

On Sunday, September 5th, Rebecca mentioned to Bethany that she hadn't seen Chip for a few days.  She was hoping that it was only because she had left food and water on the back porch for Bandit and that Chip had been eating on the prowl so to speak.  It had been an ultra quiet weekend without his morning meowful conversations and Rebecca was a little worried. 

We didn't hear his meow again until Wednesday.  Chip arrived home, a haggered meow to match his staggeringly thin body, dirty and sickly looking.  Rebecca knew that weight loss like could not be a good thing.  After a day of not eating or drinking anything, Daelynn was brushing his fur to try to help him get clean and feel better.  Instead, a chunk of fur fell out into the brush and filled the room with a putrid, rotting smell.  On his back was an oozing, open wound.  There was death in that smell and little to be done about it.

The worst thing, was not having a dime to ease his suffering.  Rebecca stayed with him through the most of the night.  His hoarse and urgent meow pleading for company... some sort of pleasure to balance out the pain of the infection spreading through his body.  We cannot believe he was able to make it home to us under these conditions, but he did.

On Thursday, his body, mercifully, let go.  Rebecca and James dug a small grave site for him and we held a funeral service in the back yard.  We believe that all things were spirit before having a physical body and that the same spirit exists still even after the body is broken.  Gabriella has prayed that Heavenly Father will give Chip a "new spirit" and to "finish playing with Chip and send him home to us because we miss him."  Samuel asks everyday, "What happened to the kitty?"  He doesn't understand why a bandaid, batteries, or "tapes" wouldn't heal his friend.  Bethany and Daelynn are especially broken hearted.  Chip was a gift to Bethany several years ago and these two have shared their bedroom with him the longest.

Rebecca is teaching the older girls about the stages of grief: shock, denial, bargaining, guilt, anger, depression, resignation, acceptance and hope.  It may take us all a while to work through these.  For some, Chip was "just a cat."  But, to us he was a member of our family and our house is much quieter without his conversational meow.