Leyla - our first-born kitten gone over the rainbow bridge

[feorag]

This morning I took Leyla, our sorrel female neuter to be put to sleep.

On Monday she did not come downstairs to eat, I knew she was not right, but as much I was hoping and praying it was a hairball problem, in my heart of hearts I just knew it was her kidneys. I took her to the vet on Tuesday morning, where he confirmed that her right kidney was half the size of the left and the left felt smaller than it should be. We decided to try her with an anabolic steroid injection to see if we could buy her a little more time. She picked up a little yesterday, managed to get downstairs for all of 5 minutes and ate the tiniest bit of food, but sadly she didn't eat this morning and just looked so uncomfortable and defeated. I cannot bear to think that I am causing an animal any suffering and, over the years, have decided it is better to "do the deed" sooner rather than later, having on occasions in the past been persuaded by my vet to try again, when my own gut feeling was that the time was now.

This morning Barry and I sat on the bed and discussed what was best for her and we decided it was best for her that we say goodbye to her today. I was truly gutted that we couldn't buy her a little bit of extra time, but it always has to be what is best for the animal, because they can't make that decision themselves. However, she was 16½, she had a good life filled with love and care - so many animals don't get that - and she's managed to achieve a year and a half more than her mother did, so I'm trying not to berate myself too much for the feeling that I've let her down somehow. Logically, I know I haven't, but logic doesn't figure too well when emotions are concerned and I always somehow feel to blame!

Here she is when she was 8 weeks old and I didn’t put her in that jug!!! I took something from her that she was playing with and dropped it into the jug to stop her, but the little minx saw me do it and was inside the jug getting it instantly!



Fate brought her back to us 2 months after she left us because the family had a bad car accident and the wife was hospitalised (and they were talking maybe 6 months), 2 of the children were at her parents’ and the other 2 were at his parents’ and he was running around like a headless chicken trying to see them all and Leyla was being left a lot on her own, so they asked us to take her back. All our kittens went on the proviso that if at any time in the future we couldn’t keep them, the owners had to come back to us to re-home them (hence me running around like a headless chicken a couple of years ago trying to re-home a 7 and 8 year old from Banff and at this moment in time trying to find a home for an 8 year old!)

We picked her up on Good Friday of that year and brought her home. It was never our intention to keep her, but to try and find another home for her. The 3 neutered boys and the dog were delighted to see her back home, but her mother was furious and determined to kill her. So for the next couple of weeks she ran for her life until her mother gave up and they started to get on well together, by which time we’d decided it wasn’t fair to move her on again and we would keep her.

She was the top winning Somali in Britain in 1995 and the top winning female Somali in 1996, being beaten by her half-brother Harry and she was the first Somali in the country to gain a double Grand title – that is Grand Champion and Grand Premier, so we have much to be grateful to Leyla for. Here she is posing, which was what she did best – we always called her “the Duchess”



This photograph of her with her mother (half of which is my avatar) was taken 5 days before she gave birth to her first litter of 5 kittens (3 of which were top show winning kittens and 2 of which went on to gain titles). It was taken by a photographer who came up from Manchester to take the photograph for the front cover of "Cats" Magazine.



She is the second kitten we have brought into the world and had to send out of it - the other being her daughter Islay over 10 years ago, (who was only just over a year old) and that has been a particularly very hard thing to do.

I guess I'll be writing her story in the next couple of days, to help me to deal with the grief!

Strangely I found it very hard to go into my signature and take her out of my list of animals - seemed almost cruel to do that???

Sitting here sobbing - yet again!!!

[Miranda]

Wow! She was so beautiful, and a champion too!
rip.

[Esarosa]

sorry to hear about this hun RIP Leyla

[toyah]

I'm so sorry Eileen. She was an amazing cat - and always will be remembered by everyone who met her and loved her.

[Athravan]

My thoughts are with you - but boy what a cat! I bet she made an impression on everyone she met and it sounds like she was a fantastic companion. It's always the hardest decision to make but it sounds like you did the right thing.

[Kathryn666]

Goodnight Leyla. Beautiful, much loved cat. RIP little one. Hugs to Eileen and Barry, Kat x

[Raiden]

It's terrible when this happens. We had a similar event some 2 yers ago.

Poor old menace, we still miss him. Of all the things to take you out aged 11 ish, a kidney infection that shut one of them down. Not a problem if you're normal, but the stupid cat had to go and get born with only one.

Leyla was absolutely gorgeous, and no doubt she'll bump into a fat red tabby Devon Rex up there who will make her welcome, sing at her all hours, and then steal all the warm spots by the radiator.

[butterfingersbimbo]

aw, R.I.P Leyla

[mrsfluff]

Sweet dreams Leyla xxx

Jo

[asm1006]

sleep well sweet girl