Today we had to make the hardest decision of our lives and say goodbye to our baby girl, Burberry.
She was diagnosed with Stage C heart disease, and when her condition suddenly deteriorated, we rushed her to the emergency vet. There wasn't anything more that could be done, and the kindest thing we could do was let her go peacefully. Even though I know it was the right decision, it feels unbearable.
Burberry was a dwarf Persian that we rescued from a dumpster about 2-3 years ago. When we first found her, the vets thought she was only around 8–10 months old, but later believed she was likely between 5 and 8 years old. We never knew her exact age, but to us she was always just our tiny baby.
She had the sweetest temperament I've ever known. She never hissed, scratched, or bit anyone. She adored attention, chin scratches, being hand-fed, and she had the softest, sweetest little meows. She would happily let us clip her claws or clean the little eye boogers from her face without ever complaining.
She had so many funny little quirks. Despite having a luxurious bed, she'd rather sleep on the floor or on her favorite cardboard scratcher. She loved playing with crumpled tin foil and lollipop sticks more than any expensive toy. She'd sit and watch my mom cook as if she was supervising dinner, and she always had to be involved in whatever we were doing. If we were watching TV or on our phones, she wanted to watch too. She'd make her little rounds through the house just to check on everyone.
Her name was Burberry, but most of the time we just called her "Baby," and she always responded.
I can't stop thinking about the moment after she passed. I kissed her little head goodbye, and she was still warm. That moment keeps replaying in my mind. It doesn't feel real. It feels like she's supposed to come around the corner any minute asking for scratches or following us into another room.
We haven't even been able to move her half-eaten food yet because everything happened so suddenly. Just hours earlier we thought we were taking her to get help, not to say goodbye forever.
She was our first pet, and we loved her with everything we had. We spoiled her endlessly because she deserved it. I keep asking myself why something so gentle, innocent, and loving had to suffer from such a cruel disease. It just doesn't feel fair.
For those of you who've lost your first soul pet... how did you cope? How did you accept that they were really gone?
Thank you for reading about our sweet little Baby. I hope, wherever she is now, she's healthy, pain-free, getting endless chin scratches, and surrounded by all the crumpled tin foil balls and cardboard scratchers she could ever want.
We miss her so much already.