Pet Memorials

Sam VerStrate Calvin February 1988 - September 2004

Sam had a heart attack near the end of April, and with treatment recovered quite well. Ten days ago he was diagnosed with CRF (Chronic Renal Failure) in addition to the heart problem. His sister Katie Calvin (February 1988 - June 2001) also died of CRF.

Today we took Sam to Avenues twice to see Dr. Rick. This morning we decided together to try increased meds for a couple of days. When we returned home, he was very weak and in great discomfort. He could only walk about three feet at a time, and that with great difficulty. We took him in again about 4:30, and after consulting with Rick, we decided it was time to end his suffering as humanely as we could, so we asked Rick to perform euthanasia. We stayed with Sam until it was over. Rick said he probably would not have made it through the night by himself, and the process would have been more difficult for him without help.

We received much helpful treatment advice from members of the internet CRF board as well as excellent care from Dr. Rick Schwach and Dr. Scott Anderson at Avenues Pet Hospital. Allen also consulted with Dr. Paul Pion at UC Davis who helped with the heart problem and, interestingly enough, had treated our earlier cat, Cinnamon, in a heart study before we got Sam and Katie.

Thanks to all of you for your caring and concern. The staff at Avenues was also unbelievably caring and supportive when we were there this afternoon. Each of us has our way of handling and expressing grief and loss and they were very good to us.

We miss Sam very much ... he was a unique individual, and he was a part of our family for a long time.

Duif and Kendl did an unusually understanding and loving act this morning when we were at the hospital. Duif called and said that she and Kendl were discussing what would happen if we lost Sam. Realizing that one of our concerns in getting other animals again might be our own age -- you can no longer depend on the likelihood of outliving your pets if you are already as old as Sam was in people years. They couched it carefully in the terms that if Allen and I decided to move to Israel or retire elsewhere or otherwise couldn't care for ours, they would take them. It was a thought that certainly had entered my mind in recent times, and we may well get a couple of kittens in a few months.

Each family member including pets is different from each other, and Sam will be remembered by me as a strong, handsome, intelligent, performer ... he loved applause for his accomplishments ... and communicator ... I'm sure he understood as much English as a lot of folks I've dealt with. One of our last conversations occurred on Sunday. He dragged himself into the kitchen and sat upright near where he usually eats. I put down a little shrimp -- which he had eaten on Saturday. Without moving from his spot, he did nothing -- indicating he wasn't eating that today. I picked it up, put down some canned chicken. No change in how he sat. I picked it up, put down some tuna -- he had eaten that on Saturday. "No, that's not it either" was the silent reply. He still didn't move away which he would do if he didn't want anything. Next came regular cat food which he ate a few days earlier. No dice. OK -- light bulb goes on for me. Even though Sam had never had any, I had picked up a couple of cans of sardines that day thinking I had heard somewhere that cats might be crazy about them. Sure enough, as soon as I got the plate down he moved to it and ate more than he had in a couple of days. "Tiggers LOVE sardines!!" Should have known, but at least he told me :-)

We learn a lot from other family members including our pets. Some of it we don't accept easily, but most of it helps us deal better with each other after we go through it. "Getting old is not for sissies," but at least we should get wiser, and be more able to "accept what we can't change".