My Little Gemma was sadly put to sleep Sunday morning 10th July at the age of 19 years & 2 weeks.

She was one of the most adorable, cutest cats in the World, she was sweet, innocent, mad, skitzo, bossy, demanding, playful, friendly & she was my little companion, friend & furry baby.

We had from the age of 10 months, she was my 15th Birthday present and right from the very start we had a special bond which even now after her passing will never be broken. My Mum & I went to pick her up from an old lady who housed Cats who had either been abandoned or where families had to give them up, Gemma came from a small flat and was given up due to a new born baby being allergic to her, well we went into the kitchen and sat in the dining area on the sofa, I was on the far side of the sofa farthest from the back door, the lady opened the door and with only needing to say "Gemma" once this little tabby kitten with white paws and neckline came bounding through the door & completely ignoring the lady and my Mum jumped straight onto my lap rubbing her nose all over me, she was in those first few seconds without doubt the one, my little furry baby for life.
Though just to show who was the boss from the first day and whom were going to be the dominant species & sex, any boy & man including me who walked into our house that first day got an allergic reaction from her, just that one day, any woman though including my Mum were spared the allergies. Yep from day one she had me wrapped round her little claw, my parents would leave for holiday and she'd knew that that meant special treats and a refusal to eat her boring old cat food, along came the chicken, ham, biscuits & once even fish fingers because of her playing up and refusing to eat her "Cat" food.

Through the years I've also struggled with depression & Complex Regional Pain Syndrome and anytime I was down or in pain she'd be right by my side, I once had my leg elevated due to alot of pain, soon after I had CRPS in my leg she'd jump up onto the sofa and just lay there with me purring & comforting me, she was such a great companion and my little buddy, the amount times we played together, she must've had hundreds of catnip toys, I've never seen a cat so addicted to catnip than I have our GemGem and she'd grab at her favourite mouse go into an arch and I'd just slightly tap and she'd fall over and grab my arm and hand and start biting into it, it wouldn't be so bad (it really wasn't) but she already had all this slobber & green stuff on her face due to the catnip.
Other times I'd whisper "Gonna get you Gemma" and she'd skitzo up five flights of stairs whilst I chased her, she was simply so playful and a joy to be with & always the centre of attention when we had company, she adored anyone who walked through our door.
There were other times where she'd get into a house four doors down through their catflaps, climb their stairs at night, through their roof window along the rooftops & I'd hear her little bell on her collar or her sweet meow and she'd be standing outside my room in the roof window, I assume she got through that way unless she climbed drainpipes & I always thought to myself, "Gem would it not be an easier idea just going through the catflap" but then I wouldn't have seen her see what with my bedroom door closed, she had everything planned out. Another time she welcomed new neighbours to the neighbourhood by waiting in their empty house for them which freaked them out, she was also a petty thief, stealing catnip toys from other houses. Yep this neighbourhood will forever be hers.

On February 2009 though we got a scare she was diagnosed with the early stages of Chronic Renal Failure, luckily it was early and luckily she showed us a couple of signs when cats would usually hide it, she peed in my Mums shoe and a couple of other places and we caught it early on, along with high blood pressure she was put on Fortekor & Amlopidine, a year after she came down with low potassium levels which was a scare with that gaited walk they do but I managed to nurse her back to health, was put on Kaminox & that first week I'd be blending up her Renal food and feeding her through a syringe, she stayed in my room mostly and I'd have moved the Earth to help her before, during and after that period & that week our bond somehow managed to grow even stronger and soon after that she was also put on Vidalta for her thyroid problems but my gosh was she amazingly good at taking her pills. I'd kneel down in the kitchen ready with her pills and several of her renal biscuits and without fail she'd get her two front legs up onto my knee, happily chomp away at her Fortekor and the two others I'd just place between my fingers with a biscuit and she'd eat it, what a girl she was and to go two and half years with CRF in my eyes is remarkable and shows how strong & brave she was, there were dips but even this June just gone the vet said her Kidneys were functioning as good as they should be.

Sadly this past week she took a dramatic turn for the worse, my parents had again recently gone away for a couple of weeks & it looked like Gem was being her usual fussy self with me and she'd leave her food with her potassium in it and when her potassium dipped she became wobbly & I thought this time was the same, so I started buying Applaws chicken & tuna for her to eat and started giving her the potassium through the syringe, well last Monday she was not an awful lot better and a trip to the Vet was the answer, he said what I thought but also saw she had an eye infection and was put on oral cream and antibiotics for that, last week though she really started going off her food and noticed she was sleeping with her head rested on this little statue which collected water and where she always drank out of, she even had her paw placed in it, we took her back Friday and the vet noticed that her eye left was protruding outwards indicating either an abscess or a mass behind the eye and that she was struggling to open her jaw, I was in shock but was still in the hope that she'd be fine and it was just an abscess and treatable, the vet gave her antibiotics & tramadol but come Saturday night she really spiralled, what I saw was harrowing, her motor function had completely gone, she couldn't balance, fell into things and kept crying out for distress a call I've never heard from her before, I took her upto my room where she lay down and I stroked her round the ear and on her head and I think that really helped calmed her down and for the first time in a few days I saw that she managed to fully close her eyes. Through the night she was back down in the conservatory where she preferred to be for some reason and I came down at 6am to find a soaking wet conservatory & she still had no motor function, I tried giving her her pills and some water through a syringe in the hope that it'd make her feel better but her jaw just felt like it was wired up.

That morning she had a vacant look in her eye, she was in the garden all morning trying to rest here head on hard surfaces, not being able to rest, not drinking, not eating & walking in circles & salivating, we took her to the emergency vets who confirmed our worst fears, it was looking like the end, an end which seemed to come about so quickly, or so it seemed though looking back there were probably signs before that.
Before the vets we all I knew then it was probably the end, we took our last photos with her & I took her all round the house to her favourite spots and beds, it was a nice, content, calming moment for us both & I hope that she had that in her memory at the end.
We could've kept her alive for another day and took her to her regular vets the next day but that would've been more for our own self-assurance and not her own & it would've just prolonged her agony, with her kidney problems and how hot it was she was at the very leat going to dehydrate if she wasn't already doing so.
My Mum and Step-Dad said their goodbyes, kisses & hugs & with all the love, affection & companionship throughout those 19 years I stayed with her till the very end holding onto her, I shed no tears I remained strong for her, gave her her catnip mouse, we gave a last few seconds look at each other and she ever so peacefully rested her head on my shoulder & draped her front leg over my arm then that was it, so peaceful, I do hope that in those final seconds, when she rested her head on my shoulder that all the pain disappeared and she was at that time in the most contented, calm, peaceful & tranquil place she'd ever been in. She was then laid back onto her warm bed & we'll now have a part of her soon when they return her ashes.

We went to see our regular vet yesterday, to say thank you and probably for a bit of reassurance and he said that whatever was behind her eye she would've had the mother of all headaches and that she couldn't have been operated on.

Those last moments with her though really did help the grieving process, though I still cry, there's still this feeling of emptiness around the house & this void deep inside of me but I know that not only did we make the right decision but that I would've been left even more devasted if say she went through the night not being by my side or locked up in a small cage at the vets whilst they monitored her.

From that first moment to the last we stuck together through thick and thin, I'll never have another friend like her my little Gemmy Wemmy but I know that now she'll be playing in those fields with all her friends & when my own time comes we'll be crossing Rainbow Bridge together.

Thank you my little Skit Skat for all the joyous, most wonderful times we spent together, you'll remain forever in our heart, mind & Soul.

Gemma Hawkes - May 1st 1992 - July 10th 2011. Rest In Peace Gemmy Wemmy.

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I am so sorry for your loss.

R.I.P Gemma

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Black with white around his private area



Black Tortoiseshell




R.I.P Patch my well behaved boy dog
R.I.P. Abby and Rebel my beautifull litter sister cats

Thank you ever so much.

Im so sorry for you, what a terrible ordeal for you all. thinking of you. x

Your post moved me SO much and the love you had for her shone through in every word.
I hope that when you have her ashes home with you you will be able to feel that she is back with you,who loved her so much
We lost our 14 yr old dog,Lulu,6 mths ago so I know how you are feeling-its now just a pet its a family member.
Will be thinking of you
Maureen

wow if only every animal on this planet could be loved as much as that little cat clearly was.
I'm so sorry for your loss, she was obviously a special little girl.

RIP Gemma xxxxxxxx

Thank you all ever so much for all your kind & comforting words.

There was another beautiful thing about her, even on her last day her fur was immaculate, right up until the age of 18 she was still forever making sure she looked as pretty as ever and even after that we occasionally saw her clean herself, not as much but on rare occasions. Her fur always felt like smooth silk.