Goodbye Our Cat: A Few Words About Yuly

This morning on March 16th, there were sprinkles of snow coming down from the sky. We woke up with our cat Yuly, and took her to her vet appointment at Leaside Animal Clinic. It wasn’t her first time there because she suffered from a poor kidney, infection, and possibly cancer-  and today it was her last time there.

Our beloved cat Yuly passed away at 17-18 years old as we held her.

I started to cry. For the first time, I saw tears in Cy’s eyes too.

The Beginnings
Yuly came to me when I volunteered for the Forgotten Felines shelter in Vancouver about 10 years ago. Her previous owner abused her, declawed her, and scarred her. Plastic bags, loud noises, strangers and the brush would scare her – she didn’t like to be picked up or cuddled. Eventually, we slowly grew to trust each other. She even started following me (and my family) around, and couldn’t stand being alone.

Life with Cyrus
Yuly moved in with Cyrus when I moved to Toronto. At that time, Cyrus had only visited her a few times, and they just didn’t know each other very well. They bonded over Canucks games, weekend reading, and napping on the floor. Imagine how shocked I was when Yuly started resting her face on his hand, and eventually resting her hands on his lap! A cuddly cat was starting to emerge.

Trying Times and More Cuddles in Toronto
Together, all of us moved into a basement apartment, and then into our new house. Around this time, Yuly started to to have some health issues. But, she always had her feisty and persistent personality that both amused and annoyed us at times. Her diet changed from dry food to wet food, and she started to cry a lot to be pet and for more food (at times, she would knock on the door in the middle of the night – up to 2 times, for food). Even in trying times, she kept us company, warm, and happy.

The past 4 days
She stopped eating, and she couldn’t even hold herself steady when we gave her gentle pets on the head. Her usually loud motor of a purr was gone, and it was a coo-ing noise that we’ve never heard before. Our hearts broke when she jumped from her little red bed, and fell on her side. That has never happened before – she was so weak. These past few days, she slept on Cyrus’ stomach through the night.

Now, she is gone. Today is a very sad day for us. I am still crying, and she isn’t here to greet us at the door, cuddle while we watch movies, or join us on the patio as we eat our breakfast.

In a few days, she will come back to us in a cedar box (she loves the smell) with a purple paw print (colour of royalty). We talked about spreading her ashes in the backyard where she loved to explore and eat the grass even when it made her throw up.

We miss you already, Yuly (aka Yuly Bear, Beario, Bear Bear, Fuzzy, Siu Hong Hong etc). We will love you forever.

RIP, and goodbye, our family cat.