the other reason is that i don't know how to answer. i started to, but realized there is so much emotion surrounding this particular passing for me...
the quick answer is that percival's spirit had moved on when the photo was taken, but his body was lagging a bit behind.
i do NOT know why i took the photo, nor do i know why i posted it. i have never done so before. i am a part of a large cyberfamily who knew percival from when he first came to live with me about 18 months ago. he was in such bad shape when i brought him to michigan from texas that we called him P5: Poor, Pitiful, Pathetic, Persian Percival. he came to be one of the most powerful heart-cats i've had in my life, and his final illness was fast, unexpected, and non-responsive to treatment. in the last days of his life, he didn't want to do anything but hide, and was very clear about not wanting any more fluids or force-feeding. he wouldn't let me hold him, tho he snuggled with the other cats. on the final day, he honored me by allowing me to hold him and keep him up on the bed with me. so i think part of the photo was to remind myself of how he spent his last hours, safe and warm and cradled in his mom's blankets.
and it's not blood on his nose, just staining from his eyes--he always had major eye problems (had surgery on both of them), and they often teared up and stained his face. he always hated his daily face washings, and i didn't want to make things any more uncomfortable for him--he knew that once he got to the bridge, he'd have a brand-new body to choose anyway...
MC
Lora wrote:
MC,
I do not mean any disrespect, and I apologize in advance if it seems that way, but is Percival dead in the picture dated 12.27.04?
When Peeper passed I never thought about taking a picture of him before I buried him.
Does anyone else do this with their loved ones?
P.S. If you do not mind my asking, what happened to her nose? There is blood on it. Do Persians tend to bleed out their noses much due to the "mashed in face" appearance?
You will have to excuse my ignorance on Persian purebreds, for I have never owned any.
Lora
--- TenHouseCats <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Persians are extremely low-maintenance cats in terms
of everything but grooming! I've been owned by
Persians since 1982. I went five months without one,
and couldn't stand to not have their particular
sweetness in my life. I STILL think they're funny
looking, even after all these years, but adore them.
if you go to http://gallery.pethobbyist.com/index.php?cat=584
and type in PHCatByte in the black band where it says search-by-username. You can see many of my darlings. (Just ignore the fact that the captions aren't in English--MeowChat is way too difficult to explain!)
MC
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