My Girl

Time has come today when we had to say goodbye to our sweetie of 18 years. It's with the heaviest of hearts that we had to let her go. The usual struggle between wanting more time and knowing that her body had broken down and that every day was just more and more difficult. At the very end, end stage renal disease got the best of her and left her blind, frail and unable to eat or drink very much. I'm asking those of you who read this to think, when the time comes to honor the time they spent loving you and being a part of your family to consider in home veterinary euthanasia. I've been lucky to use the same service twice now and both times it's the most honorable dignified compassionate person that comes to your house and the total respect and dignity for you and your loved one as they very lovingly and gently give them a shot to relax them and put them at peace and then a little while later a second shot to help them get across that bridge. All the while telling you what a wonderful animal you have and saying just the right things in that deepest moment of grief. It's not cheap financially but how do you put a price on the love that a family member gave you for 18 years? Those people who are not cat lovers or dog lovers will never understand the hole that's in your heart because they tell you it was just a cat or it was just a dog, why you getting so upset? Or why don't you go get another one tomorrow as though it's a new set of tires for your car. I thank anybody who's reading this because you know these words are coming with tears. And I know there's a lot more tears in the days and weeks ahead when I see a whisker or a tuft of fur or an empty cat bowl or the empty space on my bed with my closet or anywhere else where she would sleep. I know time will heal this wound and maybe at some point I'll think about getting another kitten but I'll always remember this sweetie and thank her for sending us so much love. Thank you to anyone who's reading this because all of us who have cats know at some point they will leave and we will have to deal with the same thing that I'm dealing with today and it's nice to know that even though we don't know each other personally we know each other through this medium and for that I'm deeply grateful. 🙏