I had to put my pet cat to sleep today.

He was only 8. He went in to bad kidney failure and it was obvious he was not well. I did not want to prolong his discomfort so I chose to have him euthanized. I held him and petted and talked to him as it was happening. I hope he knows how loved he was. This was one of the hardest things I've had to do.

It was also difficult to have to tell my son. He is 3 1/2, but he is a smart boy, he could tell something was up and noticed Finn was missing right away. I was honest with him and told him Finn's body stopped working because he was too sick, and that he died. He's to young to understand the permanence of death, so he has been asking when Finn will get better and we can go get him. He loves that cat so much. I hope I did the right thing in both cases.