The hardest thing we've ever had to do was to decide to put down our cat of 17 years.
He was our kitty since before we were married. We had gone to the humane society in the small town of Merrill, WI where we lived at the time. I wanted a cat so badly! We saw 3 fluffy grey Persians that were adorable but they were literally climbing in their cage, so I looked at the other cats. Still, I couldn't quite find the one I wanted. Then @negativer said,
"What about this one?" as he pointed to the cage with the 3 Persians.
I was about to reply that I didn't really want a crazy high-energy cat like those Persians, and then I saw what he was pointing at - a teeny little ball of black fuzz, sitting back quietly watching the crazy Persians.
It was love at first sight!
We promptly adopted him and brought him home. I remember distinctly as he sat in my lap, this little 4-week old kitten with teeny black eyes, looking up at me as the sun shone on him. I knew he was so happy to be with us. We named him Panda because he loved to roll around like pandas do.
I did think it was odd that he had black eyes though, and after we got him home I noticed some crud in them. So I took a damp washcloth and gently wiped his eyes and suddenly - they were big yellow eyes staring back at me! Apparently he had a little sinus infection which we treated right away.
Over the years, our little Panda loved to pose in different places. He was beautiful and cute and he knew it! He loved to sit in our laps, and he loved listening to me play piano - especially Mozart or Beethoven. He would always greet my piano or voice students when they would come for their lessons. He was always a social cat, wanting to be a part of the action.
As time went on, however, we noticed he was having trouble digesting food, and later the vet told us it was renal disease. We did what the vet told us and switched to different food, but the disease continued to progress. Eventually, he was in renal failure.
The vet advised us to consider putting him down, but we were against it. He still enjoyed life, going out on the screened-in porch in our WI home, or watching the lizards in our FL home - he hadn't given up on life, and so we weren't giving up on him. We started giving him sub-cutaneous water, which he didn't care for, and milk of magnesia - which he really didn't care for. But he still loved life, and he surprised us by enjoying life for another 2 years after that.
Despite our efforts, the disease got worse and worse, until one day we woke up and he was sitting in a pool of his urine and the look on his face told us that it was time - he was ready.
Putting him down was so sad. We put him in little shopping basket and took him for a tour around our subdivision. Then it was off to the vet. We stayed during the whole procedure, and the vet was very kind to him during the whole process. I still can't think of this without crying, but I have faith that my little Panda is in heaven and I will see him again someday - whole and healthy and showing everyone how cute he is.
I made a video for him when he passed. I couldn't think of a Mozart or Beethoven piece that quite suited the mood, but I did find a Mendelssohn Song Without Words called "Consolation".
We are so thankful that we had Panda for so long, and what great memories he gave us! We did finally decide to adopt again a couple of years later, and I will describe the two new additions to our lives in another post!
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