It’s been hard week.
Smokey’s health took a drastic turn downwards this last week and Thursday we made the difficult decision to let him go.
He’s been fighting a thyroid condition for at least a year, and this summer’s flea season reduced him to just over five pounds. He wasn’t going to gain that weight back.
He had a bad tooth that turned to an infection and an abscess that took over the right side of his face and burst open. This was our first real sign something was wrong.
We took him to the vet knowing this was a possibility. He’s an old man, after all, somewhere between 16 and 20.
And the vet confirmed the worst: anything we could do would only treat symptoms. His overall condition would never improve and he’d simply continue to decline and waste away.
So we let him go while he still had dignity. I held him the whole time and he only went on his own terms – he vet was shocked how long it took.
But he went peacefully as I held him in my arms, telling him how much we loved him and humming Rhapsody in Blue.
This is how I’ll remember him:
I don’t want to talk anymore, but I sure could use someone to talk to me.
What’s been going on with you?
Even at the end everything was on his terms.
Goodbye, best friend. You’re still the best. You lived half your life with us, and those 9 years with you were too short.
Running In My Head 
I’m so sorry. Having to put down a long time friend is really really hard. And the grief is real.
It’s raining here in Kansas City. Been raining off and on for several days. I’m not really complaining. We had a dry spring and a dry summer. This old house (built in 1924) settles crookedly, so I had to go out and water the foundation almost daily. Now I don’t. But yesterday afternoon, an electrical wire boomed from somewhere in the walls and half our house is now dead. That pretty much sucks too. And as you can imagine, repairing a fried wire in a nearly hundred year old house is going to be messy. And costly. Things die. Hope you can get yourself a new kitty soon. J.
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Thank you for replying. We probably won’t get a new cat anytime soon. First, I was/am really attached to Smokey and I don’t get over things like that easily. Second, since we’ve moved into an apartment, Krystal’s allergies have been worse. Perhaps the carpets are holding dander? And third, our apartment has per-pet fee that’s not in our budget right now. We had it when we moved because we weren’t leaving Smokey behind.
I hope you get your wiring figured out! I’ve never lived in a house that old, but I know what it’s like to redo bad wiring.
Have a great weekend 🙂
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When your post said only …”Read more” I felt something was wrong. I have a huge lump in my throat and am so sorry that Smokey is gone. You gave him a worthy death. It is a huge loss to grieve. My son Fred called me in tears a few months ago to tell me his little cat Kody was run over. He found his lifeless body on his front porch after dark when he didn’t come inside. Someone had hit him with his car and put him on Fred’s steps to keep anyone else from running over him. He still gets choked up about Kody’s death. I will keep you and Smokey in my prayers.
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Thank you very much.
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