TheBanyanTree: Visiting the Vet

[Julie Anna Teague]

Quoting NancyIee at aol.com:


> But, I miss her. She was fierce and
> fearless, and  a great foot warmer on chilly nights. Like she did with most
> things, she grabbed  hold and held on . .like she did with my heart.


Aw, man, I'm loving all the pet stories.  I couldn't help but think of 
our cat Jerry when I read this story, though.  He came to us as a stray 
and when tested for feline luekemia, he already had it when he showed 
up on my doorstep.  But he was a tough old cat and soldiered on for 
years and years, making it to a fairly ripe old age (of which we didn't 
really have a clue except that it was some number greater than he'd 
been with us).  In his middle years, he loved to go out at night and 
would often get into the most horrendous fights with cats or coons or 
God only knows what else.  He came home bloody a few times, and once 
with half an ear gone.  In the end, as his health started really 
fading, he didn't know if he wanted in or out.  So he wanted in and out 
(and in and out and in and out) all hours of the night and day. He 
wrecked the arms of the sofa.  He didn't know what he wanted to eat, 
but it wasn't usually what I tried to feed him. He got a little 
snugglier towards the end, and sitting on my lap seemed to comforted 
him.  He was just an all-around rascally cat and a total pain in the 
butt for the last couple of years of his life, but I loved him dearly.  
Like your Misti, he had his finer points. He was completely fearless, 
except of our chicken Penny who took no guff from anyone.  He was funny 
in his ruffian sort of way.  And when he was asleep, he was as cute as 
any kitty cat curled up on a blanket.  In his final week, I watched him 
stop eating and drinking altogether, and he laid himself down, very 
quietly, in the shade at the end of the front porch.  He laid there 
until I couldn't bear to watch him starve another day.  After I took 
him to the vet to have him put to rest, I wasn't sure if it was for his 
sake or mine.  It was the most painful thing to watch him slowly dying. 
  Maybe Jerry would've rather faded from his spot on the front porch, I 
don't know.  By the time I got him to the vet, he was nearly gone 
anyway, weighing a fraction of his formerly buff cat self.  He was part 
of our life, part of my heart, even though he wasn't the sweetest cat 
ever.  I think those of us who really love our animals, even the 
barking dogs and the grumpy old cats, get a lot of practice at 
unconditional love.

Julie

~O
<I~ love to run
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