A Valentine's Day Memoriam

It was one year ago today that we had our cat, Freddie, put to sleep. Happy St Valentine's Day to me.

We had gone away to Grand Forks for the weekend and came back and my Mom mentioned "Is there something wrong with Freddie?" Not that we were aware of. "He won't come up to eat." Well, there must be something wrong, then as Freddie is all about his food. And under our observation, Freddie definitely seemed different so I took him into the vet the next day. They took blood, ran some tests and gave an initial diagnosis as "fatty liver disease" but without running more tests they wouldn't know for sure.

Fatty liver disease turns cats off their appetite and their body has fat built up that they live off of. to treat this disease, you have to basically force feed them either down the throat on your own or through a tube put into their shoulder. Not an uplifiting thought, especially for a 13 year old cat, of whom is probably the only one left in his litter. I wasn't willing to do this so we went to the vet with the intention of putting him to sleep. He seemed better so we took him home in hopes that he would improve. He didn't. He wouldn't eat and he ventured into the basement and never came back up until it was time to go back to the vet. I had to carry him up and put him in his carrier for the last time.

For those of you who have been through this, I'm sure you can relate to how tough it is. They normally give them two needles: Freddie needed only the first one. He was sick, our little Freddie-O and ready to go. Although I knew it was best, I cried and it was tough. They gave me a paw print in some clay for a keepsake and someday I will scrapbook it - somehow. Tana keeps asking me about it but I'm not ready - not yet. Maybe soon. His ashes are up on top of our CD case in a nice little urn.

I still miss him and wonder how his "sister" Stormy feels? I don't know how a cat's mind works but you could tell she missed her buddy. After being together for almost all their lives, she must've been lonely. After all, how do you explain it to a cat?

So, in honor of this one year Anniversary, I write this to remember our Freddie by. We loved you Fred and rest in peace.