Monday, March 17, 2008

Oswald



One of the hardest decisions of my adulthood, to this point, was made this weekend. Our cat, Oswald, stopped eating a couple weeks ago. He got progressively worse. Last Monday I had him into the vet. The visit cost almost $200. It included the office visit, fluids, and a blood test. The blood test came back okay. That meant choosing whether or not we would do further testing.

Each day we tried to get him to eat or show some sign of recovery. Nothing. After debating between the testing and euthanizing him, we chose to put him to sleep. I was on my own, since my hubby already had plans on Saturday and I didn't expect Moo to be there, although I gave her the option. I'm glad she didn't want to be there. She was with me when I buried him though.

It was a hard decision, but after I made the decision the one girl in the office told me that she always promised herself that she when her cats get so sick, that she will just let them go. That way, she saves her resources to rescue other animals that need her help. For pets, she believes that quality of life is more important that quantity. She made me feel so much better about our decision. She was absolutely wonderful. They made clay paw prints for us.

We had Oswald for almost ten years. We got him shortly after moving into our house. We named him on the way home from the farm where we picked him up. He was named after the character, Oswald, on The Drew Carey Show. Oswald was the very first living creature that J and I were in charge of on our own. The wall in our kitchen still shows that it was a temporary scratching post for him at one time.

It is strange to not have him around. I believe Moe, our dog, was even looking for him when we mentioned Oz's name today. We will miss his meow, his silent attacks on our feet, and his massive presence at the foot of our bed. Oswald was a great pet.

1 comments:

Rosie's Posey said...

This still makes me so sad. Losing a beloved pet/family member is hard. I know it will take a while for you not to miss him.