Goodbye Little Man (Written June 4, 2011)

This has been a sad year. John and Ridge both died earlier, Ridge only a couple weeks ago, and now Little Man passed away yesterday.

Little Man was in a litter of kittens left in our storage area behind the house by a feral cat over a decade ago. He became a favorite of my eldest daughter and she took him with her when she moved away three years ago. Of course, with the poor economic times she moved back with us this spring, and Little Man came with her.

Unfortunately he took sick about a month ago and began losing weight. The vet thought he might have a heart condition and twice each day we would give him medicine using a syringe (squirt it into his mouth, not injected).

He was mostly staying in the computer room with me these two weeks past. I got him some special food, because he was having problems eating the regular food we use. He sometimes ate and sometimes didn't because it was a struggle for him.

A couple days ago his eyes began to water and actually seal shut. Now we gave him eye drops and cleaned his eyes so he could open the lids and see, poor fellow.

My wife found him dead in the entry way between 11:00 and 11:30 AM yesterday, not long before I got home from work (there was nothing to do so they sent me home early). He had seemed okay when I left earlier and in fact when I first got up and gave him medicine, his eyes were open for once. He licked at his food some and kept changing where he lay, walking out into the hallway.

From where my wife found him, I think he may have been trying to get to my daughter's room. However, my daughter was at work all day and all the night before (she has two jobs) and so wasn't there. She got home at eve-time. She was upset, but took it well, although she regretted no one was with him at the moment when he died. I suppose she will have him cremated now and keep the ashes.

We are saddened by this, this hardest thing of caring for pets, but relieved too that whatever suffering he may have been experiencing these last few days is over.

So Goodbye, Little Man, Laurel loved you very much. And I'm crying now.