My beloved cat Kody Kitty passed away the day after my birthday. He was twelve years old and always very active and playful. We shared a special bond, as I saved his life by adopting him from the county’s animal shelter on the day designated to put him to sleep. From the moment I first held him as a four-month-old kitten at the shelter, when he gave me that pleading hug with his two front legs, we were inseparable. Later, when my three boys were born, he became best friends with them.
One day, something traumatized him, and his health rapidly declined. Within a month, he lost almost all his gorgeous, solid-white hair and half his weight (he used to be a hefty 18 pounds). Despite taking him to the vet several times, we never figured out what caused his ill health. We suspect cancer.
I was blessed that I was able to see what was inevitable and could sit with him for about an hour on his last day with me. I postponed going to the office after taking the children to school, and I sat with him, just petting him, talking to him, and consoling him. At the very end, he suddenly had the energy to sit up on his hind legs from the towel he had been lying on, and he looked across the living room toward the windows.