Downs ... and then ups ...

Some of you who have known me for a while may remember that, when we first moved here from Whangarei, the relocation "specialists" lost our cat - M. We finally got him back two months later after they trapped him in a local reserve, but he was never quite the same.

I took M to the vet this morning. He has been throwing up all over the house, stalking around meowing constantly, wouldn't settle, and he looked awful. To cut a long story short, he had a heart murmur, and she suspected hyperthyroidism and bowel problems as well. Basically, he just got old and even if we had spent a fortune on diagnostic tests, he was going to be on meds for the rest of his life and he was never going to get better.

I bought M as a present for the MOTH to celebrate our three month anniversary. The MOTH grew up on a farm where cats weren't considered "pets", and M was the first cat he had ever owned. Or rather, M was the first cat who had ever owned him !! He was definitely a one person cat ... he tolerated (barely) the rest of us, but he loved the MOTH.

I held onto M while the vet put him to sleep. Actually, it took three of us to hold him down as she first shaved his leg, then put the needle in. Anyone who says "don't worry, it's very peaceful" is lying. He fought like a mad thing and I feel like a murderer. The only good thing is that it was incredibly quick. And when it was over he lay there with his stupid little pink tongue just sticking out, like he used to when he was waiting for the MOTH to notice it was time for a cuddle ...

I've told the MOTH I can't ever do that again. And if that means that we can't have any more pets, then that doesn't seem like such a bad thing at the moment.

Insignificant as it seems in the face of this morning, the MOTH received a call from our property manager this afternoon. Our tenants have found somewhere else to live and will be moving out of our house the weekend before we arrive home. So I guess I was stressing over nothing. As a sensible woman I know told me yesterday, "in ten years it won't matter" ...