It is with a very heavy heart that I deliver this sad news: My beloved cat, Precious, is dead.
Some of you knew her in person, some of you knew her by reputation. She seemed to have been loved by everyone who even heard of her.
I found Precious in a parking lot back in 1995, half starved, dehydrated, and terrified. I took her home and nursed her back to health and she became a loving and devoted companion, offering totally unconditional love and affection during some of the lowest points in my life.
I have no idea how old she was, but she was already quite mature when she came into my life. If I had to guess, I'd say she was pushing 20. I've watched her decline over the last few years, and in the last six months she lost weight and was often confused. About a week ago she stopped eating. I fed her something called "glop" with a syringe (glop contains veal baby food, unflavored Pedialyte, plain yogurt, egg yolk, Karo syrup, evaporated milk, and Knox gelatin). I'm very grateful to my Aunt Pat for making this stuff, it kept my cat alive several days longer than she would have lived otherwise.
It became painfully clear that she wasn't going to recover, so I had to make the decision to put her down. I've never been one to scrape this duty off on someone else, that seems somehow disrespectful to the animal. I've had to put down a number of animals through the years, but this was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. I gave her an overdose of ether and she just went to sleep on my lap while I cried and cried and cried. I buried her in a pretty spot in the woods under a flowering tree, and cried some more.
I don't think I'll get another pet, not for a long time anyway.
My niece took this clip last year:
I haven't told my nieces yet...
You obviously gave her a far better life than she'd known before and that is the best you can do.
Maybe she'll meet my old cat scooby in the afterlife and he'll continue to take good car of her for you.