Today I had to make the decision no pet owner looks forward to, put a beloved animal to sleep.
Boomhower came to be part of my life when one evening I went to pick up my (now) ex-wife and she told me we were going to a friend of hers to pick up a cat she was giving us. We did and she came out with the handsome fellow you see pictured above. He and our other cat Tiger became fast friends and he became part of our little family. That was 1998. 15 years ago.
A lot has happened since then. I feel good about my part of his life. I gave him a good home with good food and a warm bed. He was never mean to his humans but he took no crap from his stepbrothers and sisters, of which he had up to nine at one time after my marriage fell apart and I had to move back in with my parents. There was love in his life all the way to the end.
When I was younger I never understood why you had to put animals to sleep. I get it now. I mean, it doesn't make it any easier a decision when the time comes, but this afternoon, Boom was in pain. He couldn't walk. He had no strength. I could tell he was starting to let go. The vet said he could start treatment but there was no guarantee he would be able to fix him. After that it was easy.
Here we are, four hours after his death. I'm numb. It will be hard in the coming days to not see him around the house but like anything else it will turn to something else. It will be hardest of all on my son though because Boomer was HIS cat. I guess I can be thankful in a guilty was that thanks to his autism he doesn't quite understand what happened. He will in time, I guess.
RIP: Boomhower, May 1998-October 2013.
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