Hurt

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday, I know I did. And somehow everyone I know who was traveling to or through Denver has made it so far - we'll see if my co-worker who went skiing out there makes it back in one piece. My brother and sister-in-law wisely decided to not stay with their friends in Colorado Springs and instead drove through Texas on their way back home from Arizona. It was great to see them again.

I have some sad news to report. Yesterday I finally put Fat Cat to sleep. It was something that should have probably been done a long time ago, but I selfishly kept her around because she was such a fun cat and I didn't want to have to deal with the pain of losing a pet. She had some problems metabolizing her food properly and despite the fact she was on prescription food for pretty much the entire time I had her she wouldn't use the litter box. I tried everything the vet recommended and more to get her to do her business in the proper place, but ultimately I think the crystals in her urine made it burn every time she went potty so she never used the box. So for more than four years I lived with her peeing on carpets and ruining hard wood floors hoping she would come around, but after talking with Bro and SIL about the situation this week I finally realized that there wasn't anything that could be done. Not only was her health in danger but mine was as well from the urine stench in my condo. I bawled and bawled when it finally hit me but I knew it was the only solution.

Yesterday I called the vet and they said they could get her in that evening so I took the appointment for fear of not going through with it. I asked Vanessa and Erica to come with me so I could have some moral support, but I think I ended up having to comfort them since I had pretty much already done my grieving the night before and it was just hitting them. We all were in the mood for alcohol and cigarettes afterwards so we went out and tried to forget about the reason we were there in the first place.

I took Fat Cat as a favor to a former college roommate who had just had to put our joint cat to sleep and didn't feel like she could deal with Fat Cat after losing the other one and having a new baby at the same time. Part of the reason I held onto the cat for so long was that I half expected my friend to take her back one day, but of course she never did. I called her a while back and she gave me permission to put Fat Cat to sleep but it's taken me until now to finally do it.

Fat Cat was very friendly and quite comical at times. She was always in a good mood and loved to be the center of attention. Last night Black Cat, who really prefers to be by herself, kept looking over her shoulder towards the door while I was petting her. She kept waiting for Fat Cat to jump up and butt her out of the way so she could be petted instead. This morning Black Cat was meowing to get Fat Cat to come out from where ever she was hiding. But I think Black Cat is finally starting to understand the Fat Cat isn't here any more. I only hope I can adjust as quickly - it's awfully quiet around here without her.

Here's some Johnny Cash.