Goodbye My Friend

We have all had a heavy heart, and more than a few tears on my part, all day. Yesterday we brought Monster into the vet. He had been sick for awhile, and I had pretty much guessed it was something with his kidneys or diabetes. I knew what the outcome would be, and had been putting off bringing him in for awhile. He was feeling sicker and sicker lately though, and we knew it was time. The vet confirmed it was most likely diabetes. We could have tried to treat it, but at great expense and time commitment. There was also no guarantee that the treatments would work. We decided it was best for him to be done suffering.

We got Monster as a kitten almost 10 years ago. His name was originally Chester. However, he was such a mischievous kitten, that we called him monster instead. The name has stuck through all these years, it is the only name he knew. He always had a personality of his own, that was often more dog than cat. He played fetch. This was not something we taught him, it is something he just did. When we lived in Ishpeming, we would lay in bed at night and throw the ball out the bedroom door. It would hit the wall, and then go down the stairs. Monster would do a flying leap off the bed, run after it, and bring it back to us. For about an hour, every night we would do this! He spent a couple of hours at a friends house once, and when Kyle and I got back she said "You got ripped off! You don't have a cat, you have a dog!"

Monster was always into everything. It would not be an unusual occurrence to come home and find the entire roll of paper towels or toilet paper unrolled and all over the floor. He also loved certain people foods. He was always trying to get donuts if they were left on the counter (even as recently as a couple weeks ago). I will never forget how mad I was at him when he chewed through a plastic bag AND saran wrap to taste the apple pie I had just baked. Those who knew him also know of his weird habit of licking plastic bags! I could go on and on!

Monster also knew exactly when I needed to be comforted. Whenever I was sick, or sad he was there to cuddle with me. He spent an entire week on my lap comforting me when I had my miscarriage. I am missing his comfort now in my saddness. It is hard being in the house without him around.

Bitsy, our other cat, is looking for him as well. Last night Kyle gave her fresh water, and she started running around looking for Monster. Monster always came running whenever fresh water or food was given. It was when she realized he was gone.

We took these pictures a few hours before we brought him into the vet. There is some comfort in knowing he is no longer sick, but he is greatly missed.