When you have pets you know that their lives, although such a huge part of your own, will most likely come to an end .  You might try to prepare yourself but when it happens it is still a really difficult thing.  

I will be honest.  I cried most of the day on Friday.

 Chris was in Chicago for work,  I was home after canceling my trip to Ohio because of the weather.  I had enjoyed a few days at home doing a lot of reading and snuggling of cats.  I am so glad I did.

Friday morning I got up and went out, as is my routine, to make coffee and give the kitties treats.  Holly came right up but there was no Buddy which was really unusual because he always was the first one to greet me.  I looked around and called him and then saw him laying still in his bed.  My heart sank.  

He had not been sick.  As a matter of fact the day before he was racing around like a kitten and I commented to him (yes, I talk to my cats) that he was acting like a ninny.  But something happened and it was his time.  

I touched him tentatively and he was still warm and I had  hope but there was no rise and fall of his chest.  He was only 11 1/2  and I had thought we would have him with us much longer.  But I suspect that he had used up more lives than I had thought with his bout at 5 months with eating a string that wrapped around his intestines.  And of course there was the whole chylothorax episode 7 years ago when we nursed him back to life when he was on death’s door.  

He was such a good cat.  Always with me.  Always on my lap when I was reading.  That’s what I will miss the most.  

Pets have a way of getting under your skin.  They become a part of the family and rational or not – they just become real.  Buddy was real.  

Buddy was real to his favorite cat sitters –Kayla, Jeni and Allie have all loved and taken care of Buddy and Holly over the years.  

He loved to drink my tea –he was truly my cat.

Buddy brought comfort to many others as well including Chris’s dad who kept Buddy and Holly while we lived in Australia. They were good friends and it was Chris’s dad that was reluctant to return them to us when we came back to the states.  They also lived with Aaron for a while when we were moving from Iowa to North Carolina and Aaron was a big part of his life since he had picked him out originally.  I knew I wanted a boy and girl cat when we moved to Iowa and since there was only one girl kitten that was easy. Buddy was picked out from three baby boy kitties.

So now we have one.  Holly has such a different personality than Buddy.  She has always been more aloof but now as the only cat she is just going to have to figure out that we need her as much as she needs us.  She is a little lost since Friday but hopefully will assume her role as main cat and endure all the snuggles.  

Holly is still figuring out that her bed buddy is gone.

If you have a pet please take a moment today to snuggle them a little bit closer, give them a treat and tell them that you love them.  

As for Buddy – he really was the best cat ever and will be so missed.