This post was really hard for me to write about a family member we've had for almost as long as I can remember.
I think it's pretty obvious to anyone who reads this blog that I love cats. When I was a little girl I wanted a cat soooo badly, but my dad kept telling me no. My mom kept trying to convince him and he really wasn't budging on it. One summer day right before I started school, my mom's friend Sue called to tell her that she signed me up to get a kitten from a pet store for free! (I guess someone brought the kittens to the store in hopes that they would all get adopted, which they did.) I was so excited and my mom basically told my dad, "Too bad, Missie is getting her kitten" and that was the end of that! I couldn't wait to go pick my cat up at the pet store and I remember when we went 19 years ago, that when I walked into the store, the kittens were all in a cage in the front, and a cute black and white cat started trying to climb the cage when he saw me! This happened to be the kitten my mom's friend signed me up to get, so I thought it was pretty awesome that he already liked me! He was black and white and just too cute! I decided to name him Midnight since he was mostly black, and I had too many friends with black and white cats names Oreo and I wanted to be more original! Midnight was a great cat, and even my dad fell in love with him and has always called him his "buddy" and would sit with him on his lap on the couch and watch TV.
Midnight is really old now, we got him 19 years ago and I knew his health was starting to go downhill, especially the past couple of months. I got a private Facebook message from my mom (she didn't call because she knew we had company over) on Friday telling me that Midnight hasn't been eating at all and had gone from being 21 lbs in his prime (he was a big cat) to 8 lbs.Granted that weight loss was over a bit of time, but he has been losing weight for awhile. She said he can't really control his bladder now, and he's having more and more difficulty moving around or doing anything. She called the vet and the vet recommended putting him to sleep since he is so old and suffering a lot right now. There's really nothing else they can do for a cat that's so old, which I understand. Even if they could prolong his life, it would only be for a few months and he'd still be suffering. I'm grateful I didn't have to make the decision about whether to put him down or not, but my parents did and they decided to stop his suffering, which I respect and agree with. Right now the plan is to go on Tuesday, but my mom is going to try for Monday because Midnight is barely moving or doing anything and she feels it's cruel to prolong this any more than necessary. She wants Midnight to stay with the family, but at this point, she feels it's selfish to make him suffer. My youngest brother Kurt is a HUGE cat lover, and he actually came home from school this weekend to say goodbye and from what I hear, he was really upset and understandably so. My other younger brother Warren and I couldn't handle saying goodbye and wanted to remember Midnight from Christmastime when he was still pretty active and doing somewhat better.
This has been absolutely heartbreaking for my family even though it was expected. I got really upset last night (and while writing this post), and Jeff had to deal with me. He reminded me that Midnight had a long, happy, and full life, with people who loved him, but it's still sad knowing that my first pet is dying. I know he is going to a better place, and I'm glad he won't be suffering anymore, but it's very sad and hard for all of us and I know I'll be upset on either Monday or Tuesday when I know he is being put to sleep.
*Edit* Midnight has been put to sleep :( The vet said she could tell just by feeling his stomach that he had cancer, there was nothing they could do, he was shutting down, and he would have suffered till his death if we let him die naturally. My parents did the right thing, but it's still sad.
