Recently, I had to say goodbye to a furry friend. I am not going to lie. I bawled my eyes out more than I have at the funeral of some human friends.
It is amazing how close we can become with our pets.
Gizmo lived a good life up until the very end.
We got him and his sister, Gadget, approximately 18 years ago when they were kittens. They were so small back then they would have fun jumping through the holes in lattice under our back deck.
During their early years they were inseparable and loved spending time outside.
If we would have moved his food outside and gone out there to play with him, Gizmo would have enjoyed living outside most of the year. By contrast, over time Gadget grew to prefer the creature comforts of indoor living most days.
Gizmo would glare and growl at other cats if they walked into his yard. I remember one time he just laid down in the grass intently staring at this other cat. The other cat just very slowly walked by like he thought Gizmo would not see him if he moved slowly enough…LOL.
When they were younger Gizmo and Gadget would run and hide if someone came over. This was not the case later in life, particularly for Gizmo.
He craved attention.
If you weren’t giving him enough attention, he was not above jumping on the couch and nudging your hand with his head to get petted. If that didn’t work, he wasn’t above biting your hand either. This was how he rolled.
While Gizmo loved attention, his true passion in life was food. He was a fat cat for most of his life, who wanted to at least be offered what you were eating.
Over the last year or so, Gizmo would follow us around until we gave him Delectables, which is this flavored paste like cat food in a tube. The commercials are not lying. Cats really do go crazy when you bring it out.
I would usually squeeze one out on a paper plate in the morning for Gizmo and another for Gadget. After I got the first one done, Gizmo would claw the back of my legs while I prepared the second one until he got what he wanted.
He would usually scarf his food down and then try to eat most of his sister’s Delectables too.
For a while, we knew the end was coming.
Gizmo lost weight the last couple of months, but it certainly wasn’t from a lack of eating. He hobbled around the house sometimes dragging his back right paw but still moved surprisingly quickly when he thought there would be food.
The last few weeks, he was a lot clingier in the evenings when we got home craving even more attention. He really wanted to be held.
He had good days though. Less than one week before his death, he snuck outside and spent the night outside despite me walking around the house on three different occasions with a flashlight yelling for him.
About three days before he died, he tried to sneak out again, but unsuccessfully this time.
When he did not eat his Delectables on his final day, I knew the end was close.
I came home at lunch time to check on him. He could not lift his little head and just cried a painful cry when I wasn’t holding him. Even his sister was distressed by his cries.
I knew it was time.
The good folks over at Veterinary Care Center in Corbin squeezed him in that afternoon. They did a great job.
They have a comfort room with its own entrance at the side of the building. You can go into the room without having to go through the lobby around the other animals when having your pet put to sleep.
Allison, the vet tech, did a great job setting everything up. Dr. Elizabeth Birch calmly explained the procedure and walked me through it. It took surprisingly little time once she administered the drug to put Gizmo to sleep and then the drug to stop his heart.
It was a peaceful ending to a good life.
Goodbye Gizmo. I miss you buddy.
