Our Sweet Mo Of 18 Years Left Us Options

[Pamela S.]

A few months after one of our other kitties passed away many years ago, we decided to adopt another cat. None of our local pet supply stores was holding pet adoptions that day, so we ended up driving a few miles to the nearest place that had some kitties available. My husband instantly fell in love with a huge orange tabby named Mo that was in a cage tucked away in the corner. It seemed as if the adoption organizers were trying to keep him somewhat hidden, so we asked why since it was obvious Mo was such a lovable cat. It turned out Mo was a package deal, meaning that if we wanted Mo we had to also adopt his best friend Teddy, a special needs cat. My husband was completely smitten with Mo, so one of the adoption people drove us to out to meet Teddy. They never brought Teddy to the adoptions since he had chronic diarrhea, trouble with his balance, and he had licked off quite a bit of his fur due to stress. Teddy and Mo had been adopted a couple of times before, but Teddy's condition was more than most families could handle so they had been returned each time. After we met Teddy and saw how miserable he was, we decided to give the boys a forever home. That was 18 years ago. (Over time, Teddy recovered from most of his symptoms, such as his fur growing back and much better balance, and although he still has chronic diarrhea, it's not nearly as bad as it used to be.) As I mentioned before, Mo was a pretty big cat. He weighed nearly 20 pounds his entire life, that is until now. A couple of months ago, he rapidly began losing weight, and since he's fairly old for a cat, we knew time was short for Mo. At the moment, he's still with us, but it's likely he won't last another day. Mo's favorite place in the house is the bathtub. He loved drinking water directly from the faucet and would often demand it with loud meows. I layered some soft sheets in the tub and placed him in there to await the inevitable. My husband had a special connection with Mo from the first time they met, so he's quite devastated. We have dealt with the loss of many of our animal babies over the years (one of the worst for me personally was the passing of my beloved parrot Boogie after 27 years), so I felt like I was prepared for this, but now I'm in tears. It always hurts when they leave us.