My 20 Year Companion

Hi everyone,
I googled and googled hoping to find a support forum just like this one. Thank you for being here!

Oscar was my boy. In 1992, I found him stuck in a shed when he was five weeks old and we bonded for life. He grew up with Molly and they were inseparable until her death in 2008. It's been just us two every since.

Our relationship lasted longer than my marriage, my first and second career and countless diets! He didn't care if I gained 20 lbs or lost 50. I was always his momma. When he was just a wee kitten, he would crawl up my leg, then over to my back and plop himself on my shoulder. He loved to hang over me and watch what I was doing, ususally the dishes. He was fascinated by the bubbles. Twenty years later, I would see the look in his eye and bend down so he could ride on my shoulder again. I would carry him everywhere and he'd just chill.

He had a few health scares over the years. He had radioactive iodine treatments for his hyperthyroidism and had the occasional crystal blockages.After a few times, he learned to come get me to watch him use the litterbox if he was having urinary issues or if something wasn't right. I learned his different meows and he learned to come when I called him. He was harness trained & he would bring me his leash in his little mouth and he would sit so very still while I did him up. He would have wagged his tail if he was a dog. We'd walk for hours, under bushes and in people's back yards. We got a few strange looks but we didn't care.

I have appreciated every moment spent with him, knowing that every day was a gift. We were a family of two. My decisions reflected what was best for both of us. When I moved, it was a home that was safe for Oscar and his sisters. When we had to travel across the country, I found hotels that allowed cats. When I bought a house, I made sure there was a huge picture window so he could lie in the sunshine.

Yesterday, after a few days of not being himself, he just lay down in the middle of the floor and sighed heavily. He wouldn't eat anything and I tried all his favourites. He loved to drink water (freshly poured please) but he had no desire for that either. After 20 wonderful years of friendship, I knew it was time.

In one respect, I feel such guilt for ending his life. In another, I'm glad he was spared the true horrors of end stage kidney failure.

He will always be my 'little sir', 'baby boy', 'bubba', and my 'boo'.

Thanks you for giving me a place to share this.

Caroline