Running without Simon

It hasn't been a good year for our family and pets.  We lost our cat Bunny back in May, and we lost our last sweet kitty cat, Simon, last month.  

 

Simon was 14 years old.  He just started to slow down in the last few months.  Simon was the absolute sweetest cat.  I actually found him by the side of the road one summer day as I was driving to teach summer school.  He was a tiny little thing and he was just sitting there.  I went to go pick him up and he came right to me!  He was a crazy little kitten.  I found him "pre-children".  Our first baby toy was actually his - a Winnie the Poo fabric rattle that we picked up when we were shopping for a friend that had just had a baby.  Simon would chase it down like a dog, and bring it right back.  He'd do the same for a crumpled up piece of paper.

Simon had kidney failure, and by the time it was diagnosed it was just too late.  Sadly, our vet told us that kidney failure can't be diagnosed until there is at least 50% failure - and there's not much you can do by that time.  We had to make that agonizing decision to put him to sleep. 

Baby Boy and Baby Girl are 12 and 10 years old.  They are old enough to really feel the loss of a pet, and they took it really hard.  But I'm really proud of how we handled everything.  We talked a lot and cried together.  Baby Boy went with me into the vet's office when we put Simon down.  I don't think anyone that is loved so much should be alone when they die, so we stayed with Simon till the end.  Baby Girl didn't feel comfortable going with us, but when we buried Simon in the backyard, she shoveled the dirt into the hole.  We all said goodbye and spent the rest of the day talking about our crazy memories of Simon.

So, that was the last of our pets.  I told myself that once all the cats had died we wouldn't get anymore.  It seemed appealing not having to face a litter box, cat stains on the carpet, and cat hair on my clothes and furniture.  And I never liked the idea of replacing one pet with another pet. 

But, I've got to tell you, having a little friend greet you when you come home, wow, I really missed that.  Having a little warm creature curl up next to you, wanting nothing but to just sit by you, I missed that too.

Well, I wanted to honor Simon today.  I'll tell you what choice we made on another day. 

Thanks for stopping by and sharing my story of Simon.