Dan, my sister just had to put her cat down today. She was 12. She was the only cat I know that liked being vacuumed. She only had her for 3 years (Ebony was her friend's cat but her friend had to go away and so she gave the cat to Maryrose) and they developed a strong bond, one that tends to happen when your pet is your primary companion.
But over the past couple of months Ebony deteriorated, had to keep being taken to the vet for high blood pressure, respiratory ailments and then in the past week or so she got a lot worse. Yesterday she was having difficulty breathing, couldn't walk properly, one of her eyes turned red outside the pupil, and she couldn't eat solid food anymore, it would just fall out of her mouth.
Maryrose talked to me and to Megan (the previous owner who had come back to Sydney) and made the collective decision to end her suffering. It was so hard though. I just KNOW I will be a wreck when I have to do it for Mikka (hopefully not for years more). She said it's hard because you come home to a house full of cat toys and cat paraphernalia and everything you look at reminds you of your pet.
How have you and Donna been coping? I hope it's getting better.
