I said goodbye to Puto, our 19-year-old black cat, today. His health had been failing for at least six months to a year, and today was the day I finally had to make the decision to say goodbye. I knew there was a problem yesterday when he spent the entire day on the floor in the bathroom. He was still there this morning and had an accident overnight and was unable to clean himself up when he stepped in it. Not a pleasant way for a cat to spend his days and nights. His kidneys were on the verge of shutting down if they hadn’t done so already, so I made the decision after talking with my sister, Sally. She’s been through this with two of her cats and the symptoms were almost identical.

I took him to our local animal emergency clinic and they were wonderful, treating him with kindness and care. His final moments were spent with me consoling and petting him as he stopped breathing. I cried a lot at the time and am still having periods of tears when I remember all the good times with Puto. He was probably the best cat we’ve ever had and I’ll miss him lots.

His ashes will go to Patrick since he was Patrick’s cat from the start. When Patrick moved out, Puto permitted me to be his adoptive owner. But he always was and always will be Patrick’s cat.