by Oxpictus

Created on: November 01, 2008

Euthanasia. That is not a very nice word, even though when translated it means, "Good Death". It is a word that no responsible, loving pet owner ever wants to hear. Yet, considering the volume of pets that we have had, we resigned ourselves that at some point in time, we would have to face not only the word, "Euthaniasia", but the complete meaning of that word.

I had a cat named Meowreese. One of the most special cats I had ever known. My little Meowreese was taken away from me by liver cancer. I held him in my arms, as the life slowly drifted from his sick, frail body. I was devastated. I stayed in bed for four days. I couldn't cope with it all at once, it took time to assimilate that my special kitty was gone.

With this empty hole in my heart, I went on, for several months, walking through my job and my life. One day, I was looking in the local paper, and I saw, in the "Pound Pets" (a picture of an animal at the local Animal Regulation Facility), a cat that resembled Meowreese. I told my husband that I had to go to the Animal Regulation today, and showed him the picture. We went to Animal Reg., I went into the cat room, and saw a cat with a very bad cold, sneezing, with watery eyes.

I thought, "Oh God, no one will take this poor cat. he's sick." At that instant, I saw another cat in the cage beneath the sick cat, trying to get my attention, by trying to get his huge feet through the bars of the cage. I looked at him, opened the cage, and out jumped a huge, polydactyl cat (many extra toes on all feet!). This cat wrapped his big paws around my neck, tucked his head under my chin, and began purring. This was the loudest purr I had ever heard!

I looked at my husband, it was 3:00 PM, and they closed at 5:00 PM. I told him I wanted BOTH cats, the sick one and this polydactyl that had stolen my heart. My husband countered that he did not have enough cash to pay for both cats, and not enough time to go back into the canyon to our home, to get the checkbook!

I told him I would plant my big butt on the floor, holding this big polydactyl, and I would defy anyone (!) to move me! Well, assessing the situation, my sweet husband managed to find (gee!) a $100 bill, somewhere in his wallet!

We walked out with both cats. We immediately took them to our vet, and she examined them, and said we should keep both of them isolated, until the cold had passed. She gave us medication that I was to give twice a day. We isolated these guys for three weeks, and finally introduced them to the

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