The Spirit in Me Salutes the Divine Spirit in You
The world has lost a beautiful, beautiful soul.
I guess it’s time for the promised Puggle update. You’ll recall that I took him to the vet on Wednesday the 14th for labored breathing, and he was diagnosed with congestive heart failure, with only a short time left to live.
That day, the vet drained the built-up fluid from his chest, which gave him immediate, but temporary relief. My goal was to nurse him through to January, spending some quality time with him, and put him down right after New Years.
On coming home, Pug did seem to be a lot more alert and active, and was able to breathe like a kitten again. The vet gave me a green light to give him “anything he’ll eat”, so I spoiled him with chicken, scrambled eggs, bacon, SciDi dry (no accounting for kitty tastes), Swiss cheese, Jax cheese curls, and saucers of milk. We spent a lot of time together, and I took a bunch of movie clips of my fuzzy buddy on my cell phone.
As Christmas got closer, I thought I could get away for a couple days with family. I planned to leave Friday noon and return Sunday afternoon, and my cat-sitting service would visit once on Saturday and once on Sunday.
On Wednesday, I noticed that Pug was starting to have difficulty breathing again. However, I thought I’d have enough time to bring him in to the vet’s after Xmas. But Thursday night he was so bad that I concluded that I’d bring him in and have him put to sleep Friday morning before I left Boston.
But when the time came, he seemed pretty good. He didn’t seem to have any difficulty breathing, and was pretty active, as well. So against my prior plans, I left for Maine, hoping Pug would be okay over the weekend.
Well, as you have no doubt surmised, he wasn’t. About 4pm on Christmas Eve, the petsitter called to tell me how he’d found him. He covered Pug with a sheet right where he lay.
After a perfunctory holiday observance, I headed home at 3pm today. His body lay there, just as beautiful as he’d been in life. I had to get through the tasks of moving him, putting him in a box, taking him down to the animal hospital to be cremated, and saying goodbye forever. On Christmas Day.
I don’t know how I could even begin to relate to you what that cat meant to me. Every day he was a source of joy, love, amusement, and warmth. He was a dear, dear friend, and one of the most central parts of my life. I shall be hard pressed to find another companion like him.
I guess I can take solace in the realization that his suffering is gone forever. But boy, has he left an immense, gaping hole in my heart.
May you be blessed with devotion and companionship as unwavering as that you gave to me, my dear friend. Namaste!