On a sad note...

... my family are all sad today as we had to have our oldest cat put to sleep... she'd been diagnosed with diabetes and thyroid problems. As she hated being handled we thought about it for ages, and discussed it and came to the conclusion that the kindest thing to do would be to let her go peacefully. Had she been younger than 18 we might have felt differently about the twice daily insulin injections for the rest of her life, but adding all of the "cons" together they vastly out-weighed the "pros" and she is now at peace and not in pain anymore.

I felt like a total bitch when I signed the papers to authorise the injection, and neither Mum or I could stay to watch her go. We left the vets and promptly burst into uncontrollable tears in the car park. I feel better now, I know it was for the best, but there is still a hole in my heart where Gem used to be. Yes she was miserable, cantankerous and sometimes downright vicious, but we also had her for 12 years and you get used to the little foibles of animals when you have them for a long time. I hope that we did a little something to prove to her that not all humans were like her first owners, they abused her and eventually abandoned her on a local heath to fend for herself. If nothing else she always had food to eat, water to drink, and a soft, warm bed to sleep in at night.

The weather was also apt, it started raining on the way home... for some reason death always hits deeper when the sky is grey and the rain is lashing the windows. I admit that when the sun came out this afternoon I did feel better... but that could be because I think I cried myself dry this morning :o(