For my 17th birthday my boyfriend at the time, Stephen, got me a kitten we named Star. We adopted her from the Union Co. humane society in September 1996. She was so tiny, but quickly grew into a beautiful, long-haired cat. When I got married and moved out she and our family's other cat Panther stayed with my family since I hated to separate the cats and then when my parents divorced my brother took both of the cats when he moved out. Panther had to be put to sleep a few years ago, but Star made it to 14 years old. It's actually amazing that she lived as long as she did because I've never seen a cat with more health problems. She almost died as a kitten from a flea bath at the vet, then she ate a bee and her throat started to swell up, she also had allergies and asthma. In early October my brother called me to tell me that he had taken Star to the vet for a spot in her mouth that wasn't healing and it turned out to be a tumor. Since she was so old the surgery would have been too much for her, so we decided to see how long she could make it. This week my brother said he was scratching at the tumor and that is was getting bigger, plus she was starting to use the bathroom all over his apartment. We made the extremely difficult decision to put her to sleep so that she wouldn't be suffering anymore.
I was extremely impressed with
Fullwood Animal Hospital, Star's vet, and how well they handled everything. When we brought her in they knew us and knew what we were there for. They asked if we wanted a paw print momento and one of the vet techs even came in the room to pet Star one last time. They made an extremely hard situation a little better. After Star was gone Fielding and I took her and buried her next to Panther out in the woods near our old house where they grew up playing together.
Making the decision to put an animal to sleep is always hard. I think it's harder because the animal can't speak to tell you that it's time to go. But, if you are a good pet owner and you know your pet then you know when it's time and when they are suffering. I know for sure that Star had 14 great years. I pulled out some old pictures from Star's prime and scanned them, along with some more current pictures. Here is a little slideshow of Star's life:
This is the paw print momento the vet made for us.
I made mine into a Christmas ornament.
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