Saying goodbye to a great cat. Not Ginger.

Not a good day at Chez Insanity –  it started at about 4am, at least for me. Kept hearing a cat howl, and it sounded too low-pitched to be Ginger, and I couldn’t find the cat. Turned out to be FIL’s mackerel-striped grey American Shorthair in distress. Probably from a tangle with a car. Poor kitty was in a lot of pain and the emergency veterinarian (spit!) extracted $90. for a visit and basically didn’t do anything. Oh, she advised FIL of the approximately $3K in procedures it’d possibly take to get kitty back on all four paws, but she wanted it cash on the examining table, and no one here has that.

Clearly kitty was in a lot of pain, but without cash, she was unwilling to even curb or end his suffering. She’s free to have her own philosophy, but I was really disappointed in both her demeanor and her judgmental streak. Angry, too, if you want the truth of the matter. Yes, if you own a cat, you probably should have $3 to $5K waiting for emergencies, but the last time I saw money like that unused in a bank account with my name on it, it was during the Reagan administration. Most of the people in our ‘hood used their savings some time ago to keep their homes out of foreclosure or keep the heat turned on – not to mention restoring life back to normal after another of the tornadoes that seem to love ripping up the same streak right through this town.

Far too long later, kitty passed, cradled in FIL’s arms, his suffering finally over. He was a good kitty, who’d just begun to warm up to us again – Beloved Hubby had saved him from starving in an abandoned shop by basically carving a hole in the wall in his boss’ shop next door nearly a decade ago. He’d had a good life, with plenty of Cat Chow and as much attention as he sought. He fought ‘til the end, and our meager options to ease his pain earlier would have only added to his trauma, still, I feel like I didn’t do as right by him as he deserved. It doesn’t detract from his spirit, his cleverness, his eternal feline beauty, and his life before. Miss him already.