O/T lets see your pets

[Exhibitman]

Originally Posted by irv

Sorry for your loss, Adam.
We had to put down our's in January due to diabetes. We got him from a nearby neighbor who didn't look after him at all and, imo, didn't deserve to have pets.
He was a great cat who greeted me everynight by running to his favorite chair looking to play even before I could get my work boots off.

I miss him a lot.

Your loss too.

We only had Mao (actually, Hai Mao, which means black cat according to my daughter) a bit under 5 years. He was a feral cat who showed up on our doorstep during Thanksgiving, undernourished and in some distress. My daughter started feeding him and gradually gained his trust but it took months for him to adopt us. Eventually, when she left for college I became his go to person because my wife is the dog's person. We were inseparable whenever he was in the house. He ended up being 11# of hell on wheels, bigger than the dog, but a really sweet personality for an apex predator. He hunted the local rodent population (which was considerable) to extinction; some mornings I'd come outside and find rat and mouse parts all over the front yard. He got hurt while roaming his territory one night in February (we still don't know how but given his climbing propensities I think he fell out of a tree in the rain) and made it home with a broken back. I had multiple consults and operations but after a month of extraordinary efforts we euthanized when it became clear that there was no chance of recovery from the nerve injuries he'd suffered. The tough little bastard actually took two shots to euthanize; he was that strong even after a month of medical torture and losing a good chunk of his weight.

I was inconsolable for weeks. Still haven't fully gotten over it. Amazing how they get under your skin.