People who share their lives with pets are blessed with knowing a special kind of love. The love that we share with our pets is both deep and tender, and in some ways, it is unmatched by the kind of love we share with those of our own species.
The hardest part of the human animal relationship is that we usually outlive our pets.
The winding down time of a pet’s life is not something we look forward to – that time when you know she is ill, and there is not much time left, and you want to make the best of the time you have left. As hard as it is, though, we would not give up that last bit of time for anything in the world.
My cat Slick, whose illness I wrote about in April (The Greatest Cat in the World), is now in that winding down time. A trip to the vet yesterday and the blood work results today confirmed that her kidneys are shutting down. She is losing weight and stamina, although she is still eating and drinking. She’s hanging in there, but we know it is not forever now.
It could be days, or weeks or even months. She could bounce back a bit. But it is time to face reality.
Slick won’t be with me for too much longer.
I am very grateful to her and our Creator for giving us the eighteen years that we have had together, and I will cherish each and every remaining day.
Slick, you are my very special girl, and I will always hold you dear in my heart.