saying good bye

Many years ago, I read something -- don't remember where or who wrote it -- that suggested that one of the reasons G-d gave us pets was so that we would learn how to love and how to deal with death and loss, and go on and love again.

Late this afternoon, with the assistance of my kind veterinarian Donna Stidham, Miss Minnie kitty was gently eased out of this life. Miss Minnie's condition had slid down hill in the last couple of days. Today I came home from my weekly grocery shopping (a nearly four hour excursion) to find that she was in dire distress and laboring to breath, and I knew it was time.

So we said good bye to Miss Minnie, age approximately 14 years; good bye to Minnie with the "evil" ear tufts, "the minimum cat required," Minnie the psychotic cat, Minnie the ferocious, Minnie our cat mama and protector. Good bye to Minnie who used to be black but whose color changed to a soft brown, almost fawn in places, because of the steroid shots she took for her allergy to fleas. Later this weekend, after the rain ends, we will bury her in our small pet cemetery in the front yard under the pines.