Cat became sick while I was away at school, came back for his last day
Just about 3 weeks ago I lost my best friend, My 8 year old black and white cat I’ve had since he was only 3 weeks old.
I live on campus at my college which is only about a 45 minute drive, where I normally come home on the weekends. On a Monday in early April my mom told me that she thought something was wrong with him, as he wouldn’t eat. His condition was worsening throughout the week and I was never truly informed on how severe it was.
Next thing I know I come home to a cat I barely recognize that weekend. He’s a cat with the biggest personality, and would spend as much time with me as possible when I was home. But now he was keeping to himself, barely eating, and with not even enough energy to stand up for more than a minute.
2 weeks after taking him to his first appointment, we learned nothing could be done as he had metastatic cancer. I came home after my classes on a Thursday to spend some time with him, thinking I would have atleast a few days to see him.
However, when I got home I could tell that it was his last day. The memories of him that day still hurt so bad to think about, as I know he was in so much pain and wasn’t even recognizable anymore. As he was laying on his side breathing heavily, I opened the door to let him outside, as he loved to go out even in his final few days.
He suddenly gained the energy to quickly get up and run outside where he laid in the grass. I sat with him here before he stumbled over onto the patio in my backyard. I was there with him as he took his last breath.
I like to think that he waited for me that day, as he was truly my best friend and was there with me when I did anything. Although I can’t get the image out of my head of watching the life fade from my little buddy who was just making me laugh and being silly a couple weeks ago, I have peace in knowing I was there with him
It’s been about 3 weeks since then, and although I was able to distract myself at school, being home has been really difficult. It doesn’t feel the same anymore without him here, as he was literally always involving himself, and everywhere I look I remember him being there. He would even sleep with me every single night, and not having him here makes me feel so alone.
I’m now home for the summer and hope I’m able to finally accept the reality of what happened, but it still just doesn’t feel real. It feels like a piece of died the day he left.