Christmas Eve post

 It's about 2 o'clock in the morning. I spent a lot of time yesterday making choices about euthanasia for Bette. This was not a pleasant task. I think Kerry (my husband) and I are going to take her to the vet on her final day: partly because it's cheaper, and partly because she does know Dr. Fried....and we do too. 

For those of you who don't know Bette, she's really the most wonderful cat in the world. She is our tabby manx sweetheart. But she is very sick. I got her as a sabbatical gift to myself back in 2010 (and now I'm on my 3rd sabbatical, and it's 2024!). My boyfriend at the time, Jeff, and I walked into a pet store and saw this cute cat. She played jingle keys with us, and the final straw was when she crawled into my arms. I said to Jeff, "I have to have this cat!" We didn't walk into that store looking to get a cat that day. We were just exploring. Soon, I was answering questions about cat care. I think it was about 16 questions or so. The problem was that they would only take a check for payment and I didn't have one. I was devastated. Fortunately, Jeff did. I was saved! 

We took her home to our apartment in Lino Lakes and one of the first things she did was pee in Jeff's friend's Nick's chair. (After that, to her credit, her litter habits were spectacular for many, many years after that.) 

In those early years, Bette loved to walk on ledges of our apartment complex, scaring the shit out of Jeff. She would play with catnip mice. She loved one in particular that we called Grey Mousie; she was always playing with that toy. Bette has also always had a penchant for toys on a stick, like feather toys. These days, though, she doesn't want to play at all.

Here's what's wrong: she probably has cancer, either of the blood or of the mouth. She weighed 10 pounds at one time but right now she weighs 4.0 pounds (last month she weighed 4.3). So her weight is dropping rapidly. She also drools constantly, and she just will not eat anything. She's also really lethargic: sleeps a lot, cuddles up to Kerry and our roommate Rachelle.

I did have one nice moment with Bette recently, even though she's really become Kerry's cat. I was talking to Jeff on the phone (he and I are still friends). Bette cuddled up to me and just sat there on the table and purred VERY loudly. She also made biscuits on my arm. I was so touched. I told Jeff about it. "It's her way of saying thank you," he said.

Our vet isn't available until after Jan. 6, so we will likely set the euthanasia date for Jan. 7. I will update this blog tomorrow with more information about that.