Goodbye to a friend

Yesterday we took one of our kitties to the Humane Society. It was one of the hardest things I have had to do, but for us it was the right thing. We have been struggling with this decision for a while, and yesterday was the day.

Mookie was born at my grandparent's cabin - her mom had been hanging around the cabin for some time, and one day, showed up with 6 kittens. One of them was a sweet long-haired orange kitty that I ended up taking home so Leocat would have a buddy.

Because she was born wild, I don't think she ever got used to the litter box. She would pee in it sometimes, but not always. Sometimes it would be right beside the litter box, sometimes somewhere else. As she got older, it got worse. We couldn't train her at all, we tried everything. Different types of litter, covered box, uncovered box, her own box. Nothing worked completely. We were frustrated and tired of washing cat pee off the floor.

When Bryan approached me about what to do with her, he first asked if we should put her down. I didn't know how to answer this, even though I had been thinking about it a lot. I knew we couldn't keep her, but I didn't want to put down a sweet, affectionate, pretty cat just because of this. Then I found a new program at our local Humane Society. It takes in cats that have this issue, and rather than putting them down, it offers them free of charge to farmers and acreage owners that need cats to keep down the mice. The owners have to agree to provide food and shelter for the cats, and the Humane Society doesn't have to euthanize. It's a win situation for everyone.

We took her there yesterday, and asked that they consider her for the program - the intake person thought she would be a good fit. Bryan was great - he did all the paperwork and intake process as I couldn't go in, it was too hard. But by taking her there, I know that I have done the right thing for us, and that my sweet kitty will be able to live out the rest of her life doing what cats do, and won't get in trouble for not using a litter box.

I miss her, and Leocat seems a bit lost right now. He's eleven, an old man. I would love to have two cats, but we need to let everyone adjust to the change. I just hope that she finds another buddy and doesn't have to be alone.

Our house is so quiet.