LOSING MY BUDDY

His Grave Was Dug Three Days Before His Appointment for His Death

A dwarf Mountain Laurel shrub sat by the open hole, ready to be planted over his body.

The author’s photo.

He had not been feeling well. My husband dismissed his symptoms. He distrusts vets, insisting they “discover” health problems to rake in the money. I ignored him.

Cats are fastidious groomers; they don’t stop cleaning themselves for no reason. They do not start picking at their food and crying for more periodically throughout the day.

Most alarming, a healthy cat does not leave small rusty deposits where it sleeps. Spots that scream blood to you.

With a horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach, I carried an angry, screaming cat out to the car, endured his fury for the entire twenty-minute ride, hoping the peacefulness of Bach would soothe his soul. It didn’t.

The vet, a lovely woman who had performed dental surgery on my boy last December, was surprised at his unkempt appearance and his apparent loss of weight.

We discussed his symptoms as she prodded his sides. I mentioned his breath smelled odd to me, but Buffy resisted my attempts to pry open his mouth. When the vet forced it open, what we saw was horrifying.