Our cat, Maynard, died yesterday. There was no long illness or anything – he was his usual self in the morning, bugging us to hurry up and start our day so he could have his wet food. He never got the wet food. I got up and went to the bathroom to start the 3S’s (shit, shower, and shave), and my wife ran to town to pick up breakfast. He was fine when that happened, but when she returned about 30 minutes later, he had passed.
I had heard no sounds of struggled breathing, or vomiting, or anything that could have indicated a problem. It was like he just laid down next to the bed and released his soul. We spent the day mourning, and I spent an hour or so with him laying on my chest and arm, one of his favorite spots, until rigor began to set and we transferred him to one of his boxes.
My wife and I are both devastated – he was only 9 and we thought we had many more years with him. While my wife was around when Luna passed, this was the first cat she had been a pawrent to from the beginning and the situation has been pretty brutal for her.
Missing him throughout all of our routines is a big part of it. I was scheduled to record yesterday, and that is something Maynard would usually join me for – I took him in his box downstairs with me to my office/studio and just held him in my lap in a daze. My nightly shutdown routine also includes him – he would come into the bathroom with me while I’m preparing for bed and get a tube of the soft food vitamin treats and a few Temptations crunchy treats. Last night I brought his box in with me and ended up sitting with him, wishing he would screech at me to hurry up with the treats one last time.
The other cats seem to be adjusting okay, though Roscoe seems a bit confused as to why his boyfriend isn’t playing with him anymore.
Anyhow, I’m still having a rough time dealing with this, and we need to run to the city today. This trip was planned, but now we have another passenger and another stop to make. If you have pets, make sure you love them like they could disappear tomorrow, because it could be today.
And while grief is difficult (and I seem to be needing to deal with a lot of it lately), never forget that death is what makes life valuable and precious.
Song of the day: Voices by Dream Theater
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