Since I am writing this the week of Thanksgiving, I thought I would write about something a little more personal to me. A few weeks ago, I lost someone who was near and dear to my heart. My 16-year-old cat, Salem Marie, and I was heartbroken. Some of you may understand this feeling and others may not. I had to make the difficult decision to put her to sleep to relieve her pain and suffering. This was a hard and depressing decision to make. Luckily, I had my family to help me. I thought that maybe other people might be having this same problem, so I thought I would tell you Salem's story to help you in any way possible.

About two or three years ago, Salem started losing a lot of weight. Like any pet parent, I became increasingly concerned. She was still eating and drinking regularly, but she was losing a noticeable amount of weight. She had always been a heavy cat. We took her to the vet once and she weighed nearly 17 pounds. I know that is probably horrible, but she was spoiled rotten. I tried to google what was going on and couldn't find anything. A few months later, she then started to get sick after she ate. Not all of the time just every once in a while, after she ate, she would vomit. I immediately took her to the vet when I noticed this. I couldn't get into my regular vet because they were busy, so I took her to another local vet. I would always recommend going to your veterinarian when it is possible, but in this case, I had no other choice. After I told him what was going on, he recommended giving her pumpkin flavored food. Since I was already feeding her wet cat food he suggested mixing in some pumpkin spice. According to him this would settle her stomach. I did this for a few months and it did seem to work. She would still vomit every once in a while, but it was few and far in between. I eventually weened her off of the pumpkin and she seemed much better.

About a year or a year and a half after the pumpkin ordeal, she started not acting like herself. She stopped sleeping with me, she would start meowing at weird hours of the night, she was also having trouble getting around. Her hips were getting in really bad shape. She was still eating, and she was drinking an excessive amount of water. I became increasingly concerned, but since she was still eating and drinking I didn't think much about it. I kick myself when I think back to this time for being so selfish for not taking her to the vet. By now she was much older and the thought of having to take her to the vet scared me to death.

I got this cat when I was 11-years-old. We grew up together. She was more than just a cat to me. On that fateful day, when they gave her a sedative, she stumbled around for a second and I called her over to me. When she heard me, she ran into my arms and laid in my lap. She would stay right there until she took her final breath. I miss her every day and I will always miss her. The pain will go away but I know she is in a much better place now. Thank you for letting me tell you our story.