A box of odourless wipes, to replace a real bath, a new narrow brush and a bottle of herbal cough and cold syrup altogether cost me less than fifty dollars. Items which I bought for my cat, JoJo.
Last night, as I wiped his body, his face and his tears, combed out the knots in his fur. My fingers travelled across his once fat and robust body which had now shrank to only reveal bones. Rubbing his chin and behind his ears, spots which I knew he loved, somewhere deep inside my heart I knew he was leaving.
Keeping my thoughts to myself, I made sure JoJo looked his best, fed him and carried him into the living room and placed him on a carpet which was similar in colour to his fur. We used to joke that JoJo could camouflage in the carpet.
It was fortunate that everyone was home last night, my sister came back down from Yishun, my brother was on his rest day and my parents were in. Everyone bustled about the house whilst I kept JoJo company on the carpet as he rested and enjoyed the horrible music which my sister was pounding away on the piano, his long tail wagging slowly in content.
Alittle bit of his old self returned last night. And I made sure everyone in my family acknowledged his presence by calling him. Though weak and unable to call out much, he wagged his tail in response.
As I kept him back into his cage for the night, I told him to be happy and make sure he was a good boy so he had to wait for me the next morning. I had no idea what I intended by asking him to make sure he was around in the morning. Probably a gut feeling told me he was ready to go quietly into the night.
This morning, as I called out his name, fear pierced my heart when I heard not a single mewing sound from his cage.
Instantly, I opened the cage to find him staring at me, struggling to call out and stand up.
My heart broke as I helped him turn on his side, remove a piece of newspaper that somehow ended up in his mouth even as he coughed or cackled twice. Carrying him out, he struggled a little and I realised that he wanted to urinate. Lifting him up high enough to allow his piss to come out without messing him up much, I could feel the beat of his heart slowly decreasing. I knew it was time to let go.
His eyes remained open even as a last tear drop crept out from the corner of his eyes.
I placed him on his side, kept patting him, cleaning his fur one last time and told him that he had kept his promise to wait for me. I told him it was okay now.
And finally, he left. His eyes remained open and unseeing. But I hope he is seeing his new home with happiness on the other side.
From 1993 ~ 2009
Called Home to The Lord to be with his Brother and Sister
Posted by The Gay Cat 