This Sucks.

You never think ahead to the moment you'll have to say goodbye. When you're holding that squirming kitten or puppy in your arms, you can only envision the beginning; the good times. You never pause to consider what you'll go through when the pet you've owned for 15 years begins a rapid decline.I've never been on this side of pet loss. You know, as The Adult. The person who is supposed to make decisions and be strong for the kids. Dakota is still with us but Patrick and I are having the discussions this week about who to call and when to do it... and how to tell the kids.They know. We've been talking to them about his impending demise for about 2 or 3 months. It's been obvious that his body weight has began to rapidly drop off and his activity level this past week has made a sharp change. It was this morning, when I was bringing him a bowl of water and I spilled some on his head and he didn't even move to clean himself off, that it really hit home for me: My cat is dying.

The cat I've never liked too much (he eats plastic, pees on everything and would stand at the bedroom door meowing for as long as it takes for you to get out of your cozy bed and let him in) but have obviously loved. He has been more like a dog who fetches and plays than a cat that sat out of your reach. He's been the life friend of our other cat who will likely be lost without him and the playmate for Corinne when her baby dolls just aren't lifelike enough.He's a part of our family and this really, absolutely sucks.