r.i.p.: brad the foster kitty, june 20, 2000 --- february 9, 2009

Music: Black Heart Procession: 2 (1999)

Today is another sad day. I just "put down" Brad the wonder kitty after a many weeks of battling liver failure. An ultrasound revealed today that he had a bile blockage, either caused by a stone or a tumor. Owing to his age and health, cancer was most certainly fatal. If there was a stone, owing to the organ damage he might not make it through surgery, which would be thousands of dollars and painful for him. I learned Brad was in much pain, and that there could be a rupture any day now that would cause almost unbearable pain. The rescue folks and I decided it was best to put Brad's pain to rest. Needless to say, it has been a tearful day.

I know many of my friends out there will have the impulse to send a card, and I love you for that. I was just a foster home for this fella; I cared about him, but he was not my little guy. Instead of a card, then, I would ask you make a two or five dollar donation to the Devonshire Rex Rescue League, for all the good work they do. Because of the DRRL, Brad's final months of life were mostly happy (and at least half of that in my lap!), and he passed on with dignity. We did not keep him around just to make ourselves feel better, which is a normal human tendency. We tend to project how we would like to think of ourselves on to our pets, and so, letting a little friend go is like losing a little bit of one's own life. As I've learned this year with Obi's passing, sometimes goodbyes are incredibly fast. I think all deaths are unjust in the end.

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