Today I said goodbye to Smudge, the greatest cat friend I ever had. It was a great pleasure to have him as a member of the family. My beloved childhood friend had to be put to sleep (euthanasia) due to severe illness (cancer) and him losing his quality of life and giving up on life. As sad as it is to lose a pet, it would have been unfair to put him through any more suffering.
Smudge – Portrait.
I remember like it was yesterday, when I got a knock on the front door from two local kids who had found a kitten, they wasn’t allowed it themselves and knowing I loved cats had come to me to ask if I wanted him. Reluctant to accept such and offer, I said no, even though I did want a cat and had wanted one for some time. There hadn’t been a cat in our home since I was much younger, when there used to be (at one time) five of them. The last three had passed not long after moving in the current house. Since then there had been an array of other creatures, but nothing quite like a cat or dog. For the sole reason of how upsetting it is when they are unwell or die, as well as the expense of having one, along with all the vet bills. The kids had to leave the cat and so it remained on our street, following anyone who gave it some fuss, it was quite sad to see. Later on it followed me down the entry to the back of my house, he was so friendly even though he looked scruffy and unwell. I brought some cat food and gave him some water and milk, he was purring and starving by the way he was gobbling the food down him.
He kept padding my legs, sleeping on my lap and running around the garden, playing with anything he could find on the grass and would chase some string I had when I pulled it along the garden. He seemed to be content and happy next to me, sitting on my lap. It felt awesome to have see and have a cat, rather than fussing other people’s. I had no idea what to tell my mum, bar that he was a stray cat that had been dumped, followed me and that we should keep him or at least let the RSPCA take him so he could be safe and re-homed. The kids had said the people who had the cat, had abandoned him due to him being ill, so had left him to fend for himself in the big wide world, no doubt dying in the process. They denied ever having a cat when the police had gone round to check on the claims. Even though people knew it had came from there, they had shooed him off when he came back to the house. Evil, but I guess some people can be cruel that way… I cannot understand what goes through peoples minds when having a pet and to be so cruel.
Smudge – Portrait.
We rang the RSPCA, but seeing as it was a Bank Holiday they said we should keep hold of him until after then. Knowing full well we would keep him or at the very least hoping we would. They offered to pay towards the vet bills if we were to keep him. We called him Smudge,a classic cat name due to the the black and white smudge he had on his face. He seemed quite an ill kitten over the cause of the weekend and didn’t do very much apart from sleeping on everyone’s laps. He was very lethargic, had diarrhoea and worms too. He was no doubt grateful of being in a warm house again with people looking after him. After the weekend of having him, we decided to keep him and then took him to the vets to be vaccinated and cured of his ailments. He was so much fun, it was great to have a small bundle of fluff around the house again. Coming home each day to him being happy to see you and wanting to play. It felt amazing, he would follow me all over the house and was like a dog in that respect. He had imprinted on me and slept on my bed at night. Continue reading ‘Smudge, My Beloved Cat Friend…’
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