Missing Blizzard

Today we put our long time cat down to rest. Blizzard was 16 years old, 85ish in cat years. While he’s had a good long life, beginning with us when he was only a few weeks old, it still seems like we should have more time with him.

Stephanie and I found an ad for a white kitten with blue eyes that was just a couple weeks old on the bulletin board at our apartment complex where we first lived together. When we visited his owner at the time, he seem anxious and ready to leave the environment. Their young toddler thought that the kitten was more of a baseball than a kitten. Steph reached to pick him up and he scaled up her shirt like a fugitive desperate for freedom. We took him home and started a new life with him.

Blizzard was a fiesty cat who was very independent. He sometimes would let you pet his belly, but would then “attack” your hand with his claws and teeth in the next second. As he aged, he settled more. He was a very affectionate cat who developed a routine of laying around the house and securing his place on our bed each night. His favorite spot was up upon Steph’s chest with his face close to hers. He managed to capture more time in our bed than any of our kids ever did.

To many, myself included, it’s difficult to appreciate someone else’s loss of a family pet. It seems fairly minimal compared to other losses people experience. But when you have to make a decision about a lucid, content family pet who is staring back in your eyes, happy to be back home after 24 hours at the emergency room veterenarian’s clinic being poked and prodded, it’s more difficult than you may give credit. You see, the decision is not necessary black and white. It’s a decision between what IS versus what MAY be. After all, it is a living breathing life that you’re deciding for. Not easy.

Add to this mix, explaining to small kids what has happened, why it has happened, what happens next, etc. Each child comprehends the death at different levels and associates different emotions, questions and actions that took place with it.

The only part that makes this loss a little easier is that we knew his outlook was not good. We were able to spend some time with him and just love on him before we put him to sleep.

He will be missed. He’s the last of the three pets we got early in our relationship before our “other” children came along. So our connection to those early days has no left with Blizzard. We have plenty of pictures and fond memories of Blizzard. Rest in peace Blizzard.