Arrivederci Dante . . .

So the last few weeks have been sucky and today I'm feeling sad. :-(

We said goodbye to this guy last Tuesday morning.

Dante hadn't been himself for the past 6 weeks. The vet suspected kidney issues but didn't think it was too serious.

The biggest challenge was getting him to eat. He was just wasting away.

On Monday night he seemed to be in some distress.

We took him to the animal hospital where he spent the night having tests and stuff. Turns out it was serious.

I spoke to the vet in the morning and kept asking about things we might do - finally she said 'Jerry, these are all more for you than for Dante and the quality of his life.'

So we made that tough decision that pet owners are often tasked to make.

We showed up at the hospital, visited Dante for a bit, then I held him in my arms and said goodbye as he received the needles.

SIGH

Dante was 'my' cat.

He greeted me at the front door when I arrived home from work.

He was quirky. He was unpredictable. He could turn from affectionate to viscous in an instant.

He was usually near where I was.

Every night he'd climb up on my pillow and sleep above my head. More often than not he decided to 'groom' me. LOL

When I stepped out of the shower in the morning there he would be waiting for me.

Now he is not.

Beckett has been quite out of sorts since Dante died. They were rarely really, really close to one another . . . like in this photo.

but I guess it was just close enough that Beckett really misses the attention now.

Dante was a great cat. Now he is gone and there is a huge hole in our lives.

Remember to let your loved ones, feline, canine, or otherwise, know how much you appreciate them because you never know when you'll be separated.

Good bye buddy, you are missed.

Comments

[Kayte]

With all the loss last fall, I knew I could not read this post just willy nilly...I had to be in a good state of mind and I had to be prepared for all the little bits about Dante...and I thought the time had arrived. But I was wrong...I'm sitting here with tears and sadness. Dante gave me much happiness through the years, I always loved seeing photos of him and hearing about him and I didn't stop to think how the years were adding up for him (and me, but we'll ignore that last part). I am very sad that he is gone and very sad for Beckett to have lost his friend...and very very very sad for you. Thank you for the lovely tribute to a little buddy who touched many lives without even knowing about it. RIP Dante...you are missed.