Farewell to a dear, dear friend.

Daisy

This weekend, we had to say goodbye to my friend of 15 years – Daisy.

Daisy had started to lose quite a bit of weight. She was having difficulty eating. We switched her from kibble to wet food. Eventually we went from wet food to tuna and salmon. Last week, I was trying to feed her a bit of salmon or tuna by hand.

Daisy had a form of oral cancer. She really started to go downhill in the last month or so. Still, when she was happy (which was most of the time), she was really happy.

I loved watching her sun bathe on the back porch, or in the grass. She’d hide under a gigantic hosta when it got to be too hot.

I brought Daisy home when my youngest was just a toddler. A little girl was standing outside the grocery store on a day when it was about -30. “Please lady, take this cat, my sister is allergic and pregnant!”  I told her no, I already had a cat, which was the truth.  After I bought my groceries, the little girl was still there. “Please lady“, she emplored. “I‘m just going to have to leave her outside if nobody takes her, I can’t go home with her!”

That did me in, and I wrapped the little gray tabby in my coat and took her home. I knew right away I’d call her Daisy.

Daisy endured being dressed in every bit of doll clothing we had. I also have pictures of her that my eldest photoshopped to make her look like a burlesque dancer. My youngest secretly married her off to  a stuffed monkey once. I only found out when I saw the video in my digital camera. I wept with laughter when I saw Daisy’s veil (a kleenex with holes for her ears), the off-key stylings of Here Comes the Bride, and a tolerant cat with that look in her eyes that just said “okay, have your fun, but once you’re done, I’m outta here!”

I told Daisy all sorts of things nobody else got to hear. She never betrayed me, nor judged me.

The vet we deal with was exceptionally good. I’m truly honoured to have had such a good kitty in my life. I miss seeing her little face at the end of my bed. The vet said she never heard a cat purr like Daisy.

On the finance side, Daisy’s failing health will be a solid hit to October’s visa bill. I knew that it would be. This is where  values help guide finances. I could not watch Daisy get sicker. With oral cancer in cats, they eventually starve to death. Not something I want to witness in my own kitchen. She’s given me such great joy and love, I knew it was time to start honouring her dignity. In the last few days, her body was doing things I know she disapproved of.

So, I won’t muse about where the money will come from. I have options, including my line of credit. The debt will be retired, but not at the expense of not doing the right thing when it comes to the people (furry or otherwise) that I love.