Our family cat Sylvester is sadly being put down this week. He is the last remaining cat that our family had after my parents moved out to Pennsylvania. Before they moved, we had four cats: Molly, Simon, Cindy and Sylvester. Molly and Simon were given away to other homes, and Cindy came to live with me at Oma's house while I finished up my college career. She died within a year simply of old age. Sylvester, however, survived the move and went to live in PA with my mom, Frank and Oma. Since then, he has enjoyed a lavish lifestyle of being the only cat (and a very spoiled one at that), and generally being the "king of the house."
Sylvester, in his prime, weighed close to 20 pounds. I used to call him our little cow, because of his black and white coat. The vet used to scold my mom for letting him get so "overweight." But we knew he was happy and he was definitely spoiled!
Sylvester had the wimpiest meow you'll ever hear. Here's this 20 pound cat and you would expect a deep, booming MEOW to come out, but all that came out was this faint "ow" whenever he spoke. It was just funny.
Recently, Sylvester started to get sick. He couldn't keep any of his food down, and was constantly running to the litter box. My mom took him to several different vets, and none of them could really help him. He was on meds and special food, but nothing was helping. He was losing so much weight, he didn't even look the same anymore. So, last week, my parents made the tough decision to end his suffering.
This week, we say goodbye to our beloved family cat. It's never easy to let go of a pet, especially one that has been through so much with you and your family. We will miss Sylvester for sure, but the fond memories we have of him will live on in our hearts. Rest in peace sweet kitty.
