Clara Elizabeth, 1990/1991-2007

When I met P she had a tabby cat that she described as "very nearly round." At that time, Clara had been with her for almost eight years. Having once weighed 12 pounds, today she weighed a hair over 5. Clara would have been 17 in January - give or take. P never knew her exact date of birth because Clara found P when she was a kitten. I'm more of a "dog person," but I have to admit that Clara was really a great cat. Today, she went to the big kitty heaven in the sky...

Although she's been up and down with kidney disease for a while now, she pretty much stopped eating even her wet food sometime in the past day or so. And, she pretty much stayed in the same spot, not looking well. We called the vet yesterday and then, this morning, took her in.

We talked with the vet and then did blood work that confirmed serious renal distress. She also had an infection that was likely making things worse. The vet said that given her condition, if she were to treat her, in addition to a round of antibiotics, she would advise a 2-3 day hospitalization so that she could be hydrated by IV. The vet said that with aggressive treatment she might improve, but it would only address the infection and not the underlying kidney disease. And, given the kidney disease she might face the same thing in a matter of weeks. After P made the decision to let her go the vet offered, twice, that she thought it was the right decision. And, I do believe she was sincere.

This morning, before he left for school, we talked to 6YO about it. So far this year he's lost two goldfish, two snails, and his grandpa. He knew there was a chance that she would be gone when he got home and we had talked about it last time she seemed to be failing. Honestly, I'm actually more concerned about our eight and a half year old lab/spaniel given that he has never known life - save the first 8 weeks - without Clara and, unlike with P, we can't explain it to him!

So, it's been quite an autumn...