I had to put my best friend down yesterday afternoon. He was a 21 year cat named Bucca [BOO-KA.]
We have a vet come to our home and euthanize him on his bed. I wasn't strong enough to be home for this so I took my son to the park for an hour, before the vet arrived. My wife seems to be better equipped than me for these things although she is almost equally as devastated as me.
I've had Bucca pretty much my whole adult life. He's been with me through countless life experiences and has seen me grow into the person I am today.
His genes were second to none. The only time he has been to a vet was when he got neutered around a year old. He has never been sick other than the usual hairball and occasional puke.
He was an alpha male through and through. Although he was extremely kind to all humans, he always made sure he let other animals in his home know who's boss, big or small. Even to his final days!
He went deaf about 2-3 years ago but it didn't slow him down. Actually, I have a theory that he slept better while being deaf which possibly added some time to his health haha!
Unfortunately age catches up to us all and he started declining about 2 years ago. He got pretty skinny and you could tell he was a little stiff while walking. His routines and demeanor never changed though. He was the most consistent cat ever.
The vet told my wife that we picked the perfect time to make this decision for him. Although I know logically that we made the correct choice for him, it still doesn't help the excruciating pain that I feel right now. I don't even know if I can function properly at my job this week. I took today off.
I've had my eye on this thread for many years now but I could never bring myself to read it for more than a minute or two. Last night I read through a large percentage of it and it actually helped me cope with these runaway emotions.
I'd like to thank all that shared their experience in this thread in the past and I also hope that my sharing can help someone feel even a little better sometime in the future.
I'm going to leave some pictures of my best friend spanning 4 decades. (He was born in 1999.)
