A Feline Farewell: Tribute to Woofie the Cat

February 19, 2002

It is with great sadness in my heart that I must inform you that I had to put down my cat Woofie yesterday. It goes without saying that I have had happier birthdays...

Exactly one month shy of 15 years, he was diagnosed with Squamous Cell Carcinoma under his tongue about three weeks back. He had been drooling a bit, so I took him to the vet thinking that he had an abscess or some other treatable ailment. To my shock and horror, I was told that he had this cancer, and that the prognosis was not good. Soon he could not eat dry food, and he also turned up his nose to canned cat food. I started giving him real tuna and canned salmon. Then someone suggested I feed him baby food, and for the first two weeks he went crazy over this. But over the weekend he ate less and less, he was losing weight, and on Monday afternoon he started bleeding in his mouth, so the decision was made to send him off to Kittyland.

Some of you never met him, and those of you who did found that he could be skittish around strangers. But with me he was forever loving and affectionate, and I have 15 years of memories to cherish. He would greet me at the door of the house when I came home, as he knew the sound of both cars (the company car and my van). Before opening the door, I would see his orange-colored six-toed feet under the blinds, and I would hear him meowing "Hello!" He would sleep in my bed with me, he usually came running when I called his name, and I would hear the happy-feet sounds of his extra claws clicking on the floor.

Taking Woof to the vet yesterday was the hardest thing I have ever had to do. He was one special friend, and I miss him dearly. At the same time, he had a good, long life, and he is now out of pain. Still, the empty feeling inside will be tough to overcome.

All of us have gone through this situation at one time or another, some of you quite recently. So, I am not telling you something you don't already know. Since most of us have never had children, our pets sometimes can be our surrogate kids. And there is nothing like the unquestionable love and devotion from our four-legged little pals.

Life goes on, but memories live on forever. There will be other furry feline friends in my life, and in time the wounded heart will heal. I want to thank all of you who knew about this coming end for sending notes of support. And special thanks go out to Claudia, who was of the utmost help through this most trying of times. I don't know how I would have gotten through this without her love and assistance.