A big loss, Goodbye Fatty

A few weeks ago our family suffered a big loss. I don't want to offend anyone that has lost a family member, I know that is much harder, but the loss of our pet has been tough. We had our cat, Fatty, for 8 years and we had to put him down on November 6th. It has taken me a while to want to talk about this but now it is time. Around the middle of October we noticed some changes in Fatty's eating habits. He was not eating as much or as often. He seemed to be losing weight so I took him to the vet. They did blood work and could find nothing. They thought he might have an infection so they gave us an antibiotic, which we could not get him to take. About a week later, things got really bad. He was pretty skinny at this point, which you can tell by the name, is not normal for him. He has always been at a healthy weight. He also started to lose control of some of his bodily functions. It was painful to watch. I called the vet again and he basically told me he did not see Fatty coming out of this. We made a really tough decision to put him down that day. It was November 6th, and the same day of our 6 year anniversary. It was so hard for me to leave that day, knowing that he would not be coming back home with me, now or ever. The kids said good-bye, which they did not understand. Chris said good-bye, painful, and I left. I could not leave the vet's office. I just kept sitting there like I had more questions, but I knew I didn't. I felt a relief, I knew he had to be miserable. I just kept thinking of all the ways he drove me crazy, and how I would give anything to have those time back. The hair balls, the cat hair, hiding under Calleigh's bed when it was time for her to sleep, attacking me when I got into bed because he wants to play, attacking me when I leave because he wants me to stay, sleeping so crazy and on top of me that I cannot sleep, being right in the way when I needed to make a sudden move.....I didn't even want the cat in the beginning, and I am the one that gets so attached. It has been hard. I just now put away the litter box yesterday, I bagged his food last week, and I put his food bowls away. I guess this was me finally "accepting" what happened. It was weird this morning leaving out the garage with no litter box sitting there, something is missing and it will be for a while. We had to have a hard and painful discussion with Cameron about Fatty. He kept asking me when I was going to pick him back up. I did not want to lie to him so I told him the truth. We cried, together. We also talked about it all and I told him we could talk about Fatty anytime he wanted to. Some nights before we go to bed, he asks to talk about Fatty, so we do. It is just one of life's many tough lessons that one has to learn. I will forever remember Fatty and he will never be replaced in my heart. Goodbye Fatty! We all loved you!