Our Cat Murray

Murray, our feline son, fell ill a few weeks ago. We originally thought it was an infection caused by bad teeth. Our vet took good care of him and Murray had three teeth pulled! Guess he takes after his dad when it comes to cavities. After a week of antibiotics, we thought he was on the way to recovery, but this past weekend he didn't look right, stopped eating and wasn't his normal self.

We went back to the vet and x-rays revealed a large mass behind his heart and a small one in front. Blood tests showed liver and pituitary damage. Murray had cancer.

After thinking about what we should do and speaking with the doctor, we decided that Murray had suffered enough and we should put him down. We made an appointment with the vet last evening, one of the most difficult things I've ever had to do. Murray, however, had his own plans.

He hated being kooked up in his pet carrier and despised the ride to the vet. After two trips in the last two weeks, he beat us to the punch and passed away peacefully at home a few hours before his last trip, a couple of months before his 7th birthday.

Murray was a very "talkative" cat and sometimes sounded like a baby when he meowed. He also liked wet cat food. We only fed him dry food, but he would dump a mouthful of food into the water dish, watch intently as he waited for it to sink, then scoop it out and eat it with his paws.

He would then proceed to track one wet paw around the house. What a nutty cat. He wasn't normally a nuzzly cat, but was a loud purrer and buried his head into your chin when you picked him up. He didn't need to be all over you but enjoyed being in the same room with you. As long as you were within eyesight, he was cool. As he got a little older, he became more affectionate and liked watching Keith Olbermann at night with his dad, lying on dad's legs which rested on the coffee table. The problem was, he was so damned heavy, dad's feet would fall asleep.

I know that he loved us, maybe even more than he loved pasta (but that's a close race). He will be sorely missed by his mom and dad and his brother Chester (from the same litter), but it's a relief to know that he's no longer in pain.

Take care of your pets. You never know how long you're going to have them.