So today is a very sad day in our home.

Today we said goodbye to our cat, Spunky.

About 14 months ago Spunky’s kidneys started to fail and He stopped eating so we took him to Cat’s on Call, our vet clinic. We came very close to losing him at that time and after a couple days in the hospital was able to come home with a new regiment of meds and fluids he would have to have every day. He was back to being his old self, just a lot skinnier and maybe feeling his age a bit more … don’t we all 🙂

We knew at that time that every day we had with him was an “extra” day and a blessing. We knew that he was an old kitty and that the meds and fluids would not work forever.

Over the past few months we noticed that he was starting to lose weight again. He was still eating and was still active, he just couldn’t absorb the water … Four days ago he lost his appetite and we took him to our Vet on Tuesday … The exam and blood tests showed that his body was finally shutting down, and that there just wasn’t anything to be done … it was Spunky’s time.

Sandy, Alta and I spent the day with Spunky. We were not going to let him suffer so we had to let him go.

Spunky was a rescue kitty. He was what they call a “Tuxedo” or “Jellicle” cat. He was adopted from the local animal shelter. We didn’t know what his life was before he was adopted, but we did know that he was a jittery little thing and was terrified of plastic bags. He was a young cat, maybe a year or two old.

I had adopted Spunky several years before Sandy and I met. Spunky fit right in with the family and it wasn’t anytime at all before he really became “Alta’s cat”. Alta and Spunky were best friends and would spend most of their time together.

For thirteen years Spunky has been a part of my life. He was always an independent kitty and you could only pet him on his terms … unless you were Alta. He got over his fear of plastic bags.

He would piss off Princess, our tortoise shell kitty, to no end until she would bat the hell out of him and then later they would be curled up together on one of the beds. He loved to chase laser-pointer lights. He had favorite toys and would carry them around like baby kittens; his favorite was a little purple octopus with bells on it.

He would come into our room at all hours of the night and jump up on top of Sandy and I, pinning us down like a World Wrestling Federation wrestler.

There are things that I know in life…

I know that all things physical come to an end. All things age and die, animal and human, plant and rock …

I know that the spirit is eternal, the spirit is energy and energy cannot be destroyed, only released and transformed. The spirit never dies, animal and human, plant and rock …

I know that everything we see, everything we hear, everything we touch, everything we feel has purpose and reason … that we are woven into this tapestry of not just life, but existence … The lives we meet and the experiences we share become a permanent part of that tapestry …and we are connected to each other forever by that sharing.

I know that it is right to grieve the physical loss of a good friend and companion. We shared so much time together and experienced so much. There is the sadness of knowing that we must continue on this part of our journey apart, and those who we have traveled with for so long must continue with the next part of their journey.

I know, that with the sadness, that I can also have peace and healing of that grief because we are spiritual beings, eternal and growing, animal and human, and that the experiences that we have shared are not broken by physical death. Our spirits are woven together.

There are also things I don’t know … I don’t know what lies around the corner of the paths we follow, when we leave the physical behind … I have my beliefs of what may happen, but I don’t know … nobody does … whether to Heaven or the Summerlands to be reborn, Valhalla or Nirvana … we … don’t … actually … know.

That’s ok … I don’t think we are supposed to know … we can’t see around corners … what I DO know is that our spirits are connected forever and THAT can never be broken.

No matter what lies on the other side of the veil of life and death, in what forms our spirit takes, to what journeys lay before us, physical or celestial … we are together, and our spirits will meet again.

We gave Spunky a wonderful life full of love and joy and he gave us the same … It has been an honor and privilege to share this mortal part of his journey with him. We will miss him with all our hearts until we see him again.