Goodnight Cuddles

I have my own cat story to add to Mark's. My parent's decided last night that it was time to put Cuddles our cat of eighteen years to sleep. She was in a lot of pain and diabetic, and the care required to keep her going was beyond their ability to provide. My mom told us three kids in an email, because she didn't think she could get through a call, particularly with my youngest sister who is only a little older than Cuddles was. She wrote, "...she followed us around and meowed all the time. She was telling us that she didn't feel good and asking us to make it better." My dad always talked a hard line about the cat, but in the end he was very sad to take her in. I felt detached as I read about it this morning. I'm glad I wasn't in his position, because that would have sucked, but in a way it would have brought closure. Now she's just gone. Pets are great to have around--I would always come home to Cuddles, and she did like to sleep on my bed (even if I was extremely allergic to her). These days I have to open the door slowly to give my roomate's 120lb Great Pyrenees Tess a chance to get out of the way. She's eleven years old and arthritis is noticeably slowing her down. Even a year ago she would jump and chase like a puppy (an enormous puppy that would crush your leg if she fell on it), but now she runs out of bounce pretty quickly. She's one of the most laid back and friendly dogs I've ever known, and it's hard to see her falter.