My Twitch

12 years ago, I was in my college apartment with my roommate's cat, Twitch. He was a mischievous, white beauty with two different colored eyes. Two months later, my roommate had up and abandoned us and I was a reluctant cat mom.

We had a rough start, my life was chaotic with graduation approaching, suddenly having to pay for the entire apartment alone and a death in the family, but once we settled in to our new apartment in Nashville, Twitch and I were solidly family.

He loved to play with lasers and feathers. He loved to cuddle on my lap and it turns out that cat purrs are very soothing to someone with migraines.

In the past year, he had started getting lost, forgetting where his food was, getting his days and nights mixed up. His back hurt so much from arthritis that any time you touched him, the hair on his back would bristle and he would moan. He was so uncomfortable that he just couldn't relax and nap. Just after Thanksgiving, he decided the whole house was his litterbox.

We had tests run, tried different medicines and in the end, the only thing that helped his comfort level was to increase his arthritis medicine to daily. The danger in that was that it would eventually damage his kidneys. With the daily medicine, he was able to lay on our laps again, nap in his favorite spots and enjoy being petted. But it got to the point that he was only awake a little bit through the day.

So, last week, after a lot of prayers and tears, we decided it was time to say good bye.

Last Thursday, during an afternoon cuddle session, I thanked Twitch for letting me be his human and told him how much I loved him and how much he meant to me. I talked about all the good times we had, all the toys he loved, all the people in his life. I said all the things I needed to say.

Last Friday, we plucked him from his favorite morning napping spot, under our quilt on the bed, and put him in his crate for the last time. We drove to the vet and when we got there, Chris said his final goodbye and told him why we were at the vet.

When we went inside, the receptionist sent us directly to an exam room. She came to us to fill out the paper work. We took the top off the crate, so we could pet him, and let him stay in his safe place. The vet and vet tech came in and explained the process. We decided to definitely stay for the first shot, which was an anesthesia shot and then we would decide if we could handle staying for the second shot.

The vet gave Twitch the first shot and we stood on either side of him, petting him. After about 7 minutes, he took a couple of gasping breaths and was gone. We stood there, petting him, while we waited for the vet to come back.

When she came back, we told her what had happened and they took Twitch out of the carrier and confirmed that he was gone. As we continued petting him, she explained that sometimes, when their hearts are weak, they die with the first shot.

I spent the rest of the day crying and I have been crying intermittently ever since. Twitch was one of my best friends and there is a large void in my life without him.

I am just thankful that I was able to be with him...that I was able to pet him and he could hear our voices as he crossed the Rainbow Bridge.

I love you Twitch! Thank you for allowing me to be your human!