A Farewell...to an Old Friend

I really can’t lie to you guys about this:

So far, 2025 has proven itself to be incredibly rough around the edges, and we’re only halfway past January. 

The biggest reason for why is because, last week, my family and I had to say goodbye to our eldest cat: Kitty.

Nearly two decades ago, while Mom and Dad went out to dinner one night, my older sisters & I stumbled upon a stray black kitten who came right up to us. He was friendly, sweet, cute, & fluffy, and we couldn’t resist just taking him right inside just to hang out with him. Once our parents came home, we ultimately decided to keep him.

As for why we named him ‘Kitty’, it was primarily because it was the only name he’d respond to. We first tried ‘Shadow’ since he was black, but he wouldn’t go for that. Then we tried ‘Velcro’ since leaves would frequently stick to his fluffy butt, but he never responded to that name either. So, we ultimately settled with ‘Kitty’.

Ever since we took Kitty in, he positively impacted our lives in more ways than one. He befriended Checkers, our late first dog who took him in and raised him like a brother, and he never stopped allowing the entire family to give him love & return the favor. He also grew into an incredibly laidback individual, with a behavior that wasn’t anything like other cats. Sometimes, he’d even do something that’d make us laugh like crazy.

And let me tell you guys this:

My family and I didn’t just adopt Kitty. He basically came to us. He chose us as the family to settle down with for the rest of his life. An animal that actually chooses the people to live with on its own accord rather than the other way around is an incredibly special thing to happen, and I’m pretty sure an animal like that comes only every once in a lifetime.

But, anyway…

We’ve kept Kitty for 17½ years, and what we never expected was that the previous week would go on to be his last. 

On Sunday, the 12th of January, we saw him in both the morning & part of the afternoon, but we didn’t see him at all that night. We didn’t see him on the morning of the 13th either, and it was really surprising due to him normally being right on cue for breakfast. It wasn’t until early in the afternoon that we finally discovered why. 

When I was out in the backyard at one point, I heard Kitty meowing, and it sounded like he was in distress. Finding that it was coming from the other side of our fence, I looked over to find that Kitty was at the corner for some reason and hardly moved, so I went to his side to see what was going on. To my shock, I found that one of Kitty’s front paws was wedged between two boards of the fence, and it was stuck really tight. After realizing that I couldn’t get him out on my own, I went to get my family, and we managed to free him by using a crowbar to pull the boards apart. Once we got Kitty free, we found that the area above his paw was horrifyingly squished, and he was stuck for so long that it completely cut off circulation to his leg. 

Afterwards, Kitty got worse instead of better. He would neither eat or drink, and we later discovered that he was suffering from kidney failure. Friday in particular proved to be the most challenging day with him, because he wanted to keep being held and didn’t want anyone to leave his side. My two sisters, my nieces, and nephew later came to visit him that day, wanting to provide Kitty comfort and support, until finally…he died while being surrounded by his family. It was an emotional time for all of us, although we were comforted by being in each other’s company. That, and we were happy that he was no longer suffering, and that he went to Heaven since all animals automatically go there once they die.

On Saturday, around 3 in the afternoon, we later buried Kitty in the backyard of my 2nd eldest sister and her husband. We wrapped him in a blanket, put him in a box, then later placed him in a hole before filling it with dirt. After we said our goodbyes and final words to Kitty, of course.

Kitty was truly a special cat. My family and I are going to miss him terribly, and life will never be the same without him. But like I said, the fact that Kitty’s no longer suffering, and that he’s in Heaven now, is something that relieves us beyond anything. We know that we’ll see him and all the previous pets we’ve had but passed away again someday.

Here's a picture of Kitty, in case you're interested: