Goodbye my furry friend

Tuesday, July 3rd, Mom and Dad took Tails to the vet. He is in a better place now. He's no longer in pain.

I got Tails from Shawn Scott in 10th grade. I remember it because we had Chemistry and he was talking about how his cat just had kittens and he threw her over his garage (apparently she wasn't hurt too badly, maybe he didn't even do it). I was shocked! I must have asked if he was giving the kittens away because one evening he came over with this little orange kitten. Mom said yes, Dad said no. But we took him anyways. Then we found out he had fleas. One day his fur just exploded. He wasn't abnormally furry one day, then the next day his tail poofed out, and he was full of long fur (think Himalayan). We had this duster that looked like his tail. I told Amanda that it was his tail. She believed me!

I named him Tails, after the Sonic the Hedgehog character. Our other cat, Mykah looked a little like Sonic, and I had hoped that Tails would follow him around like the characters in the game. It didn't happen, but Tails did turn out looking a lot like his name sake.

For the rest of my years in high school, Tails would follow me around. When I would get ready for bed, he would sit outside the bathroom door and wait for me. Then he would run into my bedroom and sit on my bed.

I think it was back in March when Bill and I were visiting Mom and Dad for their anniversary when we noticed the big lump on Tails' back, near his tail. We all agreed that instead of treating it, he should be put down IF it started to bother him. At that time, it didn't seem to bother him. Well, on Friday, Mom said he licked it so much that it opened up and had started bleeding. The best thing for him was to put him down.

I didn't get a chance to say good bye. He always knew when I was coming to visit. The week before I'd come back, he would sit outside my old bedroom door and meow, like he was waiting for me. He went through a lot with me during my high school and college years. For awhile Bill and I had talked about bringing him to live with us, but Mom said their other cat would get lonely without Tails. (Mykah was put down now that long ago either).

This is my good bye to my furry friend. I'm going to miss him when I go visit Mom and Dad.

I love you Tails!