Goodbye Charlie

When Kenny and I bought our first house in 2004, we decided we wanted to get 2 kittens.  We went to Lollypop Farm and came home with a tiny black cat we named Fiona and a gray cat with big ears we named Charlie.
We both loved these cats but I formed a special bond with Charlie.  During my work on Master's degree, I often found myself sitting in front on the computer.  Charlie would sit next to me, but most of the time he sat in my lap.  I referred to him as my grey shadow.
Both cats were affectionate but

Charlie was definitely "my" cat.  I think he was jealous when someone else had my attention when he didn't. He had quite a reputation of pretending to be nice when people visited only to try and swat at them.  I hated to see this because he was so good with me.

Charlie thought he was one of the babies

When the girls were born in December, right away Charlie took an interest in them.  I think this was because I was now home all the time and because he wanted to be near me, he was near the babies too.
In recent weeks, Jenna would get excited when he would come near.  If she was in the exersaucer or the jumperoo, she would start bouncing when Charlie walked by.  He would let her pet his head and didn't seem to mind much if she grabbed at his fur.  I had vision of the girls growing up with Charlie has their companion. (Not to forget about Fiona, but she didn't take much interest in the girls!)

On Monday, June 27, Charlie was very sick, vomiting multiple times around the house throughout the day.  Kenny took him to the vet on June 28, but the vet said his vitals seemed normal and if he was still acting sick to call back in the morning and they would run his blood work.  That evening, he laid in one spot the whole evening.
I called in the morning and when I got the results, we would told he was in kidney failure.  Kenny took him back to the vet where he was hooked up to IV fluid to try to help his kidneys begin to function.  It was several days before the kidneys began working but he was able to come home with us that weekend. Kenny administered subcutaneous fluids (under the skin) and those seemed to help some but then he would crash again.
He seemed to be doing better but on July 4th, he wasn't acting quite right again.  Kenny brought him back on Tuesday and his BUN and creatinine numbers were lower so we were told to keep an eye on him.  By Friday, he was acting the way he had a week before and this time the values were high again (outside of normal limits).  The fluids were helping short term, but it really was like a roller coaster.

During this past weekend, he was fine after the fluids were administered but we knew he wasn't feeling well.  He hadn't eaten much food in the past week either.


Kenny and I decided that it would be best if he was euthanized because it was obvious he was suffering.  We knew that he may live longer but it would mean giving him daily injections of subcutaneous fluids, trying to coax him to eat, and hoping that he would make it to the litter box.
  Today I had my grey shadow again.  I think he could tell that I was upset.  As I laid on the bed crying, Charlie jumped up and snuggled next to me. He stayed with me as I played with the girls. 15 minutes before we left for the vet, he lay at my feet, shivering and shaking.  This was one of the hardest decisions I think I've ever had to make.
We all went to the vet and I held Charlie as vet administered the injection.  Kenny and I cried and held each other as we pet Charlie for the last time.  A loved pet is definitely another family member and we have a missing piece to our family right now.  As the girls grow, they won't remember Charlie but I have videos and photos to help us all remember him.