This is turning out to be a week of trials to our souls here at 4896 Hobbs Road.
Harley, the boy cat of our brother and sister team, seemed to be starting to adjust to the fact that Hannah was gone.
However, there is something that should be known about Harley. For one thing, he was given to seizures, very frightening episodes where he would thrash around terribly for a minute or so before it would pass, sometimes falling off the bed in its throes.
Secondly, and the trait that proved his downfall, he was the "jumpiest" cat alive. The slightest unrecognized sound would send him tearing hell bent out of a room.
And that is what happened earlier this morning. he was lying on the bathroom rug watching Kim prepare for school. Kim came over to him, squatted down, petted him and spoke encouragngly to him. When she raised back up, she brushed the toilet seat cover ever so slightly -- but it made a small noise that Harley couldn't identify.
He immeditely leapt to his feet and attempted to tear out of the bathroom, but his back claws hung in the bathroom rug, twisting his left rear leg badly.
It became very apparent that there was something seriously wrong with his left leg. It hung at a funny angle and he was in serious pain.
I loaded him in the car and had him at the vet's as soon as they opened. My thinking was that it was probably a broken leg that they could set and brace.
But it wasn't a break. It was much worse than that. He had torn all the ligaments that hold the patella in place. The vet explained that there was a chance they could peform surgery, deepen the groove that the patella sat in.
The sugery however would cost over one thousand dollars and there was no guarantee that a cat of his age would even survive the anesthesia.
It became clear that there was only one clear alternative -- he would have to be put to sleep.
So twenty days after his sister left, Harley joined her. I buried him right next to her this morning.
Hannah and Harley were, Kim and I decided sometime ago, to be our last pets. As much joy as they gave through the years as a part of the family, neither Kim nor I can deal with the heatache and pain of their loss.
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