Goodbye, Little Tyson

For the last few days, Lance and I have come home from work to find that our cat, Tyson, had not quite made it to the litterbox and had left us some puddles in the hallway. This really hadn't been a problem until last Friday. She had some other issues, like standing in the hallway and meowing for no reason and she had recently started losing her balance when she would shake. We knew from our last vet visit a couple of years ago that her kidneys were starting to fail her, so it wasn't a huge surprise when we found the puddles.

Unfortunately, today we had to face the decision that no pet owner looks forward to. While at the vet today, we made the extremely hard decision to put her down. The little one had a pretty fantastic life, living 18+ years (the last 7 years, she lived with us. Before that, she lived at Lance's parent's house). The vet offered us some options, which were mainly a bunch of tests to pinpoint her exact problems. Because of her age and the fact that none of these tests would lead to anything that would "cure" her, we made the decision to let her go. We also didn't realize how much pain she was in. It was only after the vet pointed out some problems with her back and hind legs that we realized that we would be doing her a favor by not letting her suffer anymore.

Tyson was a really great little girl. She was such a chatty cat and would greet us when we'd come home. She loved giving Willy a run for his money and would oftentimes, especially in the last year or so, walk right up to him to sniff him or sit by him. They ended up being real buddies. I only had cats when I was young and both of them were hit by cars and didn't live very long. Tyson was so sweet and friendly. If we ever decide to get a cat again (which, trust me, won't be for a very long time), I hope to get one that was as loving and sweet as our little girl was.

Our sweet little kitty

Tyson in one of her favorite hangout spots

Willy and Tyson just hanging out