Her name at the shelter was Simone. I told Andrew her name and he tried to say it. He said, "Po." and since I didn't like the name Simone anyway, I encouraged him to keep calling her that and so she became Po. The first night that we had her, she came to me in my bed to snuggle, but I ran her off because that was one of my other cat's spot. I felt bad about it, but I couldn't very well let the new kitten take what belonged to my older girl. Po found someone else to snuggle with. She went to Andrew, who gladly welcomed her. Po never came to me again. In fact, she formed such a bond with Andrew that she didn't care for anyone else in the house. We had two more children, but Po was Andrew's. She slept with him every night and during the day, she usually slept in his bed some more.
She really developed an attitude. I said she was hateful. She would get grouchy and bite me. She went outside frequently and hunted. If any of the family called to her or petted her, she mostly tolerated it, but it was Andrew that she adored. She would purr loudly and butt her head up against his. She would nip him and he would laugh. We homeschooled our children, so he was able to spend lots of time doing his schoolwork with her by his side.
I guess that is why it was so devastating when she suddenly lost a lot of weight and began to eat cat litter. We took her to the vet and they said it was her liver. They tried everything, but she just didn't make it. My husband and I made the painful decision to have her put down before Andrew saw her get any worse. She was 12 1/2 years old. Andrew was 14. Andrew didn't take it well. He cried and cried and cried. He refused to choose a spot in the yard to bury her. He refused to walk out to the spot and see where she was buried for months. I took it pretty hard. I had tried to do what I could and had a hefty vet bill. It was difficult to see my son suffer so much. We all took it hard, even though none of us but Andrew really liked her. It was so sad.
We survived it, though. We have suffered pet losses before and we will suffer them again. You have to ask yourself if it is worth it. Is it worth the pain of the loss? I don't know how to answer that. Some people say no and refuse to have another. I can't do that. I want to do that, but I can't imagine living without my feline companions. I hope that Andrew still thinks it is worth it. But only time will tell.
(This was written by my daughter, Karen.)
