Max and Ellie

For the last few months we have been lamenting what we would going to do with our geriatric cats, ages 13 and 15. They have been with us our entire lives together so this was an emotional decision. I had called multiple shelters in the triangle area only to be told that given their age and the medical condition of the older cat that they simply were not adoptable. So after a very long discussion with Bill we opted to put them both down.

This is not a situation where we didn't try to find them a new home with friends, believe me that others are tired of me asking if they want our cats. If one hadn't been declawed we could have considered turning them into outside kitties.

We had planned to be out of this house by the time of expanding our family, but due to the layoff, upfront expense of IVF, and the crappy economy we are still here. The only room to move Ben to and keep a separate nursery has been inhabited by the cats for the last 7 years. We have to pull up all the carpet as well as scrub down all the baseboards before we even think of moving him to a new room.

I told Bill that since these were his cats from his days living off campus prior marriage that I would respect if he wanted me to take them and stay with them until the very end. He did, so last cold rainy Saturday morning we moved Ben into our bedroom watching Mighty Machines and collected up Max and Ellie for a final trip. They were peaceful, not scared, and frankly given my only other option would have been to take them to the local animal shelter for them to spend what was left of their lives scared and likely separated, it was the most humane decision.

Ben has not asked about them and I made a extra effort on Saturday to spend time outside washing and then playing with our dog, Vegas. We intentionally choose a day when he would be excited about Halloween. When he does ask we are going to tell him that Max and Ellie went to live in Heaven and were very happy. We don't want to use the words "sick or went to sleep" in hopes of not making him scared or fearful.

At our church there is a stature of St Francis, the patron saint on the animals. If Ben seems excessively sad when he realizes they are gone, I plan to take him to the garden and encourage him to talk to Max and Ellie and tell him Mr. Francis will pet them and make sure they have big bowls of food.

I hope that Ben's daily chores of feeding and watering our dog as well as learning compassion towards animals in general will help him should he ever have to put down a pet.