Monday July 20th we found ourselves unexpectedly having to put our cat, Tommy to sleep.
The details of his life prior to coming to live with us are nebulous. As we were preparing to move to Nova Scotia from Montreal in the summer of 2005, a very large gray tabby decided I was the person he wanted to live with. I was working as a groomer at a pet supply store and they often housed cats that were looking for new homes. Tommy was one of those unfortunate abandoned. He'd been living at the store for months, and while people felt "pity" for him, no one would take him home because he was so obese. As I often sat in the store waiting for clients, Tommy would venture over to see me and within a few weeks it was clear I was a favorite person of his. We don't know how old he was, but only that he'd gone through several homes before being unceremoniously dumped. I'm generally not a "cat person", but in this case, he chose me, and I am not one to turn my back on an animal in need.
We spent 4 tumultuous years of nasty biting and temper tantrums (who could blame him, with that sort of shady past) but also wonderful, cold winter nights where he slept on my pillow wrapped around my head like some sort of living fur hat. He was a trooper, suffering the presence of 3 dogs, of which he was not overly fond, but tolerated as long as they didn't pester him. I hope that he was happy with his choice of forever home. We enjoyed the years we spent together and will miss our silly little dancing bear.
Wednesday July 29. After a long, long battle with Westie Lung Disease, we faced the difficult day where we had to put our West Highland White terrier, Cody to sleep.
Cody came into James' life about three years before he and I met. A small pup with way too much energy and a bit of mischievous nature, Cody was from day one a daddy's boy. I remember the first time I met Cody, I thought he was adorable and full of life and it was obvious to me how close a bond he and James had. Over the years, I developed my own bond with Cody, taking him to work with me in a plaid pet travel bag on the city bus. Or the day I decided to groom him for the first time (before I was trained as a groomer) and did a horrible job with a pair of kitchen shears. Through the years that followed, Cody and I had many other opportunities to get his look down right. Although the classic Westie head just never worked on him. He was always a rough and tumble sort of guy and didn't like the prissy details or a perfect groom. You can see in one of the pictures, he got himself filthy, jumping into a ditch full of mud. I will always remember how delighted he was to see me when I came home and how he loved nothing more than to lie on either one of our chest and snooze.
The past year has been very difficult for all of us. Watching every day as he lost a little more energy, a little bit more of his spunk and fierce terrier attitude. We'd known about Cody's illness for almost 3 years. He was diagnosed very young with this disease; at 7 1/2 years old. On the flip side he lived much longer than we had ever expected and for that, we are happy.
Many years ago, James had set up a web page for Cody and an email. He updated it tonight for the last time. :(
The house feels very quiet without our two boys. In the span of two weeks we've gone from a family of 6 to a family of 4. Karla, our greyhound celebrated her 13th birthday this past May. A bit of arthritis is her only complaint, so we hope she will be with us for a good while longer. Shiggy, our Chinese Crested is going to be 5 in November. His lively spirit and loving nature have been of great comfort these past few
weeks.
One last picture; a rare one of both of them sleeping side by side.
