PetHall - Foreign Pet and Animal Stories

Smokey first came to us in 1994 when we adopted her from the SPCA. She was 1year old, and a ratty looking stray. I however thought she was beautiful - gray with gold eyes. I was hooked from the first meow. Over the years she brought my such happiness and joy. She was a really cool cat too - she would constantly play, fetching hair elastics and foil balls. Like a dog, she greeted us at the door whenever we came home and had to be in whichever room we were. She loved to be in the backyard in the summer, laying in the grass and watching the birds.
We called her Houdini cat though, because she always escaped and we had to go searching for her (but she never went far - always to our neighbors back yard). She slept with me every night and whenever I had a nap - curled up right beside me and often grabbed my arm with her paw and pulled it close to her.. She was patient and tolerant of my 3 year old son.
She just loved all of us. Last summer she started to exhibit symptoms of what we later had diagnosed as a brain tumor. She would turn in circles one way only, stopped jumping up, lost her balance, lost co-ordination of her legs, and at the end, her sight was being affected. She would just lay there staring ahead but not really focusing on anything. I fed her wet food from my hand which she gobbled up until her last meal yesterday, and give her water through a syringe into her mouth. I think at the end I was keeping her alive for ME, not for HER so finally after she started to hide I realized it was time. I would do whatever I could to take care of her while she seemed content, but once she was distressed I knew she could not suffer.
Normally she cried all the way to the vet but yesterday she was silent, she just shivered in my arms. He gave her a sedative and I stayed with her stroking and kissing her. I told her "Mommy" loved her and it would be OK - she would be all better. The sedative took effect and he gave her the final injection. She was gone in seconds. It was very peaceful and I was glad to be there for her - I owed her that for all the years of love she gave to me. She was my little ratty garbage cat, she was my BABY. We all miss her - my husband, my son, our Lab Maggie and Smokey's best friend Frisky (they were adopted the same day). Smokey was different though - she was a special cat with a unique personality and so much love.
I am so very sad - I can't stop crying, I feel sick to my stomach and I have trouble sleeping without her by my side. I hope and pray she will save me a spot in Heaven so someday we can be together again.