At some point it was bound to happen.

I’d mentioned before that Bender was not exactly the healthiest of cats; not a month went by that he didn’t visit the vet, or as we called it, his home away from home. Some of his ill health we attributed to his having been a stray before we adopted him, while some of his issues stemmed (we think) from his breeding.

I honestly can’t say it was a surprise when he was afflicted yet again. A few days ago we noticed that he was no longer his normal, active self. He had stopped eating and drinking, and spent most of his time hiding. When we were able to coax him out of his hiding place, he refused to purr and only meowed when we picked him up. We took him to the vet on Wednesday and learned that these symptoms were a result of a liver issue that would require hospitalization and possibly a feeding tube along with antibiotics.

We couldn’t do it. Abe and I decided that there was no way we could continue to spend this kind of money on Bender, for a number of reasons. While he would have theoretically recovered fully, neither of us believed that this was the last problem he’d have even in the near future, and once we’d spent this amount of money to take care of him we’d be obligated to continue doing so. With that in mind we committed to the hardest decision either of us has ever had to make in our entire lives.

Bender was euthanized yesterday at 5:30 PM. It was the most painful, gut-wrenching experience I’ve ever had.