Our Old Cat

Thursday I have to take our 20-yr-old cat, Pug, to the vet to be euthanized. She no longer finds the litter box. Her hips are so arthritic, I'm not sure she can completely control her bodily functions. She's very thin because she has trouble chewing. I have been giving her soft food for about the past year.

She's been a great cat. We got her shortly after we moved in to this house 20 years ago. She lived outside for most of our life--our excellent rodent control cat. Several years ago, it got very cold in the winter, and, since she was growing old, we let her come inside. She never stayed outside again on a regular basis. It was like she said, "hey! it's warm in here!". We've had other cats come and go, but Pug has been the survivor, the chief cat, the one who taught the kittens how to hunt. I'm going to miss her.