today is

a sad day for me. I have 2 dogs and 2 cats. The cats are Bonnie who is a rescue cat that I saved from a certain death from my job almost 4 years ago and her soon to be 3 year old son Brutus.

Both are like children to me as I have no natural children so they are loved dearly. The two are not only mother and child but very best friends. They still sleep together and do nothing but play together when they are awake.

Today I had to go out and run a few errands ,my day off from work thing to do. As I went out to get in my truck both cats came out from under it to greet me at the gate to the picket fence that surrounds my yard. Brutus did his meet and greet thing and went on about his business. Bonnie on the other hand always has to see me off when I leave ,so she came inside the fence, brushed up against my leg and then turned and sat down to watch me leave.

When I left both cats seemed to be in good working order and doing what they are always doing outside which is bird watching. When I returned home I didn't see either cat in the yard and they usually meet me on the outside of the fence to welcome me back home from where ever i've been.

When I got to the main gate to go into the privacy fenced part of the yard I happened to look over the gate and saw Bonnie at the foot of the steps just laying there. She looked like she was sleeping but she never sleeps there,so I called and got no rersponse,then it hit me the way she was stretched out that she could possibly be dead. Once I got in the gate I stopped and checked her and sure enough she was gone. From what I don't know because when I left the house she was fine or at least appeared to be. Brutus was up on the deck doing what he does best just lounging and catching some shut eye but when I called him he just kind of glanced at me and put his head back down like he knew what has happened.

I checked for any signs of an injury but couldn't find anything so I called the vet and asked some questions and he said that it could be that she drank some antifreeze. Well I don't have any antifreeze just laying around anyplace for animals to get into. In fact the only antirreeze I have on my property is in the radiator of my truck.

So I asked if there was any test or something he could do for Brutus to detemine if it was antifreeze just to see if he had been exposed to any or not and he told me that they could do some kind of urine test to see if any crystals are present but by the time th symptoms show that it would be too late for the cat anyway.

I know at one time my uncle who lives just through the woods with his B@#CH of a wife did have a bucket of antifreeze sitting out in the woods and though I never heard it directly from them I know what it was there for. I traveled that path several times during the summer and didn't see the bucket for a long time but that doesn't meant that some hasn't been put out recently so I guess that I need to take a trip back through and make sure none is out there.

So my day hasn't been a good one. I had the unpleasant task of finding something suitable to bury my cat in while her son just sat and watched like he knew what was going on. I don't know what i'll do now with only one cat. I may have to go to the humane society and find another kitten for Brutus becasue his mom was his very best friend and when you saw one you almost always see the other not too far behind.

If it turns out that he hasn't been exposed to antifreeze and I hope he hasn't ,I hope he doesn't start to just sit around and mourn hiself to death. I've heard of animals doing that when they loose a person or even another animal that they are really close to.

I guess trying to make it through the rest of this day and tomorrow wondering if my other cat is going to still be alive when I get home from work is going to be hard.