Man, your daddy and I had a really rough day today. Probably our roughest in quite awhile. I have to be honest that we have had a rough 5 years or so. We have lost a lot of people, lost two babies, lost our first puppy and, in some cases, lost our faith in people. Then, you came along out of the blue and made things right again. Since you have been here, I can't really recall a time where we were sad - until today. We had to take our kitties to the vet and it was their final vet appointment. They are up in heaven torturing our first puppy - Lexie. It was the right decision but it doesn't make it any easier to deal with. I figure that it might be a good idea to tell you about the girls because I really doubt that we will own any future cats.
When your dad and I moved in together (yes, in sin, before we were married), we went to the Humane Society to get a kitten. They had two sisters in there and we took them both. Hoobie whined for weeks (ok, who am I kidding - for 14 years!). They were both of our first pets as adults.
Hollie was our best animal - she never complained, she was independent and would come around for attention every once and while. She looked after Hoobie - she let Hoobie pretend that she was her mom. She got sick about a year ago with allergies and it slowly progressed. About a month ago, she had to have surgery on her year. This weekend, she damaged her good ear in the same manner. She just looked miserable and her allergies were getting worse.
Hoobie was .... Hoobie. She was loud. She was whiney. She was needy. She tortured the dogs and it was fun to watch her beat them up. In the past few years, Hoobie and I became friends. She would eat lunch with me. She would sit in my office while I worked. She mellowed out a bit. But, she had a lot of behavioral problems. When you came along, I wasn't sure how she would act. Man, you loved her. Out of all of our animals, she was your favorite. You would walk in the house and you would immediately start looking for her. She would come rushing down to see you too. You would squeal in delight each time you saw her. Your love for her made today that much harder, buddy. She even let you pet her - I was shocked. We knew that Hoobie would never make it without Hollie. The day that Hollie was at the vet getting her ear fixed, Hoobie cried all day. We also knew that her behavioral problems would never, ever go away. We had agreed that if something ever happened to Hollie, Hoobie would need to go with her. I had a hard time with that decision. Logically, I knew it was the right thing to do but emotionally, it was hard because she wasn't truly sick.
I really hope that you never, ever have to go through what we did today buddy. From making the appointment on the phone to knowing why you are putting them in the kennel to driving to the vet - it was all torture. I want you to love animals without the heartbreak that can go along with them. But, I suppose everyone has to experience this somewhere along the way as they grow up. I just hope we can shield you from the worst of it.
I will leave you with some photos of the girls and even one of Lexie - who you never met. RIP Hoobie & Hollie!
Little Lexie - one of my favorite photos of her ever. This was taken at your Grampa Keith's house - mommy and daddy lived there before he did.
Hoobie and Hollie this past November enjoying an unusually warm winter day.
Hollie always used to eat your dad's hair. It grossed me out :) That was your daddy when he was young - and had glasses.
On of my favorite photos of Hoobie - I opened the cabinet door and there she was.
The girls always snuggled up together.
One of my favorite photos of Hollie. She looks so ferocious but she never was!
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