Life, all Life, is Precious

I am reminded of this truth today because another life has been removed from my little world -- The Dude, was a cat in our care for the past 7 years. He came to us as a rescue of sorts. He had been rescued from slinking around the streets of Dayton, Ohio by our cat-loving friend. We rescued our friend.

She had named him Goodness. A true misnomer, as it turned out. Goodness took to shredding the curtains and the unsuspecting legs of our friend -- while she slept. After weeks of trying to convert the outdoors-cat into a lap-cat, our friend was exasperated. And we rescued her from the beast she had begun to refer to as Beelzebub (Beezer for short).

On our couple of acres, this terror of kittydom became quite the gentlemen, hence his new moniker, The Dude. He was the perfect blend of coolness and man-about-town. He could take care of himself, but he preferred our help -- at times he would select.

When he stopped eating after our houseful of guests departed following Thanksgiving, we knew something wasn't right. This is a cat that never met a meal he didn't like. We initially thought he had a hairball or some other common kitty malady, but after a few days we thought differently and took him off to the vet. Hepatic Lipidosis was the diagnosis.

He fought the good fight -- so did we. He didn't take kindly to the fuss and the forced feeding required to try to reverse his illness. We told the vet assistant that he was lucky that The Dude wasn't feeling well -- otherwise The Dude would have disemboweled the poor fellow for placing that thermometer.

After nearly a month of treatment, The coolest and most handsome cat I know gave up the fight.

The funny thing is, heretofore I have never been a cat-person. Much preferring the boundless energy and companionship of a German Shepherd. This fact makes my genuine affection for The Dude truly remarkable. The Dude amused me.

And when any creature dies, there is a loss felt within the human soul. If ever we were to lose that stab of loss, I believe we would cease to be the enlightened species we claim to be. So I shed my tears and thank the Creator of us all for the lessons taught to me by my buddy The Dude.