farewell friend

If you have read my other blog recently, you'd know that my cat Sam had been sick for the past month, but seemed to be recovering. For those who haven't read already, he had an infection that started in his mouth and spread to his throat and lungs. He had been on antibiotics for a couple weeks and last weekend the vet said his infection was gone. So then yesterday, he had dental work done so prevent future infections and prevent any more tooth loss. After the dental work, he was quite traumatized and hid in my sister's closet all day and didn't eat. Last night he came out but didn't eat and was breathing funny. This morning when I left for work he was laying there half asleep, still wheezing. I didn't come home from work today since Men-Hui is in town and wanted to hang out and then I stayed at Kenneth's for the rest of the night with the gang. I came home at around midnight and found my dad still awake, watching tv. As I walked in, he says he has some bad news. "We lost Sam." I was so shocked I didn't know what to say, but I asked my dad when it happened. He said it happened at around 5pm, but was too choked up at that point to say anything else (which is rare for my dad). I was and still am at a loss for words. He was the best cat ever and really was like a cat version of me. We were so relieved to see him get better last week and then this happens. He would have been 11 years old next week. Such a tragic end to an otherwise great day. Fortunately I have tons of pictures of him we have taken over the years, such as the one below that I took for a photography class project my last semester at UT. The quality kind of sucks because it's a scan of a slide, but it's my favorite picture of him. He will be missed.