Miles

When you acquire a pet, you unfortunately have to keep in the back of your mind (unless you have a tortoise or parrot) that you will most likely outlive them.  You give them tons of snuggles and love while they are here on this Earth, but you know someday they will be gone.  It’s not something you want to think about all the time, but it’s good to remember it once in while so you don’t take the short time with them for granted.

On Saturday, my family’s cat, Miles, was put to sleep after suffering from kidney failure for several weeks.  The vet said that there was nothing we could do but keep him happy for as long as we could.  It’s a slow way to go and he was not very comfortable, so it was best to end the pain.  Even though it’s the best decision for him, it doesn’t make it easy on us.

He was a warrior of a cat and it would seem more fitting that he died in a battle against a wolf pack, not kidney disease.  But that’s the way it goes!  It makes me think of Khal Drogo in “Game of Thrones”.  He was an unbeatable warrior for many years and then dies of an infected wound.

Miles was a very large cat.  Not a fat cat – there is a difference.  He was tall and long with lean muscles.  He made our two “average” sized cats look like kittens.  Most of the time he would sit or lay with a regal air about him, but other times we would find him on the couch looking cute and laying on his back with his paws curled up, totally vulnerable and trusting.  He brought many dead mice and other small mammal offerings to the house and would sometimes spend several days out in the cold off hunting somewhere.

He was a little puffball when we got him and his brother, Riley.  But he grew up and tried to hide any kitten-like behaviors.  He was very majestic most of the time, but every once in a while we would catch him giving a toy a quick bat before he would notice and pretend nothing happened.

I always say that he was a model in a previous life because he was so good at posing on his own.  I have some great pictures of him.  The other two cats we have are good-looking as well, but they tend to walk up and sniff the camera as I try to take their picture, leading to photos of blurry noses instead of the cute thing they were doing.

It’s weird to admit this, and I don’t have very strong beliefs on this subject, but I feel like I knew Miles in a past life.  I’m interested in the possibility that some things are familiar to us because we lived another life in the past, and I just got that feeling with him.  (I understand I’m talking about a cat! haha)  There was some connection we had, some understanding, that made me feel close to him and comforted by him.  There were several instances where he found his way to me on the couch to snuggle and make me feel better when I was sick.  I know it’s strange, but I really felt like we were good friends in a time before now so it’s sad to have him gone.

Sleep well, Miles.