Please bear with me. I need to share this.

Mel was born in an animal shelter on Oct 27, 1996. His mother was abandoned when she was pregnant by owners who didn�t want to deal with kittens. I have often looked at Mel, and am totally amazed that someone gave him up, missed out on the joy that is Mel. He is one of the coolest animals I have ever known, and one of the best friend�s I have ever had. He has beautiful green eyes, he is a long haired (and I mean long, like fur is four inches type long) Tabby. He is just gorgeous.

I was living on my own, and I come from a family that is very pet oriented. I missed having something warm and furry to snuggle with at night, so I decided to go on a search for a cat that resembled my family cat, Tramp. He also had personality that you would be hard pressed to come by again. I walked into the shelter, and I looked around. I saw this adorable fluffy little kitten, said Hi to him, and then bent down to look at the cat in the cage below. While saying hello to the cat below, I felt something tug my hair. I looked up, and this kitten was lying on his back, both paws stretched through the bars of the cage, and he was playing with my hair. I found this cute, and stood up to look at the kitten again. He then rolled over, walked to the front of the cage, climbed up so his two little back paws were on the bottom wrung of the cage, one paw on the top wrung, and with the remaining paw, he stretched through the bars and brushed my cheek. �THIS ONE!�, I exclaimed. Come on�..how can anyone resist those charms?!? Some of the shelter attendants actually cried as they said good bye to the kitten in my arms. Can you blame them?

Mel was a holy terror when he was a kitten. He would climb into my fridge when I opened the door and eat my lettuce. He would actually climb into the shower with me in the mornings. Seriously. On occasion, he still would, but not as often as he used to. I have kitten pictures of him curled up in bed with me, snuggled in and asleep. Once I was talking on my cordless phone, and he was on the back of the couch batting at the little antenna thing on the top. I swatted him away, telling him we don�t chew on phones. The next moment he was flying through the air and attached to the side of my head chewing on me AND the phone. I got him off, and wagged my finger at him telling him he was being a bad boy. He leapt forward and attacked my hand. What an attitude. I loved it.

He would go fetch things and put them in my slippers. He has a little pink pig (a McDonald�s happy meal toy from the movie �Babe�), he carries it around like it�s his baby, and then he chases it all around the house. It�s very entertaining. He used to tease our dog terribly. He would leap off the couch on to her,the run behind the couch or into some other small space that she couldn't reach. He would wait there until she stopped paying attention, and then would attack her again. They were good friends. Only 2 weeks apart, they grew up together. The dog understoodthe command, "Go eat Mel." She would grab him by his tail and drag him to where ever you were sitting. He would just lay there like a lump. He was that kind of easy going.

Mel has been with me through some of the hardest times in my life in the past 8 years. He always instinctively knows when I am down. He�s even licked a tear from my face. He is always there to keep me warm at night. He�s the best snuggle ever. So beautiful, funny and loving.

Today I had a nice lazy day. Spent most of it in my jammies, curled up on the couch with Mel in my lap, reading a book while Babybear played, watched a movie and also read. I got a call at about 4pm to go and pick Grandpa up from the hospital. Babybear and I got up, Mel looked a little displaced at being moved, but I had some stuff to do. We got dressed, and went and got Grandpa. He needed some groceries, so we dropped him off at his house and went shopping for him, and us. We finished everything and got home at about 6:15pm.

Chip and Hermione greeted us at the door. Mel did not. This was odd, as Mel is usually the first one there, getting ready to make a dash out the door. I went into the kitchen with the first load of groceries, and I saw the phone flashing, signaling that there was a message. I picked the phone up and as I looked down at it to press the buttons, I saw Mel�s feet sticking out from underneath the microwave stand (they sometimes go under there to get some peace, Babybear can�t reach them there). But his paws looked like they twitched. I called him. He didn�t come, but I could see his legs were indeed twitching. I pulled my kitchen apart to microwave stand out of the way, I didn�t want to try and pull him out in case there was something wrong with his neck or back. Mel was having a full blown seizure of some sort, he was frothing from his mouth, eyes were completely dilated, and he wouldn�t move, aside from the constant twitching of the seizure. I desperately called vets, but not a single vet in my town was on call this weekend, and my only option was to take him to a clinic that was a good 30 � 40 mins from my house. I bundled him in a blanket, got he and Babybear into the car, and raced to the clinic.

Mel had a massive heart murmur. He had an incredibly high fever, and his breathing was highly irregular. The vet was not sure what had happened, and they tried very hard to stabilize him. In order to diagnose the problem, they would require numerous tests and x-rays, but he had gone into deep shock, and his condition was deteriorating rapidly. By the time they got their results, it would most likely not matter. I concurred, and took her advice.

He did not move when I went in the room, but he did look at me. I sat beside him and petted him and told him how much I loved him as the vet quickly and quietly put him to sleep. I am so completely and utterly heartbroken. As I mentioned, I come from a family that is very pet oriented. This is certainly not the first pet I have lost, but it has never hurt this bad. I had a very hard time even feeding my other cats this evening. I love them dearly, but I am so sad that Mel is not here. He�s only 8. Just turned 8. This isn�t supposed to happen yet. I hate knowing that when I go to sleep tonight, he�s not going to be there. And when I wake up tomorrow...he�s still not going to be there. I hope I made the right choice tonight. I really do. This just hurts so much.

Goodbye Mel. I love you. Thank you so much for being such an incredible pet. So many people are going to be so very sad to hear that you have moved on. I am so glad that I got to spend the past 8 years with you. You have been my best friend, a trusted confident, and my love. Babybear and I are both already missing you very much. I just hope that you know how much we loved you.

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