We said good bye to Thomas Merton this afternoon. It was a difficult decision but the correct one. For the last several days, he had been eating less and less. It was obvious that it was hard for him to chew and swallow, and especially sad when he came downstairs and banged his dish around the kitchen to try to wake us up or get our attention. That was something he learned early on and was a very effective method to get humans to respond to his needs. Unfortunately, last night and this morning when we tried to give him something after he had banged for our attention, he refused pretty much everything we offered.

A visit to the vet this morning confirmed that the tumor had grown considerably. In addition to making eating difficult, it’s likely Merton was in considerable pain because the cancer had entered the bone. But there was little sign of suffering. He was still jumping around,watching chipmunks and squirrels from our back porch, and even playing ball–catching it with his feet and batting it around.

So the vet and a vet tech (who had stayed with our cats in the past) came by the house this afternoon and ended his suffering. He died on my lap.

I’ve written about Merton’s final journey here and here. He’s been a good friend for almost fourteen and an amazing cat. He was very smart, very stubborn, and regal. We will miss him keenly.

Again, my favorite photo of him, relaxing with Augustine’s City of God:

Thanks again to Dr. Tom Bach and all the good folk of Lakeview Veterinary Clinic.