Today, on Easter Sunday, I’m finally able to gather my thoughts to blog about unexpectedly losing our beloved Beignet on Wednesday. What we thought was a simple trip to the vet to get some medicine because he was clearly not feeling well, turned into us saying our last goodbyes to our sweet, mischievous kitty.

It came on so quickly. While she was getting ready for school, my daughter noticed Beignet could only take a few steps and would sit down. I picked him up and noticed he was very light…he had lost a lot of weight. Every time I put him down, he would immediately lay down. My son expressed his concerns about Beignet’s lethargic behavior. My husband got an appointment scheduled for later in the morning.

We went from worrying about if we could afford whatever treatment he might need to learning not only he had a knot in his stomach, he had an advanced illness which we didn’t know about. The doctor wasn’t sure if he would survive the surgeries, let alone the recovery and treatment that would follow. We decided to put him down so he wouldn’t be in any more pain.

Beignet was the type of cat that was always into something. We were calling his name constantly. It’s so quiet now. Beignet was the dominant cat in relation to his brother, Cannoli. We got them both when they were about 4 weeks old and this year makes 6 years since they became a part of our family. They definitely had different personalities. Beignet desperately wanted your attention ALL THE TIME. Cannoli was more subtle in his approach.

I used to joke with my husband that I needed him to show me the type of love Beignet showed me. Beignet would sleep on my shoes, keep my office chair warm with his body, try to sip my bath water, usher me around the house, give me tail hugs, and gaze into my eyes. He was also a pain because he would chew on things he shouldn’t like some of my plants, any type of string, and plastic things.

He would never poop in the litter box. He would poop around it, but never in it. We tried every cat litter around. At one time, we had four litter boxes around the house. Then, I gave up eventually. We would be sure to keep bathroom doors closed because something about a hard surface floor made him want to poop on it. The kids have been greeted by a turd a time or two in their bathroom. That’ll teach them for keeping the door open.

I cried so much and so hard while saying goodbye. In fact, we all did and the tears still come and go. My mourning was no different than losing a person I loved. He was our fur baby, a member of our family for almost six years. We raised him from four weeks old. We all loved him so much and thought we would have at least ten more years with him. We know Beignet loved us with his whole heart. Beignet knew we were his and I got to thank him for loving us the way he did.