Saying Goodbye

After 3 surgeries and almost 4 months straight of being in a medical cone because of melanoma on her ear (which returned a 4th time), we decided that the quality of life for our cat was not what we felt it should be.  As of late she's been losing weight and hiding (something she hasn't done since we got her 4 years ago).  So today we did what my family does to pay homage to the pets we've loved. 

We had her put to sleep so she wouldn't suffer just because we wanted her around, and then we planted a tree over her as a tomb stone.

Although we got Mao almost 4 years ago when my husband's best friend moved overseas, we've known her for most of her 14 years of life because we kitten sat her before she was a year old.  Her name when she came to us was Raspkitten but we decided to change it to Mao because she said "mao" in our ears for a 10+ car drive when we took her home with us (and she acted a bit like a fuzzy little dictator when she entered our house). 

She will be missed, but we have the Mao tree to remember her by.  And we hope that we live in this house long enough to be able to eat the Palmello fruits that should grow in a few years.