Remembering Hamilton...

You may find yourself wondering just who Hamilton is, well he was a cat that showed up here a couple months ago out of nowhere. He was very skittish and afraid for the first couple weeks, but he soon warmed up. He was sneezy when he first arrived, so we took extra precaution when coming back in the house around Zoe. We refrained from holding him and couldn't let him rub on our legs, which was rough. Zoe had just had her surgery and is FIV positive, so we couldn't risk cross-contaminating.

He stopped sneezing after a few days, but we continued our same routine of washing after being around him, just to be on the safe side. He was so, so friendly and just wanted to be loved on and rubbed. He wouldn't even eat if we were around to touch him, which breaks my heart to think about. He purred very loud and chased us all over the yard. He would stop to roll every 5 feet and would jump and lunge before doing so, it was the cutest thing.

He was a black and white cat and had one solid white front leg and one solid black one. He had a big black splotch on his nose, along with a lot of white and some other black splotches. He had a nose that would remind you of a spuds dog and just the sweetest little face. This is so hard to write, as it breaks my heart that I didn't take one picture of him.

Hamilton didn't act like himself Monday the 25th (last month), so we gave him some medicine that we had left over -- perfectly safe, I might add. The vet approved. He barely ate anything that evening, which worried me, but it didn't make me think anything serious was going on. I sat down by the boat and held him in my arms for the first time. He didn't feel well and I felt he needed comforting. The next day he was no better, Wouldn't eat, just kind of stood around and stared at me. I held him again and stood down by the boat in the rain and rubbed on him. A vet visit was in order the next day before we left for Cape, but he was nowhere to be found when I got up. I looked and looked and called him, but nothing.

We asked my aunt to keep an eye out for him and asked if she would feed him and give him his medicine, which she did late that night. We got the unfortunate news Thursday morning that he had passed away. My heart broke as the tears filled my eyes. I was so upset and felt abusive and neglectful. I felt like I didn't do my job as a pet owner and love, I let him down. I should have taken him to the vet Monday and I'll never ever let myself forget that. I'll also never forgive myself for not taking one picture of him -- I hate myself for not doing so.

I'm so sorry your life with us was so short lived, Hamilton. I'm sorry we didn't take better care of you and take you to the vet sooner. I'll never forget you for as long as I live and I hope that you don't hate us for not doing so. You were loved while you were here and will never, ever be forgotten...

RIP Hamilton

? - July 28th 2016