Whisper

It was a little before this time two years ago that my beloved Siamese Whisper became ill. She hadn't left my bed for three days and when I picked her up, she was with fever. I learned what was really wrong after taking her to the vet--acute kidney failure. They did what they could for her, but ultimately, she didn't have too long. She could live anywhere from a month to over two years.

She wasn't alive a month after her diagnosis.

I knew it was hopeless; I saw it in her eyes, the same old eyes full of love and wisdom. I didn't want to lose my baby but I didn't want her to keep suffering.

Whisper had been with us since 1998. We adopted her fully grown from the Humane Society and it was love at first sight for all of us. Dylan was 3 and he couldn't pronounce "Whisper"--it would come out "whipyoo"--so we called her Whipyoo more than her actual name.

Whisp seemed human. She was a beautiful blue point, small and delicate, like a refined Oriental lady. She and I talked regularly and we understood each other perfectly. She loved Tara, too; every night she would hop into Tara's bed and cuddle with her. When I picked her up and tucked Tara in for the night, Whisper would say "Good night" and "I love you." You could clearly understand the words.

The day she died, I had Tara with me. I picked her up from school and together we bore Whisper to the vet for the last time. I didn't put her in the pet carrier. She rested in Tara's arms in the car. In the exam room, we hugged her and cried; she felt our tears and knew she was a well-loved cat and that her time with us had ended. The vet administered a tranquilizer before euthanizing her, and she felt my arms around her as she traveled deeper into her death. I gave Tara her collar with the heart charm and I arranged to have Whisper cremated and her remains given to me. She rests on a special shelf I have in my room. It would not have been fitting for me to bury her because she wasn't an outdoor cat.

I honestly believe that my pets will be waiting for me at the Heavenly Gates, and that Whisper's voice will be the first one I hear, demanding to know what had taken me so long.

Rest in peace, my beloved companion. I will always think of you and cry over you because you were so loved.