My heart is filled with sadness as I write this note about our sweet Chunnie kitty. Our beloved Chunnie has been with us for 7 years - the entire length of our marriage. We adopted her from our friend Katie (Mommy's friend from Grad school). Chunnie, then named "Phoebe," needed a new home as Katie was highly allergic. Having never had a cat before (and truth be told, not really liking felines at all!), we decided to keep Phoebe for a month until Katie found a permanent home. Somehow, we fell in love with Chunnie and couldn't imagine giving her away. At the time, she was 6 years old. She slept with us every night, right on top of my tummy. She helped me through my MFA program when my anxiety soared because of all of the pressure and deadlines. We took her to the park, on a leash. We bought her Christmas presents - and a stocking full of tuna to boot. We bought her fancy collars in Carmel at the pet boutiques. We were those people. She slept in our window sill above the kitchen sink in our first apartment in downtown Oakland. She found another sunny spot in our apartment in Dublin. She was our first baby. She moved with us from Cali to Texas. I'll never forget that trip. Andrew and his dad drove our cars back from San Fransisco while Chunnie and I took an airplane. Even fully sedated, she yowled the entire way. I apologized for her incessant crying but luckily I was next to a fellow cat lover and she didn't mind at all. We made a new home in Texas and she has found a friend in both Charlotte and Finley.
The Tuesday before Thanksgiving, I decided to take her to our vet, Dr. Greenville at Circle C Animal Hospital (hands down, the BEST vet in the world!). Chunnie just wasn't acting like herself. She was sleeping all day and night and didn't seem to want to leave our bed. She also had lost a lot of weight. I wanted to get things checked out, in case she needed medication before the Thanksgiving break. Chunnie was down to only 7 lbs. (regularly 12 lbs.). Dr. Greenville ran some routine bloodwork and found out that she was in severe kidney failure. She was only using 1% of her kidney capacity. Our vet gave her 3 days to live. She said that Chunnie had developed this condition, very common in cats, over the past several months or possibly years. Our recent move to the new place likely heightened her stress level and pushed everything over the edge. We were devasted. We decided to euthanize her so that she wouldn't feel any more pain. It was a quick and peaceful passing, but so very difficult to do. Andrew and I both cried like babies in the vet's office.
Chunnie has been such an amazing part of our life together as a married couple. She has been a terrific companion. We burried her in our pet cemetary on my parent's property. We have told the girls that she is with God now, living in heaven. It is difficult when they wake up in the morning, looking for their Chunnie. I am reminded of what a special friend she was to all of us.
Charlotte reading to Chunnie - something she did often and with great joy.
A little snuggle time with Chunnie in the sunshine.
Our Pastor, Larry C., baptizing Finley.
Our sweet family. Aunt Chris, Gigi, cousin Michelle, Carissa, Finley, Andrew, Charlotte and Uncle Sean. We are blessed that our family made a committment to Finley today, too.
Aunt Chris and fin.
Mommy, Daddy and our sweet angel.
Gigi and Uncle Seannie.
