from the land of the ice and snow

My mom called me today to let me know that they had to put my cat Velvet to sleep. I knew that she was planning on taking him Monday after work, but it's still very hard to hear because he was my first pet. My sister and I dug out a place for him in the back yard because I hate the idea of him ending up in some random place...He was only eleven, but last year the vet told us that he had kidney stones and that it was only a matter of time before he passed. We tried giving him special food to help his kidneys/bladder region, but it only did so much. As of this weekend he stopped eating and spent most of his time sleeping, and he would be happy to have me pet him and everything, but I could tell he was in pain.

I've heard of other people's cats living much longer, but I guess this is just how things happened. Velvet was the first animal that was completely my responsibility--I got him when I was eight after seeing him on a farm. He knew how to play fetch with hair bands, like the ones girls use for ponytails.