Dear Oreo,

The day you were born I knew instantly that you were the one. You were so fragile, and all I wanted to do was hold you. It killed me when my mom kept telling me you were too little to be held. I will never forgot the many times mom had people coming over to adopt you or one of the other little kitties, and I hid you in my shirt every time. I couldn't stand the fact that another person would hold you and play with you and be able to call you by another name. You were my best friend. You made me laugh and you comforted me when I needed it. You were spunky and upbeat and you always knew how to make me smile. The day mom told me that you weren't feeling well I remember crying for hours. I remember how tired and exhausted you were. It was so sad to see a cat like you, go through such pain. There were days when I thought you were surely going to die and then there were days when I was sure you were going to be alright. The day we brought you to the vet was the day I had to make one of the hardest decisions that I'd ever been faced with. It was the decision between life, and death. As you lay there on my pink princess blanket, with your dark eyes staring back at me, I couldn't help but see that you were ready. The vet offered an expensive and painful operation that had a 50% chance of failure. I knew that if you had the operation and it was successful, I would be able to be with you longer but I also didn't want you to feel anymore pain. At age 10 I had to make that decision. I remember taking one last look at you and realizing what I had to do. When I told the vet that I would like you to be put down he was astonished. He thought for sure that I would choose the operation. I knew that you were in pain and I didn't want to be selfish. I was given 5 minutes to say my last goodbye's to you. I knew 5 minutes wouldn't be long enough to fully explain how much you meant to me but I knew 3 words (I love you) and a kiss would suffice. I hope I made the right decision and that I helped you pass on peacefully. I hope there are plenty of cat toys up there and I hope you know that I meant what I said that day. I love you Oreo, and I always will.

Love,

Mommy