Bye-Bye Buddy Page 2 That was ten years ago. Buddy thrived for those ten years, became King of the Household. A year after my transfer I bought a house. Zavi's grandma gave her a mini poodle puppy for her 15th birthday, whom we named Lucy. Lucy, Buddy, Zavi and I shared a house about 18 miles south east of Raleigh. Buddy settled in and realized that he was forever part of our family. It took a long time, but his anxieties slowly disappeared. Zavi graduated from high school, went to the local community college, then went away to University quite some distance from our home. One year in the dorm convinced Zavi that she had to have her pets with her. After looking for an affordable apartment she could share with friends, one that would accept pets, she was near despair that none could be found. Finally, at zero hour, days before she would have had to sign up for dorm living again, we found a house that she could live in. Lucy and Buddy would be with her. I would be left with Sherpa, my two year old Himalayan. Buddy loved his home in the mountains of western North Carolina. There were lots of spiders and moths for him to chase; Zavi and Lucy were right there with him. Life was good. In early September, Buddy became ill. He stopped eating; he was weak. The diagnosis was devastating: End Stage Renal Failure. How could this be? Just weeks before he was prancing in sun motes, reaching for moths, demanding his gourmet dinners. The prognosis was poor, Zavi was told. Buddy's end was near. Ten years ago we had been told that Buddy would not live more than two years. Zavi was convinced that somehow this would prove to be just as mistaken as the first prognosis as to Buddy's longevity. Our local vet, the same one who had pronounced the death sentence years before, said that indeed there was a possibility of Buddy surviving a year or more, if we could get him to eat. The problem is that renal falure in cats makes them so sick that they can't even choke down food. They need to be flushed with fluids in the hopes that their kidneys would function again, even minimally, and that their stomachs would settle down enough for them to eat. With Buddy, it never happened. Long anguished phone calls between my daughter and me did nothing to help Zavi. I finally made the six hour drive to her house in the mountains. When I saw Buddy for the first time since he had become ill, I knew that he was just... waiting. It wasn't even Buddy any more. It didn't look like the King of Our House, the Spider Man, the Moth Terminator. Buddy was so sick, in so much pain, so thin and so pathetic that he could hardly bear to be touched. He was telling us... "it's time." Zavi had been taking Buddy home with her at night, bringing him back to the vet in the morning. She kept him over the weekends. The vet had taught her to insert a needle under his skin, on the back of his neck, to infuse him with fluids in an i.v. bag. Against his will Buddy was force-fed pills to settle his stomach. The most pungent of cat foods had no appeal for him. If he ate two bites he would soon throw it up. As hard as it was, I had to convince Zavi that the best thing we could do for our Buds was to let him go. As hard as it was for her, she finally agreed. We arranged with a veterinarian to sedate Buddy so we could be with him while he drifted off, and take him away from us to euthanize him. We debated taking home his body and burying it, but decided against it, allowing the vet to handle "disposal." (What a dreadful word with which to end our companionship). Our vet in Raleigh is convinced that the ONLY reason Buddy lived so long beyond his two-year expectancy is because he was Zavi's cat. Because we loved him and cared for him so. The loss is stunning to us, to me less than to Zavi, but still, a palpable loss. Zavi is nearly 24; Buddy was a link to her childhood and a friend she had held closely for half of her young life. He was idiosyncratic in the extreme, and hardly a cat. He was a pal, a presence, part of our life. Zavi needs a breather but soon will adopt another kitten to love and hold. The shelter near where she lives is full of them. As she drifts off to sleep in her home in the mountains, she sees Buddy above her chasing moths and spiders. Sometimes, in the night, here in my house near Raleigh, I get up for a glass of water and swear that our Buds is sitting in his usual spot, in front of the pantry door, staring at the doorknob, waiting for someone to feed him. He will never really be gone from us.

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If you enjoyed Jana's article as much as I suspect you did, you'll love her Hotels, Resorts & Inns site. From a romantic weekend getaway to a fishing vacation, to a trip around the world, Jana has a huge assortment of topics from which to select: Affordable Elegance; Castles, Chateaus & Villas; Incredible Inns; New Orleans; and Jamaica, just to name a few. And those are only links lists!

Browse her lists of feature articles (three years worth), where she writes in depth: reviews of B&Bs, recipes from famous Inns, "10 Cool Family Vacations"; the list runs the gamut.

Jana knows that of which she speaks. As an airline professional, Jana has had the opportunity to visit many of the fabulous places she writes about, and she shares her knowledge with expertise and verve. If you're considering a trip, make Jana's site the first stop on your itinerary!

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