Midnight, my perfect kitty Back in 1982 I had acquired a frail black cat that was just rescued from being abused. She was thrown in a fire and her paws and whiskers where burnt. As the years went on, she grew into a beautiful black cat with the shiniest coat of fur you had ever seen. She loved to eat and at one time was up to 17 lbs. When I moved back home she took to my dad in an instant. Through the years my dad’s health grew bad and Midnight was always with him. They would have their daily afternoon naps together although my other cat would fight for his attention too. Eventually they would both spend afternoon naps with him. We finally would get her to lose some weight and stayed at 12 pounds for a long time. Midnight was and always will be the perfect kitty. She never jumped up on anything that she wasn’t supposed to and never scratched the furniture or drapes. In 1999 she had 2 big surgeries and came through with flying colors despite her age. Then in Sept. 1999, my dad had a major stroke and had to be hospitalized for several months then a nursing home. She wasn’t eating like she always did, I thought it was because I was the one doing the feeding and wasn’t giving in to her everytime she meowed for food. My dad would feed both cats several times a day. I took her to the vet and we found out she had a thyroid condition and would have to take medication for the rest of her life. It was quite ironic, cause my dad, mom, brother, and I all have thyroid disease so why not the cat. The problem was she still wasn’t gaining any weight back. She was going down to 10, 8, and 6 pounds all in a couple of months. She would move a little slower but after all she's 18. I really think she was depressed about my dad and that’s when she started going downhill. Then on August 7, 2000 I found her just laying in the litterbox. I hurried to get the lid off cause I thought she was gone then, but it was that she was too weak to get back out so she just laid there. As I got her out I watched her stumble and stagger. Then she would just fall down. She would try again and her back legs just wouldn’t hold her. The vet couldn’t get me in until after hours and that was 6:30pm. It was the longest day of my life as we both just laid on the floor. I would tell her stories of things she did as a baby. When she wanted to get up I would carry her to the litterbox and help her in, then she would fall into her business. I would then clean her up for at least 3 more times after that. When we finally arrived at the vet’s we found out she weighted only 5 lbs. and just bones no fat at all. Her temperature was down, her eyes were sunken in, fluid building in her stomach, and she was dehydrated. That day she didn’t eat or drink. For days it seemed her appetite came back so how could this happen. I had no choice but to put her asleep, she was suffering too much. There wasn’t anything at any cost I wouldn’t do for her and right now I felt helpless. I didn’t want to let her go, I felt guilty doing so. The hardest part is watching the vet inject the needle. Midnight was always a fighter for survival as her past operations proved it, so it didn’t surprise me when she meowed for the last time. The vet even said she had to get the last word in, then she was gone. Midnight I will always love you and hope you forgive me. I keep your picture by my bed, tell you goodnight, and give you a kiss. Your brother Skippy even kisses (sort of) you. There will never be another cat like you and someday grandpa, Skippy, and I will be with you. When we see you at Rainbow’s Gate you will be healthy again and so will Skippy. Don’t ever forget us cause we will never forget you, my sweet perfect Midnight. Just remember you were my little girl, best friend, and first child. Maybe someday the pain will ease, and the tears won’t be so often, but I will still cry cause there is so much around here that is part of you. Sweet dreams my sweetheart, my perfect Midnight.