The first time I met Goliath was when I toured the cattery, on my first day volunteering at PAL Humane Society. He was snuggled on a cat tree, and purred happily as I stroked his cheek. He stood out among all the other cats, and I just remember being incredibly drawn to his calm and sweet personality.

Not long after our first meeting, I became a foster parent, and took Goliath home to stay with us while he awaited adoption. My boyfriend Paul and I took an instant liking to him. Goliath was shy, preferring to spend his days finding good hiding places. But at night he would curl up on the bed with us, purring loudly. His favorite nighttime spot was cuddled on Paul's stomach. Goliath was a wonderful cat. He began to come out of his shell, even spending election night in the living room with us and our guests watching poll results with us. And he quickly learned to come running at the sound of a treat bag being shaken. I made up my mind to surprise Paul with his adoption papers for Christmas. I just couldn't imagine not having him.

The week before Thanksgiving, I noticed that Goliath was acting listless and that he was losing weight. His rapid weight loss concerned me, and that Friday night I peered into his ears and mouth, but found no abnormality. He had no fever, and nothing was obviously wrong. Still not satisfied, I arranged to take him to PAL on Saturday to have my friend Mary take a look at him. When I got there, we looked into his mouth and ears and found he was completely jaundiced...his coloring was bright yellow. We gave him fluids but saw no improvement. As the night wore on, we decided it would be best to take him to a nearby emergency vet clinic for further help.

Paul met us at the vet's office. Goliath was examined by the on-call vet, who let us know that his liver was failing and he would not recover. We made the decision to put him to sleep. Sweet Goliath purred up until he drew his last breath, and died very peacefully.

Although we only had Goliath for a short time, he will always be a part of our family and have a special place in our hearts. Not a day goes by that I'm not reminded of that gentle face and persistant purr. I am glad that he spent his last days being loved in what would have been his forever home.

We love you Goliath. We'll see you at the Rainbow Bridge!