Yesterday 11/14/07, my wife and I had to put our cat Josh to sleep after 15 years of loving friendship. This has been one of the most difficult experiences we have ever had. I rescued Josh from a shelter after his first owner turned him in. He was scratching at me through his kennel cage and I knew he was going to be my buddy. I was looking for a companion after starting graduate school and living alone for the first time in my life. He saved me.

Since that day, Josh has been a wonderful friend. He had such a great personality (as exhibited by the photo). My wife has also gotten to know and love Josh since we have been together for the last ten years. He even helped her through graduate school. He was my buddy and her baby. We miss him dearly.

Josh’s health had been deteriorating over the last year as he was diagnosed with diabetes. Early this week, he got much worse. It turned out that he had fluid building in his chest and it was becoming more difficult for him to breathe. We decided it would be best to be put him to sleep and not to wait. So, Tuesday night, we had our last wonderful night with Josh. We slept downstairs with him, gave him his favorite treats and made sure he had plenty of pets, head scratches, and belly rubs to last him for eternity. It was heart-wrenching to put him to sleep, but we knew it was the right decision.

Mark, I have been a fan of your radio show for a few years now. Yesterday, I caught you on Laura Ingraham’s radio show, talking about your new book. You talked about the guilt of feeling this way for a pet and the guilt of playing God. These are feelings I have right now. I ask myself, “Should I feel this way? He’s only a cat!” You mentioned that Rush Limbaugh had mentioned to you that “A loss is a loss and one loss cannot be compared to another loss”. This has been very comforting.

I know we’ll get through this pain some day. Right now, it is just too soon. It’s really hard when, after 15 years of feeding Josh the first thing every morning that he is no longer there to greet me.

Good bye buddy. We’ll miss you and never forget the joy you brought us. You will live on in our memories forever.

Jim from NJ