Mark,

I bought your book Rescuing Sprite over Christmas. I read it Saturday Jan 19, 2008 in one afternoon. I lost my beloved cat Casper December 8,2007. He had a stroke in November and survived for two weeks. He slept on my bed most of the night and I moved him when he tried to go under the bed. He died an hour and a half later. I have tons of regrets about the way I handled it even though I always tried to do the best I could for him.

I had him eight years. I was living in a apartment complex in Fort Worth after leaving the military. I went to check my mail and he followed me home by my side like a dog. I put him out to see if he went home but he always came back and I kept him. Man did I love that cat. I live alone in a city where I don’t know many people so my live outside of work revolved around my cat. When I came home he was there. We had this thing where when I got home he would stick his front paw through the bottom of a door near the rear of the house and we would play. He would retrieve his toys like a dog and fetch it for me to throw it again.

Your book really hit me. At least I am not the only one that cried like a baby when he was near his death and it hit me that HE WASN’T GOING TO RECOVER.

I miss that cat. I also am glad that you brought up your new dog after a couple of months. I think about getting a new cat (and dog) but after seeing my cat die in front of me as I consoled him and was petting him as he went to kitty heaven it scares me. To go through the way I have felt the last 2 months is the worst. I have never lost a parent and don’t even want to think about how that will be.

God Bless You. Thanks for your insight and sharing you experiences. It gives those of us whose hearts are crushed right now hope that things will get better,

Sincerely,

Keith from TX