Best Buds

About a month prior to Christmas, 2009, my mother drove me to the Humane Society located within the town of Port Hope, Ontario where I had volunteered for a brief period. She claimed that she had a pleasant surprise waiting for me. Although I was well aware of the reason for our visit to the Humane Society, I decided to humour my mother and pretended to be ignorant of her intentions. Just a few months prior, we had sadly lost a black and white cat that we adopted in 2006, so it was very evident as to what was in store.

We finally arrived at the Humane Society and my mother asked me to wait in the car for a few minutes. By the time I entered the shelter, I saw my mother standing by the front desk in the lobby; a small, black-furred kitten nestled comfortably in her arms. She then informed me that the adoption papers were signed and then decided to name him Pyewacket. Pyewacket was the name of a fictional cat depicted in my mother's favourite movie, the 1958 James Stewart film Bell Book and Candle.

In his younger years, Pyewacket was very stubborn and ill-tempered for the most part. By August of 2017, once my mother became far too sick to continue watching over Pyewacket, my wife at the time and I decided to take him in. It was at around this time that he finally began warming up to me. From that moment forward, we became almost inseparable.

Every morning when I returned home from working nights, Pyewacket would always stand excitedly by the door, anxiously awaiting my return. Other fond memories include finding him lying on piles of my old clothes I had absentmindedly left either on the bed or the coffee table. By the time my wife and I separated in July of 2022, I moved in with my father and he willingly allowed me to bring Pyewacket in. Most mornings, I would be awoken by Pyewacket jumping excitedly on my bed and settling down directly beside me. After getting a sufficient amount of attention from me, he would then habitually purr himself to sleep.

Sadly, by early November, 2024, Pyewacket began appearing very weak and frail. He would spend most of his time casually lying in the bathtub. His refusal to eat regularly was especially concerning. After taking him to the nearest vet, my father informed me that his kidneys were beginning to shut down. On November 11th, he had clearly taken a turn for the worst. His kidneys had deteriorated so severely, that he was no longer able to maintain his balance. Even the slightest amount of bodily contact was enough to knock him over. At that moment, it was clearly evident that we would have to euthanize him.

We drove Pyewacket to the same clinic as before. I decided to remain in the room with him for his final moments. His demeanor was strangely calm, as if he was completely unaware of the situation. From his point of view, it's possible that he believed he was there for a mere checkup.

The room was eerily quiet, apart from the faint sound of a large dog panting in the lobby. The veterinarian then entered the room in a visibly dismal state. Though she had endeavored to remained stoic and professional, I could clearly surmise that her heart was on the verge of breaking. I stood beside Pyewacket, forcibly holding him still. He made three attempts to jump off the table and in his weakened state, the impact of the fall would have badly injured him. The moment the veterinarian had administered the drug that stopped his heart, Pyewacket immediately lost consciousness and his body flopped lifelessly to the side. She checked for vital signs and informed us that he was gone.

We placed an order for Pyewacket's ashes in a ceramic urn, which we received the following week. It certainly helped provide a small amount of closure.

The early morning hours would offer far more than I could have ever imagined. It was around 4:00 am approximately and I abruptly awoke dazed and confused due to the sensation of something unknown landing forcibly on my bed and gradually moving towards me. The instant it stopped just beside my chest, all was still once more. The whole experience seemed very surreal, yet due to the immediacy of the encounter after receiving Pyewacket's remains, I surmised that nothing, not even his passing would stop my best bud of fifteen years from always being nearby.