At around 2:45pm Banjo breathed his last breath. I had to have him put to sleep.

After three days of fluid therapy, his kidneys were unable to filter anything out. This morning the vet discovered that he had gone blind – his retinas had detached. He had also started drooling. Yellow drool.

This time he wasn’t happy to see me, because he couldn’t see me – you could tell he was very disoriented, and his eyes were kind of crooked. He had THE MOST awful smelling breath I dare say I have ever encountered in anything. We’re talking wilting flowers…

He was purring the whole time I was there, but he was largely uninterested in affection.(*)

I brought along a few of his very favorite things. I have some luggage that he would always jump into as soon as it was opened. This did not go over well.

I brought his shoelaces – by far his favorite toy. Once again, he wasn’t interested.

I brought a branch of fake christmas tree. This was a winner. He immediately knew what it was, and in spite of the yellow drool, he happily munched and licked and poked around the branch. From day 1, he has loved chewing on fake Christmas tree branches. The two Christmases we have shared involved a lot of squirting the cat out of the tree… I’m so glad he got to do this once more. He did eventually tire of it and lay down.

I borrowed some brushes (completely forgot how much he loved to be brushed). I groomed that kitty for a good 45 minutes, and he appreciated every minute of it. He was purring, and trying to wave his tail, and kneading the counter.

The doctor used a two step process – first he gives a sedative, then the final shot right to the heart. Banjo didn’t appreciate the sedative shot, but he got over it quickly, and slowly started to relax. After a minute or so he fell alseep. At this point, he was limp, but still breathing.

The doctor came in, and I decided to stay for the final injection. There was really nothing to the last one. Banjo’s breathing had slowed to be almost unnoticeable, and it just stopped. There was no final sigh, there was no twitching or thrashing; Banjo just fell asleep peacefully, and I dare say he looked glad to do so.

What a freaking crappy week I’ve had.